Ecology
Introduction
Victoria’s landscapes are rich in biodiversity—rivers, grasslands, forests, and coasts that sustained Aboriginal communities for tens of thousands of years. For the First Peoples, biodiversity was not an abstract idea but Country itself: every plant, animal, and waterway tied to law, story, and survival.
At the heart of this relationship was aquaculture. The Budj Bim eel channels of the Gunditjmara and the eel harvests of Lake Connewarre in Wadawurrung Country are two of the most striking examples. They represent some of the world’s oldest aquaculture systems, where ecological knowledge was transformed into engineering, ceremony, and trade.
This article explores Aboriginal custodianship of biodiversity, with a comparative study of Gunditjmara and Wadawurrung aquaculture, followed by the disruptions of colonisation and the resurgence of these traditions today.
Biodiversity in Aboriginal Victoria
Country as Biodiversity
Aboriginal nations across Victoria—including the Wadawurrung, Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta, and Kulin peoples—lived within landscapes designed for diversity.
Fire-stick farming: Controlled, low-intensity burns created patchworks of habitat, keeping kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra) dominant and supporting kangaroos, wallabies, and birds (Gammage 2011).
Seasonal calendars: Ecological time was tracked through flowering plants, animal migrations, and star movements. For example, the flowering of the cherry ballart or the call of a bird signalled eel runs.
Totemic responsibilities: Each clan had responsibilities to protect species and habitats, embedding ecological care into kinship and law (Barwick 1998).
Case Study 1: Gunditjmara and Budj Bim
On Gunditjmara Country in south-west Victoria lies one of the most extraordinary examples of ancient aquaculture: the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019.
Stone channels and ponds: For at least 6,600 years, Gunditjmara people used volcanic rocks from lava flows to build channels, weirs, and ponds that diverted water into holding areas where kooyang (short-finned eels) were trapped and fattened.
Sustainability: Harvests were carefully timed with seasonal cycles. Excess eels were smoked and stored for months or traded across the region, connecting Gunditjmara to vast exchange networks.
Cultural authority: Aquaculture was also ceremonial. Elders ensured the system was maintained, and knowledge of stone arrangements, eel migrations, and water flows was passed down as law.
Budj Bim represents one of the world’s oldest known aquaculture systems, rivaling ancient practices in Egypt and China, but rooted in Aboriginal Country and kinship law.
Case Study 2: Wadawurrung and Lake Connewarre
Further east, along the Barwon River system, the Wadawurrung managed the Lake Connewarre wetlands, a vast ecological hub near present-day Geelong.
Eel harvests: Each autumn, when eels migrated downstream to spawn in the ocean, Wadawurrung families set up nets, traps, and weirs to capture them. Harvests were plentiful enough to support large gatherings and ceremonial events.
Biodiversity hub: Lake Connewarre was also rich in swans, pelicans, brolgas, and edible plants such as murnong (yam daisy). Its wetlands were carefully tended, with fire used to promote food species and attract birds and kangaroos.
Ceremonial gatherings: Eel harvests coincided with tanderrum ceremonies, in which visiting groups were formally welcomed onto Wadawurrung Country. Food, law, and kinship were bound together in these gatherings (Clark 1990).
Though less engineered than Budj Bim, Lake Connewarre reveals the same principle: aquaculture as biodiversity management, grounded in ecological law and cultural obligation.
Shared Principles of Gunditjmara and Wadawurrung Aquaculture
Despite their differences in scale and method, Budj Bim and Lake Connewarre reflect shared Aboriginal principles:
Integration of ecology and law: Aquaculture was tied to ceremony, kinship, and totems.
Engineering within Country: Both groups shaped water systems without destroying them, enhancing natural cycles rather than replacing them.
Sustainability: Seasonal cycles were respected—taking eels only when abundant, never to the point of depletion.
Cultural economy: Both systems supported trade, feasting, and diplomacy, embedding aquaculture in social as well as ecological life.
Colonisation and Ecological Decline
Dispossession and Suppression
The 1830s arrival of squatters devastated these systems.
Squatter licenses enclosed wetlands and rivers, cutting off Aboriginal communities from eel-harvesting sites (Reynolds 1987).
Missions and Protectorates banned ceremonies and criminalised Aboriginal food practices.
Habitat Destruction
Wetland draining: Lake Connewarre’s marshes were drained for grazing and agriculture, breaking eel cycles.
Overgrazing: Sheep destroyed yam daisy fields, collapsing native grassland ecosystems.
River engineering: Weirs and dams along the Barwon and Hopkins Rivers blocked eel migrations.
Species Loss
Introduced predators (foxes, cats) and altered fire regimes caused the decline of bettongs, quolls, and many bird species.
Aboriginal Resistance and Continuity
Despite enormous pressures, Aboriginal people resisted:
Gunditjmara resistance: The Eumeralla Wars (1830s–40s) were fought in defence of Budj Bim Country and aquaculture.
Wadawurrung continuity: Families continued fishing along the Barwon River and Connewarre wetlands in secret, passing knowledge orally.
Cultural memory: Songs, stories, and totemic responsibilities carried biodiversity knowledge into the present.
Contemporary Revival
Cultural Fire and Biodiversity
Traditional Owner groups are restoring cultural burning, re-establishing habitats for plants and animals while reducing destructive bushfires.
Aquaculture Renewal
Budj Bim: Gunditjmara custodians are restoring stone channels, educating visitors, and reintroducing eel harvesting within cultural protocols.
Lake Connewarre: Wadawurrung-led projects are rehabilitating wetlands, protecting migratory bird habitats, and reviving eel knowledge through education programs.
Policy and Recognition
UNESCO listing of Budj Bim has placed Victorian Aboriginal aquaculture on the world stage.
Yoorrook Justice Commission has documented the destruction of eel systems as part of truth-telling.
Co-management frameworks now see Traditional Owners partner with Parks Victoria and DEECA in biodiversity management.
Conclusion
Biodiversity and aquaculture in Victoria reveal both ancient ingenuity and colonial disruption. Gunditjmara and Wadawurrung aquaculture systems—Budj Bim and Lake Connewarre—show how Aboriginal communities engineered sustainable food systems that were ecological, ceremonial, and diplomatic.
Colonisation devastated these practices, draining wetlands, fencing Country, and criminalising ceremony. Yet today, these systems are being revived. The return of cultural fire, the restoration of Budj Bim, and the renewal of Lake Connewarre projects demonstrate that biodiversity cannot be protected without Aboriginal law and leadership.
The lesson of Victoria’s aquaculture is simple but profound: sustainability is not a new science, but an old law, written into stone channels, eel cycles, and the wetlands of Country.
References
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Monograph.
Broome, R. (2005). Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Clark, I.D. (1990). Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Melbourne: Monash Publications in Geography.
Critchett, J. (1990). A Distant Field of Murder: Western District Frontiers, 1834–1848. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Gammage, B. (2011). The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Reynolds, H. (1987). The Law of the Land. Ringwood: Penguin.
UNESCO (2019). Budj Bim Cultural Landscape World Heritage Nomination. Paris: UNESCO
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 September 2025)
MLA
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
www.magiclandsalliance.org
Copyright MLA – 2025
Magic Lands Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples’ communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of their respective communities.