An Indigenous PhD candidate has created a First Nations song and dance program for preschoolers that she hopes will nurture the next generation to protect one of the country's iconic creatures.
Biripai woman Arlene Mehan co-created the Guula Gimbay program to inform her research, which is focusing on the use of sounds and language on country and how traditional ecological knowledge informs people for koala conservation.
Ms Mehan and Aboriginal educators from the Birpai nation would sit with preschool children over a period of four weeks, talking about the sounds they could hear on country, learning songs in Gathang language with dance movements and learning how to look for signs of koalas.
She said Guula Gimbay used Aboriginal ecological knowledge, song and dance to teach the children about koalas – or guula in Gathang language – and how to care for them in the hope they would become lifelong custodians.
"We are trying to build the next generation as eco-warriors," Ms Mehan said.
"This program really focuses on 'ngarraliyn' deep listening to country and allows younger people to have that experience of relating to the sounds and what they mean."
Conservation starts with 'little ones'
Birpai elder Aunty Rhonda Radley, who is managing the program, said she hoped it would continue.
"If you really want to teach the community, I believe you need to start with the little ones — they are our future leaders," she said.
Aunty Rhonda, who has recently completed her PHD research into how hand gestures assist children with learning the Gathang language, said she had seen her work come to life while rolling out the program.
Port Macquarie Community Preschool educator Lori-Ann McKinnon said she had been working with Aunty Rhonda to develop the koala songs in Gathang language.
"The hand gestures have really helped, not only learn the language but for the rhythm — especially when you have the [hand gesture] guula ears going up and down they know where you're up to in the song when they go slower and faster," she said.
Education 'crucial' for survival
There has been an estimated 30 per cent decline in koalas across Australia in the past five years according to the Australia Koala Foundation, with NSW being the worst affected with a 41 per cent decline.
Koala Conservation Australia general manager Maria Doherty said while some of the decline would have been caused by fires, their biggest threat was habitat loss.
"Port Macquarie has one of the very few significant populations in an urban environment," she said.
"We've never seen anything like this before in terms of the decline of the koala populations."
Ms Doherty said education was a key to engage the community and to get people to understand the importance of koalas.
"To engage with young people from such an early age and to embed that understanding is really key to changing the culture," she said.
"It's the way to go for the future, you've got wildlife warriors pretty much for the rest of their lives."
Aunty Rhonda said looking after country couldn't be taught in a classroom.
"We have to actually be on country, so the children have that sensory experience with country," she said.
"It's the way that we would have been teaching and talking to the children in the natural environment and engaging the senses in that experience.
"We would have had songlines — pathways where koala/guula moved on country, things that would tell us that koalas have been here, which we shared with the little ones about tracking."
