Safeguarding our sacred islands: Traditional Owner-led Sea Country governance, planning and management in Australia
Ellie Bock
A * , Lorna Hudson B , Janella Isaac C , Tanya Vernes D , Bob Muir E , Terrence Whap F G , Melanie Dulfer-Hyams H , Melinda Mclean H and David Fell I
A Regional Advisory and Innovation Network (RAIN) P/L, PO Box 104, Mena Creek, Qld 4871, Australia.
B Mayala Traditional Owner and Elder, One Arm Point, WA, Australia.
C Mayala Traditional Owner, One Arm Point, WA, Australia.
D Pinanyi Consulting, Melbourne, Vic. 3793, Australia.
E Woppaburra Traditional Owner, Mount Morgan, Qld 4714, Australia.
F Goemulgal Director for Maluilgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation RNTBC, Mabuiag Island, Torres Strait, Mabuiag, Qld, Australia.
G Torres Strait Regional Authority Land and Sea Management Unit, Torres Strait, Thursday Island, Qld, Australia.
H Torres Strait Regional Authority Land and Sea Management Unit, Torres Strait, Thursday Island, Qld, Australia.
I Principal Ecologist, David Fell Environmental Pty Ltd, Alstonville, NSW, Australia.
Pacific Conservation Biology 28(4) 315-329 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21013
Submitted: 9 March 2021 Accepted: 5 October 2021 Published: 9 November 2021
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
This timely collation of case studies, written by and with Traditional Owners of diverse Australian offshore islands, offers direct insights into benefits arising from strategic and participatory action planning for biocultural island conservation and monitoring. We pay respect to the Old People and Elders whose dedicated care of their island homelands means we today can still experience their cultural and natural diversity. We extend greetings to our Pacifika neighbours, and to carers of islands around Earth. Our paper scopes socio-economic benefits arising from planning for islands, for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, and more generally. Global, national, state and local co-investments support place-specific planning for some islands by Traditional Owners as a starting point toward shared governance and caring for Country. Case studies describe Country planning for Mayala Country in Australia’s northwest, Woppaburra experiences within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and integrated biocultural health monitoring arising from remote island Indigenous Protected Area planning in Torres Strait. New institutional initiatives are also seeking to create solid foundations for more substantive island research collaborations. Across Australia, novel relationships grounded in culturally assured, holistically integrated approaches to island governance and caring for Country involving Traditional Owners and island resource users/managers are creating equity in livelihoods and stronger wellbeing. Australia’s innovative Sea Country collaborations, with priorities initiated and led by island Traditional Owners, carry real value for sustained island conservation and provide positive inspirations for global humanity in the accelerating Anthropocene.
Keywords: consent, country-based planning, cultural authority, governance, rights based approach, Saltwater People, self-agency, self-determination.
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