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Indigenous Natural Resources Management

Economic analysis of investment in Indigenous natural resource management

Indigenous Australians directly own and/or manage approximately 20 per cent of Australia’s land area. They are therefore significant managers of Australia’s natural resources. They are also key stakeholders in the management of other areas and resources (e.g. water) over which they don’t hold the primary management role. Indigenous Australians also hold significant intellectual property in understanding and managing these natural resources.

Addressing Indigenous Cultural Values in Water Allocation Planning

Water allocation processes across tropical Australia are struggling with the question of how to acknowledge and protect Aboriginal values and interests in water-dependent ecosystems. Indigenous interests in environmental flows research and water resource policy have tended to be neglected; consequently Aboriginal people have rarely participated equitably in water management decision-making. This project examined international sociological approaches to environmental flow assessment and water management (more)...

Integrated natural and cultural resources management options for pastoral lands in the East Kimberley

The research project highlights the challenges involved in promoting sustainable development on Indigenous-held pastoral properties in the East Kimberley. Cultural traditions and aspirations, conventional natural resource management (NRM) practices and institutional issues all need to be addressed simultaneously to improve management outcomes in northern Australia. Integrated planning options identified by the project will inform policy makers on indigenous (more)...

An Agreement Approach that Recognises Customary Law in Water Management

The Anmatyerr water project worked from 2004-2008 as a collaborative team of Anmatyerr researchers, supervisors and participants and social and environmental scientists from universities and government. A number of projects were undertaken within this research initiative focussing on cultural water provisions in water allocation plans, equitable governance of water resources, culturally based livelihoods, training pathways, Indigenous water rights, and gender and water (more)...

Governance of water: an agreement model for customary law Governance

Aboriginal Law and culture in remote Australia remains active and strong. In this project, Professor Donna Craig and the Anmatyerr Water Team demonstrate a process for local active parties to take on management of places significant to them that improves cultural and natural heritage values and indigenous futures. There exist many places of significance to Aboriginal people that are not covered by formal management processes. In the NT this includes but is not (more)...

Recognising and protecting Indigenous values in water resource management

a report from a workshop held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT, 5-6 April 2006

A two-day workshop on Indigenous cultural values and water resource management was held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT in April 2006, with the aim of exploring what Indigenous managers of water resources in northern Australia could learn from other regions where water has been developed.

Indigenous Interests in Tropical Rivers: Research & Management Issues

of the Scoping Study for Land & Water Australia’s Tropical Rivers Program

The report was requested by Land and Water Australia (LWA) as a scoping study to provide information for their new Tropical Rivers Program.

Indigenous engagement in water management across northern Australia's Indigenous estate

The principal investigators, Joe Morrison and Sue Jackson from the Tropical Savannas Management Cooperative Research Centre, identified the need for a sound understanding of the current condition of river and wetland environments and their contemporary role in meeting the subsistence and spiritual needs of indigenous communities.