Minyumai Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) was dedicated in 2011. The IPA encompasses ancient rainforests and floodplain wetlands which act as a gateway to some of the largest coastal forests in far northern New South Wales. Minyumai IPA covers over 2,100 hectares of paperbark groves and scribbly gum, swamp mahogany and bloodwood forests, as well as rare patches of lush rainforest.
Minyumai IPA helps form a crucial wildlife corridor of more than 20,000 hectares, linking Tabbimobile Swamp Nature Reserve with Budjalung National Park and is home to many animals and birds including the wallum froglet, yellow bellied glider, powerful owl and the little bentwing bat.
The Bandjalang people have managed the Minyumai area for tens of thousands of years and today the Bandjalang clan strive to provide a place to nurture traditional values through conservation management and the application of cultural knowledge.
The Jahnala Yenbalehla Rangers will support natural resource management activities on the Minyumai IPA, in accordance with the IPA Plan of Management, MERI Plan and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature categories IV and VI for protected areas.
Ranger activities will include cultural heritage management, community education and developing economic opportunities - the ranger project outcomes will address the need for a sustainable workforce for the Bandjalang Traditional Owners, reinforce culture and community connection to country, and restore the ecosystems of the Minyumai IPA site that have been damaged by past land management practices.
