Nangak Tamboree (pronounced: nan-ynack tam-bor-ee) means respecting, sharing and looking after the waterway in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people.
The 2km waterway runs through the heart of the University and provides habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna, including threatened species such as Swift Parrots, Powerful Owls, Dwarf Galaxids and Matted Flax-Lily.
Nangak Tamboree connects the University to the wider community and environment, by providing a vital link from the bushland reserves, including the Gresswell Habitat Link and Gresswell Forest, in the north, through La Trobe’s Wildlife Sanctuary and main campus, eventually flowing into Darebin Creek in the south.
La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar said Nangak Tamboree is a significant natural amenity, with important environmental and sustainability benefits for Melbourne’s North and beyond.
“The La Trobe Nangak Tamboree is a key component of the University’s 10-year, $5 billion University City of the Future plan,” Professor Dewar said.
“Embedded in this plan is our commitment to protect and better utilise this hidden, but valuable, environmental asset for the benefit of students, staff, and the wider community.”
The eco-corridor is a vital living laboratory for La Trobe students and staff, La Trobe partners, local schools, and the wider community. It attracts wildlife, sustains native fauna and supports research.
In addition, the eco-corridor is an essential community space for nature-lovers, walkers, runners, cyclists, commuters and families.
The naming of Nangak Tamboree has been a collaborative process with the traditional owners of the land La Trobe is sited on, the Wurundjeri people, through the Wurundjeri Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council and the University’s Indigenous Elder, Aunty Joy Murphy.
La Trobe will maximise the benefits of Nangak Tamboree through its Eco-Corridor Neighbourhood plan – a vital part of its University City of the Future vision.
Nangak Tamboree will be enhanced by:
- Building partnerships: creating a shared stewardship of this valuable regional asset
- Increasing sustainability and improving biodiversity: setting new standards to protect and enhance the natural environment
- Blurring boundaries: creating new pathways to travel through and new spaces for everyone to meet, live, study, work and play
- Improving resilience to severe weather events: remodelling the lakes and moat systems to protect our region from the extremes of flooding and drought
- Educating the community: supporting the delivery of tertiary teaching and research while forging new links with local schools
- Respecting cultural heritage: taking a lead from local custodians of the land and sharing an understanding of the value of our waterways
New signage, announcing the naming of Nangak Tamboree, was unveiled on Monday at the University’s Wildlife Sanctuary.
For more information and vision of the La Trobe Nangak Tamboree eco-corridor, click here.
Media contact: Dragana Mrkaja – 0447 508 171 – d.mrkaja@latrobe.edu.au
