Deen Maar Indigenous Protected Area: A Coastal Geography of Gunditjmara Country in Victoria

Deen Maar is best known for being the first Indigenous Protected Area declared in Victoria and for its position at the interface between Aboriginal cultural heritage, a compact coastal landscape, and an internationally recognized bird conservation area. Its name itself reflects the cultural geography of Gunditjmara country, drawing directly from the offshore island of Deen Maar, or Lady Julia Percy Island, visible from the shore. The reserve is also known for the unusual concentration of habitats packed into its small footprint: limestone ridges, coastal wetlands, shallow lakes, and dune systems, all framed by Bass Strait and the Eumeralla River estuary. This combination of cultural significance, landscape diversity, and importance for threatened shorebirds and parrots gives the IPA a significance well beyond its modest size.

The landscape around Deen Maar has been part of Gunditjmara country, particularly the country of the Peek Whurrong speakers of the Dhauwurdwurung, for generations. In the mid-19th century this stretch of coast became a flashpoint in the wider history of Aboriginal and colonial contact in Victoria. In 1842, Deen Maar was the site of conflict between the Aboriginal people of the area and European colonists. This conflict is known as part of the Eumeralla Wars, a prolonged struggle between Aboriginal groups and settlers that continued for roughly twenty years. Physical remains of people involved in those events are still located at Deen Maar, embedding a difficult chapter of colonial history directly into the landscape.

In the late twentieth century, the site entered a new chapter as an expression of Aboriginal land management and self-determination. In 1993, the property was purchased by ATSIC on behalf of the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, with the explicit intention that the land become an Indigenous Protected Area. That objective was formally achieved on 8 November 1999, when Deen Maar was declared as an Indigenous Protected Area, becoming the first IPA in Victoria. Its classification as an IUCN Category VI protected area reflects its character as a place where Aboriginal cultural values, long-term ecological conservation, and careful use of natural resources come together.

Deen Maar occupies a narrow coastal strip where several contrasting terrains meet. Limestone ridges rise from the landscape, framing a system of wetlands and shallow lakes behind the dunes. The dunes themselves form a shifting barrier between the terrestrial environments and Bass Strait. Beyond the shore, the island of Deen Maar (Lady Julia Percy Island) sits offshore, giving the IPA its name and shaping the visual character of the coast.

The Eumeralla River defines one side of the reserve, while Bass Strait defines the other. This combination of river, wetland, dune, and ocean produces a compressed but unusually varied coastal landscape. The terrain is low-lying and shaped by the constant interplay of freshwater, saltwater, and wind, producing a mosaic of calcareous limestone, saturated ground, moving sand, and open water in close proximity to one another.

Although Deen Maar covers only a few square kilometres, the combination of limestone ridges, freshwater wetlands, shallow lakes, dune systems, and adjacent ocean shoreline creates a layered ecological setting. The calcareous soils of the limestone ridges, the periodically flooded wetland basins, and the shifting sands of the coastal dunes support different plant and animal communities within a short distance of one another.

The IPA also sits within the Yambuk Important Bird Area, an area recognized by BirdLife International for its role in supporting threatened bird species. This designation reflects the importance of the broader mosaic of habitats, particularly the wetland and shoreline environments, for birds that depend on this stretch of south-west Victorian coast.

The IPA's wildlife values are closely tied to its birdlife. Because Deen Maar falls within the Yambuk Important Bird Area, it contributes to the protection of species that BirdLife International has identified as priorities for conservation. Among these are the orange-bellied parrot, one of Australia's most threatened parrots, which relies on coastal habitats in south-eastern Australia, and the hooded plover, a vulnerable shorebird that nests on sandy beaches.

The mix of wetlands, dunes, and shoreline provides feeding and roosting habitat for these and other waterbirds and shorebirds, while the limestone ridges, lakes, and native vegetation of the broader reserve support additional fauna typical of south-west Victorian coastal environments. The compact scale of the reserve means that even small adjustments to habitat quality at Deen Maar can be significant for local wildlife populations.

Deen Maar's conservation significance operates on several levels. As an Indigenous Protected Area, it reflects a model of protected-area governance in which Aboriginal people are the primary custodians of land and culture together, rather than conservation being purely an external government exercise. Its IUCN Category VI designation indicates recognition of that approach, emphasizing sustainable use alongside conservation outcomes.

At the broader ecological level, the IPA lies within the Yambuk Important Bird Area, recognized by BirdLife International because of its importance for threatened species such as the orange-bellied parrot and the hooded plover. By contributing to the integrity of this larger bird area, Deen Maar plays a role in regional efforts to maintain habitat for some of Australia's most vulnerable bird species. Its position at the meeting of the Eumeralla River, wetland systems, and Bass Strait gives the conservation effort a stronger ecological reach than its modest area alone might suggest.

Deen Maar carries deep cultural meaning for Gunditjmara people. The land belongs to the Peek Whurrong speakers of the Dhauwurdwurung, and the IPA itself takes its name from the offshore island of Deen Maar, also called Lady Julia Percy Island, known in local tradition as 'this man here'. In the 1990s the site's purchase by ATSIC for the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, and its later declaration as the first IPA in Victoria, marked a deliberate step by Aboriginal people to protect a place of both cultural and ecological significance under their own stewardship.

The landscape also preserves a difficult and layered colonial history. The events of 1842 at Deen Maar, part of the broader Eumeralla Wars, are not just background context: physical remains of people involved in those conflicts rest at the site. As a result, Deen Maar functions simultaneously as a place of continuing Aboriginal connection, a contested colonial history, and a contemporary example of Aboriginal-led land management.

Deen Maar stands out for the unusually rich layering of cultural, historical, and ecological values on a very small coastal reserve. The IPA is the first to be declared in Victoria, sits on Gunditjmara country with strong ties to Gunditjmara language and identity, and draws its name directly from the nearby island of Deen Maar, or Lady Julia Percy Island.

Ecologically, its inclusion in the Yambuk Important Bird Area places it within a network of habitat important for threatened species such as the orange-bellied parrot and the hooded plover. The combination of limestone ridges, wetlands, lakes, and dunes, all bounded by the Eumeralla River and Bass Strait, gives the protected area a striking physical character in a compact footprint.

As a small coastal reserve on Bass Strait, Deen Maar reflects the broader seasonal rhythm of south-west Victoria. Cooler months typically bring changeable weather, stronger swell, and active storm shaping of the dunes and shoreline, while the warmer months tend to offer calmer conditions for walking along the beach and exploring the coastal flats. For visitors interested in shorebirds such as the hooded plover, the warmer months are often associated with nesting activity along sandy beaches, while the cooler months can be a time of greater movement and foraging by waterbirds in the wetlands. As with much of the south-west Victorian coast, visitors should expect weather to vary quickly and conditions to feel cooler and windier than inland areas at any time of year.