Susan Island Women's Trips

Susan Island holds great significance to the Nyami Julgaa group, who are the cultural custodians of the island and have a close and ongoing relationship to the place and its rainforest.

The women in this group have worked hard over the years to support bush regeneration efforts and are now seeing the revival of native plants and animals on the island that have traditionally been used for food, medicine and technology.

Clarence Valley Council has partnered with the Nyami Julgaa Women’s group and the Gumbanggyirr Rangers from Ngiyambandigay Wajaarr Aboriginal Corporation in taking local aboriginal elders and women out to visit Susan Island in 2023 and 2024.

The Susan Island Nature Reserve, with its intact remnant floodplain rainforest, is a seasonal home to grey-headed and little red flying-foxes each year. Flying-foxes are important seed dispersers and pollinators and are intricately linked to the health of our forests, the other wildlife that depend on these forests and the communities that are connected to them.

These women's trips demonstrate the link between flying-foxes and the island’s natural rainforest and significant cultural heritage.

We look forward to creating more opportunities for community engagement with flying-foxes and Susan Island through the Susan Island: Restoring to Reduce Conflict project.