Nangak Tamboree

The critically endangered Matted Flax-lily (Dianella amoena) resurfaced along Darebin Creek following the re-introduction of cultural burning.

Read our article

Over the next decade, La Trobe University is evolving into a world-class University City of the Future at our 235 hectare Melbourne campus in Bundoora. The new infrastructure will turn our campus 'inside out' and welcome the local community onto the campus as a place to live, learn, work, socialise and stay healthy.

Nangak Tamboree is a key part of our University of the Future.

About the Nangak Tamboree

La Trobe University acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands where its campuses are located in Victoria. We pay our respects to the Wurundjeri people, the Elders past and present.

Nangak Tamboree (nan-nyack tam-bor-ee) means respecting/sharing/looking after the waterway in Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people.

Nangak Tamboree is a very special space on the Melbourne Campus of La Trobe University. A living laboratory for students, staff and the wider community, its waterways connect with the local creeks, attract wildlife and support native flora.

Nangak Tamboree is a biodiverse waterway corridor which links La Trobe University to the wider community and environment. Connecting with Darebin Creek in the south, it runs through the Bundoora campus to the Wildlife Sanctuary and beyond to the north. A long-term project as part of the University’s Master Plan will see this neighbourhood enhanced and protected over the coming years for the benefit of the University and its neighbours.

During the Spring of 2018, the University engaged with the students, staff and the Indigenous community to name the Nangak Tamboree, creating an identity which reflects its Indigenous heritage. You can explore the map to find out more about the naming campaign.

Nangak Tamboree Vision

The project has, through comprehensive internal and external consultation, established a Vision and a suite of short, medium and long term capital works projects to develop this unique bio-diverse waterway corridor, maximising benefits to the land, the university and the community.

Nangak Tamboree will create an inviting, open and culturally aware space that protects our biodiversity and connects our communities. It will maximise the benefits to the University and its neighbours 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 in
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

Download the Nangak Tamboree Vision [PDF 1.54MB]

Our projects

A Flood modelling report, Vision and Feasibility Study (suite of short, medium and long-term capital works projects) were published in January 2018. Five projects will help us to enhance and protect Nangak Tamboree by:

Creating greater campus amenity
Reducing risk from severe weather events
Creating teaching and learning, living laboratories
Increasing habitat for endemic flora and fauna
Increasing access to the local community and school students
Recognising and providing connections for Indigenous staff and students.

Find out more about our projects below.

As part of La Trobe’s long-term commitment to enhance and protect Nangak Tamboree, the full riparian corridor along the waterway will be revegetated over the next 5-10 years.

Phase one of the project, which commenced in February 2021, covers the Darebin Creek frontage and involves regenerating indigenous plant species and managing weed infestation through Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung fire practice and manual weed removal, and revegetating 92,000 m2 with indigenous plant species. Nearby, works have also commenced on Stage 3 of the Sports Park development.

The project will be implemented through a collaboration between Melbourne Water, the Darebin Creek Management Committee, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation (WWCHAC) and La Trobe University.

Phase one of the project will be completed in December 2023.

This project would like to acknowledge the support of the Ross Trust.

Planned burn along Darebin Creek - Autumn 2022

As part of the project, Darebin Creek Management Committee and Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Narrap Rangers will schedule an additional planned burn along the Darebin Creek during Autumn 2022, to help manage weeds and regenerate native plant species.

The burn will be carried out on a day of low fire risk may take place over a number of days and up to a few hours at a time. People in the vicinity many see small amounts of localised smoke.

This planned burn will follow on from the cultural burn that was conducted earlier this year, which followed the cultural protocols of healing and caring for Country. Read more about the re-introduction of cultural burning as part of the project and how the critically endangered Matted Flax-lily (Dianella amoena) recently resurfaced along Darebin Creek following the practice.

Protecting the endangered Matted Flax-lily

La Trobe has also been working the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to salvage the Matted Flax-lily (Dianella amoena) in the Sports Park project area for propagation and then re-establishment in a dedicated and protected area in the Nangak Tamboree. View our Offset Management Plan and our Salvage and Translocation Plan.

Stage 2: June 2021 - December 2021

Stage 2 of the project commenced in June 2021 and involves 24 rain gardens to be constructed in Car Parks 3, 4 and 6 at the Melbourne Campus.

Raingardens work by filtering stormwater through layers of plants, sand, soil and fabric before it flows into the moat and Darebin Creek, thereby improving the quality of the waterway for flora and fauna. Pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as suspended solids and stormwater discharge, are all captured in the raingarden and prevented from entering the waterway.

This project has been assisted by the Victorian Government through Melbourne Water Corporation as part of the Liveable Communities, Liveable Waterways Program.

Stage 1: August 2020 - February 2021

Stage 1 of the project involved the installation of 12 raingardens (biofilter beds) across three car parks at the Melbourne Campus to naturally treat and clean storm water it before it reaches the moat.

Together with the Fozzies Wetland project, these works will remove pollutants from entering La Trobe’s moat system and flowing into Darebin Creek, including:

110 kg of Nitrogen;
19 kg of Phosphorus;
13,000 kg of suspended solids; and
3.6 megalitres of stormwater discharge

The project commenced in August 2020 and was completed in February 2021.

This project has been assisted by the Victorian Government through Melbourne Water Corporation as part of the Living Rivers Stormwater Program.

La Trobe is creating a new shared cycling and pedestrian pathway right through the heart of the Melbourne Campus in Bundoora.

The 1.9km pathway will link up Plenty Road and Polaris Shopping Centre at the north of the campus with the Sports Park and Darebin Creek to the south.

The new 3-4 metre wide shared pathway will be for everyone to use and enjoy – people riding bikes skateboards and scooters, people walking or jogging, and families and children.

It will include lighting and directional and wayfinding signage to provide a safer route for people riding bikes or walking, and to create connections with the surrounding community such as the La Trobe University Melbourne Campus, the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary, local shopping precincts, Darebin Creek Trail and nearby bushland reserves.

The La Trobe Shared Pathway project is part of the Northern Regional Trails Strategy and is supported by the Victorian Government through the Northern Metropolitan Trails Program. The project commenced in late October 2021 and will be completed in June 2022.

As part of this project, students studying Archaeology at La Trobe University were involved in site excavations which uncovered more than 40 indigenous stone artefacts near Darebin Creek.

This project involves construction of waterway channel, low level bund and water overflow to divert and direct Strathallan Creek.

In collaboration with Melbourne Water, Darebin City Council, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Parks Victoria and Strathallan Golf Club this project aims to improve the environment of the Habitat Link wetlands and reduce the severity of flooding for the Melbourne Campus, holding and diverting flood waters into the Gresswell lakes during incidents of extreme rainfall.

This project is currently in design and has been assisted by the Victorian Government through Melbourne Water Corporation as part of the Integrated Incentives Scheme Program.

The Fozzies Wetland project involved a number of works that will improve the wetland habitat – located at the entrance to the Wildlife Sanctuary – to support environmental improvement.

Works include the removal of weeds and sediment; improving the wetland bund and embankment; improving stormwater capture and reuse; and, providing safer pedestrian access to the Wildlife Sanctuary.

The project will also enhance the waterway for a population of endangered native freshwater Galaxias fish living in the wetland.

The project commenced in August 2020 and was completed in February 2021.

This project has been assisted by the Victorian Government through Melbourne Water Corporation as part of the Living Rivers Stormwater Program.