Community comes together to learn about native grasses

December 2019

Aboriginal Community Support Team

During the month of November, 16 members of the Aboriginal community from Nowra to Bega had the opportunity to attend a Native Grass Identification course delivered by TOCAL at the Coach House Batemans Bay.

Over two days, facilitators Harry Rose and Andrew Lucas taught participants many different aspects of both native and introduced grass species.

The course started with students being taught genus, species and commons names, the difference between annual and perennial and how to identify warm-season, cool-season and yearlong green grasses. The course then led into the recognition features of grasses such as nodes, leaf sheath, leaf blade, ligules, leaf veins and hairs and underground structures.

The main focus of the course was on identification of the different parts of the flower head on particular grasses. By identifying the type of flower head (panicle, spike, spatheates etc.), then braking down flower head into spikelets, glumes, florets and awns, students were then able to identify the exact grass using an identification booklet handed to each who participated in the course.

For 60 to 70 thousand years prior to colonisation, large grassland areas across Australia were cultivated for seed. Native grass seed was a sustainable food source and was also used for trade across the whole of Australia. Re-learning the identification of native grasses is connecting the Aboriginal community back to a sustainable land management practice designed for Australian conditions.

Everyone who attended the course had only positive feedback and was hoping that the course could be an annual event, next year focusing on forest grass and sedges.

The participants of the Aboriginal community who attended would like to thank South East Local Land Services and TOCAL to have the opportunity to participate in such a well delivered and informative course.