On a lava flow in Victoria, the Gunditjmara people built, thousands of years ago, a system of channels and traps to farm and catch eels: one of the oldest and most extensive aquaculture systems in the world. Budj Bim refutes the idea that Aboriginal Australians were only nomadic hunter-gatherers.
At a glance
The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, in south-western Victoria, is one of the oldest and most extensive aquaculture systems in the world. On the lava flows of the Budj Bim volcano, the Gunditjmara people built, over at least six thousand years, a network of channels, weirs and stone traps to harvest and farm kooyang (short-finned eel), supporting settled communities with stone dwellings. It overturns the idea that Aboriginal Australians were only nomadic hunter-gatherers, and was inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 for its cultural value.
Key facts
- UNESCO: World Heritage since 2019 (Budj Bim Cultural Landscape)
- Ancient aquaculture: among the oldest and largest in the world
- Gunditjmara people: built the eel-trap system over millennia
- Kooyang: the short-finned eel, farmed and harvested here
- On a lava flow: channels and traps built into the volcanic stone
- Settled life: evidence of permanent stone-walled dwellings
History
When the Budj Bim volcano erupted thousands of years ago, its lava flow created a landscape of stony rises and wetlands that the Gunditjmara people shaped to their needs. Over at least six millennia — far older than the Egyptian pyramids — they engineered channels, ponds and woven traps to manage the seasonal movement of eels, smoking and trading the catch, and built villages of stone houses nearby.
This sophisticated system, long known to the Gunditjmara and documented with their leadership, shows a settled, engineered way of life that challenges old assumptions about Aboriginal Australia. The landscape was inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 wholly on the basis of its Aboriginal cultural values, a milestone in Australian heritage.
What you see
Trails through the Budj Bim and surrounding reserves reveal the stony lava landscape with its crater lakes and wetlands, the lines of ancient channels and the remains of stone fish-traps and dwelling circles, interpreted with the Gunditjmara community. Eels still move through the waters as they have for millennia.
The quiet volcanic country, read through Gunditjmara knowledge, reveals one of humanity’s oldest engineered landscapes.
Practical information
- Site: Gunditjmara-guided tours; reserves around Budj Bim and Lake Condah
- Time needed: half a day
- Note: guided tours give the cultural context
- Setting: in south-western Victoria, near Macarthur
Getting there
Budj Bim is in south-western Victoria, Australia, near Macarthur and Heywood, about 300 km west of Melbourne and inland from Portland. It is reached by road. GPS: 38.05° S, 141.92° E.
Nearby
- Portland — the historic coastal town to the south
- Great Ocean Road — the famous coastal drive to the east
- Grampians — the mountain range with Aboriginal rock art
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — “Budj Bim Cultural Landscape” (ref. 1577)
- Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners / Parks Victoria — official body
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Aboriginal Australians
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