South Coast Aboriginal Elders Regenerating Country

After successfully raising money for Aboriginal Elders and families devastated by the fires on the south coast of NSW, we are ready to shift up a gear and begin work on our big picture goal!
We aim to regenerate Country and create employment for Koori and at-risk youth, practising time-honoured Aboriginal practices of landcare, cultural burning and eco-sensitive building. 
The South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders need your help to get up and running! Your donation will help fund computers and furnishings for our new office, recompense elders for their valuable time and teaching, offer incentives to Koori and at-risk youth to spend time 'on Country' learning from the elders, and being a new era in sharing knowledge and wisdom with the wider community.
That includes you! We can't wait to invite you to visit us and spend time with the elders and other experts in local ecosystems and timeless stories of wonder and belonging. 
So please come along for the journey, donate generously for the best project ever, and prepare yourself to sink into the deep feeling of being embraced by the South Coast's gentle but powerful vibes!


Learn the uses of local waterholes in the company of the elders. 


The SCAE fire crew and regeneration team


Country needs people to care for it. 


Walbanja Elder Uncle Owen Carriage on our beautiful south coast. We're ready to welcome you, but first we need to set up our programs!

This fund raising campaign was set up by Dr Geoff Berry, an expert in cultural history, who has been working with local Walbanja elders Owen Carriage and Les Simon to fund ways to better support Aboriginal communities on the south coast of NSW. Geoff now lives and works on the south coast and the three core members of the South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders team meet regularly in Batemans Bay for a cuppa and a yarn. They were joined by Environmental Scientist Prue Bartlett in late 2019, but just as we were gearing up to get the org started - bam! The bushfires hit. Then, as we were picking ourselves up from that devastating blow to Country, we went into lockdown.

It's been a tough start! But now we are used to the rules of social distancing and Covid-safe practices, we have started to get out there and initiate some 'cultural burning' on private lands. The problem is, we need funds to support the fire crews, while we set them up as a sustainable business. By paying the elders to lead burns and paying trainees to attend them and learn the ancient art, we can create a new business model that will Care for Country and create employment for Aboriginal youth along the coast. 

The crews are ready to go, we have the gear and we have land owners keen to have us on their properties - now we just need your help to pay for all this! 

Kind regards, 
Geoff Berry, 
CEO SCAE.