The Mens Shed took a trip to the Leonards Hill DJAARA Timber project to enjoy a day out on country with an enjoyable and informative tour by host Peter. A fantastic meal was enjoyed by all through the efforts of Mitch, Jamaal and Sam. The Mens shed members enjoyed yarning around the fire, without any worries of collecting firewood to burn, and creating Redgum timber pieces from the fallen limb of the Guildford Big Tree.

DJAARA Timbers is a Dja Dja Wurrung specialty and cultural timbers project.  .

It is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to honour trees by producing high-value timber products for cultural use, furniture, park signage, shelters, artistic installations and musical instruments.  

DJAARA Timbers sources timber grown on Djandak. We do not remove large native trees and habitat trees for timber.

DJAARA have received some windthrown trees from the Wombat State Forest following the storms of 2021. Some of this material has been sourced by DJAARA, and some of it has been gifted by the land manager, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).

Other timber has been sourced from the by-product of essential tree works in the Hepburn Shire Council. This is native and non-native waste-stream timber from trees that the Shire has to remove, for example, for safety reasons. DJAARA Timbers can mill this timber, which would otherwise be mulched or used for firewood.

Smaller timber from cultural thinning is also used for select cultural or high-value uses. Cultural thinning is one of the tools in our Galk-galk Dhelkunya (Forest Gardening) holistic kitbag.

DJAARA Timbers also salvaged timber from the Guildford Big Tree, which dropped two large limbs in 2024. The tree holds special significance for Dja Dja Wurrung People (Djaara), and the Djaara community is in discussion about how its timber should be used. At least some will be used by Djaara community members to create highly valued cultural crafts and artworks that will be locally exhibited.