Rangers have been involved in successful helicopter mapping activities to relocate waterholes out of Punmu and Kunawarritji. The work was combined with waru (fire) work to look after the country.

Martu rangers and staff from Punmu and Kunawaritji schools came together recently (alongside many rangers and elders in Parnngurr) to learn and record elders’ language and stories.

KJ rangers teamed up with a crew of Trackcare volunteers in Kunawarritji to help build toilet facilities on the Canning Stock Route.

For the first time in history, a threatened species recovery plan for Night Parrots was drafted on country with help from rangers, setting a benchmark for government partnerships.

Fire management activities are well underway across Martu country. Following the Incendiary Machine Operator (IMO) training earlier in the year, each ranger team has undertaken aerial burning operations. This work is linking fire scars from previous years to produce fire breaks, and breaking up large areas of unburnt country — the rangers truly are managing fire on a landscape scale.

The Jigalong rangers have been working around Pinpi (Durba Hills) and Kaalpi (Calvert Ranges) to conduct monitoring work on the warru (black-flanked rock wallaby) population, to search for signs of a wiminyji (northern quoll) population and to carry out mankarr (bilby) surveys.

Some of the Martu Leadership team spent time in Melbourne attending a series of workshops, meetings and delivering presentations. They focussed on how companies run, who owns them and the role of members, directors, CEOs and staff.

Martu have been saying for a long time they would like to see more of KJ’s non-Martu staff learning their languages. It’s a message that hasn’t gone unheeded – as Martu have been coming into the office to teach staff, and bit-by-bit, they’re learning!

The last three months of cooler weather have seen rangers engaged in fire management activities across Martu Country.

In April, Kunawarritji rangers had a chance to mix with other central desert ranger groups at Central Land Council’s (CLC) Ranger Camp at Glen Helen, NT.