​Njanjma Rangers have run our first education program about rock art and the cultural heritage work of Njanjma Rangers. The program is called Yalwudin Yawkyawk Arrbenbukan Kunwardde Bim (Showing young men and women rock art) and is for kids in later secondary school. We hope this can build their knowledge of the importance of rock art and show them more of what ranger work is like to maybe spark their interest in this type of work. The program includes the rangers taking the kids to a special place and talking about their work, then running three different activities: 1) recording cultural sites 2) learning about how rock art lasts and how we can protect it and 3) The kids making videos of each other talking up about rock art.

With funding provided by the Kakadu West Arnhem Social Trust, we ran our first program with Year 9 girls from Gunbalanya School at a location in Kakadu National Park on 25 May 2017. We chose this place as it tells many stories and shows many of the issues of protecting rock art. We will be running the program again with more kids from Gunbalanya School and Jabiru school as part of their Learning on Country Programs. In the future we hope to use the program also with visiting schools and then develop an online education module for teachers and schools from far away.

Njanjma Rangers met with Warddeken Land Management Rangers and Kakadu National Park Bininj Rangers today to discuss how ranger groups can work together in Western Arnhem Land with their different rock art management programs. Everyone had a look at the Njanjma approach and gave us feedback. It was agreed that we need to find ways to work more closely together, share field methods and train up Bininj to take a stronger role, including in operating the databases that we use to manage this work. This first workshop was funded by the Kakadu West Arnhem Social Trust.

This May we have been doing field surveys in the East Alligator District of Kakadu National Park, getting out field testing the new Njanjma Rangers rock art management system. We have been doing this work with the Kakadu National Park district and cultural heritage staff. We all love doing this work. It might be hot walking around rocks, but we get to visit pretty cool places!  Nicholas Hall and Tristen Jones have been helping train up our new Bim team.

We hope that you find this website informative and that it keeps those that are interested in our bim work up to date with our activities.

It is still wet in Njanjma country now, but we are looking forward to a dry season with lots of activity and big steps forward. In May, the KWAST project will involve a field recording of rock art sites in the East Alligator River District of Kakadu National Park. This will be the first test of the new Njanjma bim management system. There is also important work underway to protect sites in the Red Lily Lagoon area, with decisions soon to be made about the upgrade to the dirt road that passes next to many important rock art sites. 

Stay tuned for more news as the year progresses!