A rare Aboriginal water tree discovered beside Kardinya Primary School is bringing Indigenous knowledge into the classroom, as experts and elders call for its protection.

A Gnaama Boorna is a tree that has been carved to form bowl-like hollows to collect and store fresh rainwater.

University of Western Australia biodiversity professor Stephen Hopper says the discovery is rare.

“I only know of about three or four in metropolitan Perth and in Kardinya, there is this one, and maybe two or three others that were partially constructed near the primary school,” he says.

He knows of up to three such trees around Lake Carine, one in Kings Park, and another near the Kelmscott Shire offices.

Dr Hopper says it’s only in the past five years that Gnaama Boorna trees have been identified, with more than 70 discovered near Denmark and Albany.

Merningar woman and Elder Lynette Knapp says the trees were intentionally shaped by Aboriginal people generations ago in areas where fresh water was scarce.

“They would wait for the tree to grow to a certain height before hollowing out the centre, allowing the limbs to grow around the trunk rather than into it,” she says.

“As the tree thickened, they would burn a hole into the middle and carve channels into the branches so rainwater would run down into the hollow and collect inside.”

Dr Hopper says creating a Gnaama Boorna could take between 150 and 200 years.

“It was multiple generations carefully guiding the tree as it grew,” he says.

“You had to wait until the trunk of the tree got big enough to hold the basin in it.

“It was not just an instantly born Gnaama Boorna.”

Dr Hopper says the trees were also linked to important cultural pathways.

“Elders or spiritual guardians would watch over these places and decide who could pass through,” he says.

“Certain crossing points were significant because they were the only safe way through, and people needed permission to enter.”

Kardinya Primary School principal Mel Clark says staff were unaware of the tree’s significance until it was identified during a chance visit.

Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji Two-way Science program leaders Rita Lusted and David Bourne discovered the tree while meeting with the school’s science coordinator.

“It wasn’t something even I knew about as the school principal until Rita Lusted told me”, she says.

On June 12, Karidnya Primary School will host 18 schools for the 2026 Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji Two-way Science conference.  

The school was chosen to host the event because of the significance of the discovery.

Ms Clark says the school is now working with Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji directors and local Elder Noel Nannup to incorporate the discovery into student learning.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work with an elder to upskill our staff in terms of how we bring that perspective more into our teaching,” she says.

“Even a lot of teachers who go through university don’t actually have a handle on what has occurred in the past.”

Kardinya Primary School science coordinator Fabiana Ramos Vasques Walters says the discovery of the Gnamma Boorna tree has been powerful for students.

“It’s helped them realise important stories, knowledge and environmental connections can exist in places we walk past every day,” she says.

“Students can see caring for the environment is not just about protecting plants or animals; it’s also about listening, observing carefully, respecting history, and understanding the deep cultural and environmental significance of places within our community.”

University of Western Australia biodiversity professor Stephen Hopper says many Gnaama Boorna trees remain undocumented and unprotected.

He says the trees are so rare that even land managers and agencies, including the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, don’t know where they’re located.

“The next thing to do is to go to land managers who are applying fire and say can you check where the Gnaama Boorna are and make sure they’re protected from the fire?”

Ms Knapp says she also wants to see greater awareness and protection of Gnaama Boorna trees.

She says the trees are an important reminder of how Aboriginal people lived sustainably from the land for thousands of years.

“We were living off the bush and using Gnaama Boorna long, long before Hungry Jack’s, McDonald’s, and all those fast-food places came out,” she says. 

“People go all over the world to look at Indigenous places, but they sort of miss our purpose in life and the way our lives were created. We belong to the creation story from 80,000 years ago.”

Kardinya Primary School principal Mel Clark is working with local elders to preserve the stories of the area for future generations.

“We are working on making QR codes that link to these stories,” she says.

“When classrooms and future generations of kids go there, they will be able to learn and become more aware of its history.”