Transcript Managing Acidification Risk using GIS in the River Murray

Kungun Ngarrindjeri Yunnan
Innovations in Ngarrindjeri and Government Engagement
Authors: Lachlan Sutherland (Department of Environment , Water and Natural Resources), Steve Hemming (Flinders University), Daryle Rigney
(Flinders University)
Building Ngarrindjeri core capacity to
Care for Yarluwar-Ruwe
Introduction
In 2009 the Ngarrindjeri nation in South
Australia negotiated a new agreement with
the State of South Australia that
recognised traditional ownership of
Ngarrindjeri lands and waters and
established a process for negotiating and
supporting Ngarrindjeri rights and
responsibilities for country (Ruwe).
In line with Ngarrindjeri processes, it takes
the form of a whole-of-government,
contract agreement between the
Ngarrindjeri nation and the State of South
Australia.
Called a Kungun Ngarrindjeri Yunnan
agreement (KNY - Listen to what
Ngarrindjeri have to say), it provides for a
resourced, formal structure for meetings
and negotiations between the Ngarrindjeri
Regional Authority (NRA) and government,
universities and other non-Indigenous
organisations.
The NRA includes in its vision for
Ngarrindjeri people, the following
overarching statement:
Our Lands, Our Waters, Our People, All
Living Things are connected. We implore
people to respect our Ruwe (Country) as it
was created in the Kaldowinyeri (the
Creation). We long for sparkling, clean
waters, healthy land and people and all
living things. We long for the YarluwarRuwe (Sea Country) of our ancestors. Our
vision is all people Caring, Sharing,
Knowing and Respecting the lands, the
waters and all living things.
(Ngarrindjeri Nation 2006:5)
The KNY Agreement was fundamental in
ensuring the State acknowledged Ngarrindjeri
interests in Caring for Country (natural and
cultural resource management) and ensuring
these interests were included in the planning,
development and allocation of funding for the
Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth
(CLLMM) program.
The Department of Environment , Water and
Natural Resources (DEWNR) and the NRA
worked closely to develop the Ngarrindjeri
Partnerships Project (NPP), one of nineteen
management actions under the CLLMM
program and its key Aboriginal engagement
strategy.
The KNY Agreement has been the basis for
facilitating new partnerships and
engagement initiatives between the NRA
and the State.
© DEWNR: Raymond Rigney at NRA’s Murray Bridge nursery.
© DEWNR: Ngarrindjeri Certificate 3 Conservation and Land
Management graduates.
The NPP works across the other CLLMM
program management actions and is supporting
core capacity within the NRA to ensure that
traditional knowledge, skills and cultural values
were preserved and appropriately incorporated
into site management; supported the
Ngarrindjeri people to participate in aspects of
environmental governance in the region;
protection and management of Ngarrindjeri
cultural values of the site; and provided funding
for Ngarrindjeri training and involvement in onground actions to deliver site outcomes.
Yarluwar-Ruwe Program
The CLLMM Ngarrindjeri Partnerships Project has
supported the NRA to establish the Ngarrindjeri
Yarluwar-Ruwe (Sea-Country) Program (NY-RP).
The purpose of the Ngarrindjeri Yarluwar – Ruwe
(NY-R) Program is to: support coordinated
development and implementation of Caring for
Country and Heritage activities within Ngarrindjeri
country; provide a forum for engagement and
discussion of Caring for Country and Heritage
activities; provide advice to and respond to
requests from relevant NRA and external bodies;
promote the NRA and it activities; and support the
NRA in achieving it goals.
© Regina Durbridge: Uncle Tom Trevorrow informing participants about Ngarrindjeri plant uses, Bonney Reserve.
Engagement Innovations
Statements of Commitment
NRA and DEWNR have developed a number of
innovations in further supporting their
partnership. Two working groups have been
formed to support Ngarrindjeri engagement in
the following CLLMM management actions:
Monitoring and Adaptive Management
Framework and Vegetation Program (planting,
pest management and fencing). These working
groups have developed Statements of
Commitment (SOC) to frame the engagement
and guide working group activities.
Talking about different
knowledge & perspectives
The SOCs are based on agreed engagement
principles that acknowledge Ngarrindjeri
traditional ownership and their interests in the
specific management action. The SOCs also
recognise and promote Ngarrindjeri
perspectives pertaining to connectivity, called
Ruwe / Ruwar and the belief that the CLLMM
region was created during the Kaldowinyeri.
A key component of the SOC for the CLLMM
Monitoring and Adaptive Management action is to
support Ngarrindjeri participation in research and
monitoring. For example, the working group
established as part of this SOC has facilitated
Ngarrindjeri engagement with CSIRO in
undertaking Acid Sulfate Soil (ASS) monitoring in
the Lower Lakes.
The SOCs also acknowledge that Ngarrindjeri
management of the region had a significant role
in the distribution of plants and animals across
the landscape.
Another component of the SOC has been the
need to discuss the differences between
knowledge traditions and perspectives of
Ngarrindjeri and the research and monitoring
community undertaking work in the CLLMM
region. Cultural heritage inductions have been
delivered with over 50 environmental scientists
from a range of organisations and levels of
government. The one day induction programs
have built the scientists’ awareness of
Ngarrindjeri heritage, history, culture and
perspectives.
The SOC for the CLLMM Vegetation
Management Plan Working Group seeks to
establish opportunities for joint cultural
landscape and biodiversity restoration planning
and on ground works. Joint on-country visits,
specialist heritage surveys and input from
Ngarrindjeri Elders and DEWNR ecologists are
being used to scope a joint plan for Kartoo
Road, a section of Coorong National Park.
The inclusion of Ngarrindjeri Cultural
Knowledge into the plan is protected by a
Cultural Knowledge clause negotiated between
the NRA and the State.
© DEWNR: Joint on-country survey of Reedy Island, Lake Alexandrina
To the future
Ngarrindjeri leaders argue that non-Indigenous
respect for Ngarrindjeri beliefs and traditions are
fundamental to social justice and is crucial in
programs aimed at positive community
development and ‘closing the gap’ between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. In
the 21st century, Ngarrindjeri have identified as a
crucial challenge, the creation of a future centred
on Caring for Country, which incorporates respect
for traditions, cultural responsibility, selfdetermination and economic development.
© DEWNR: Mark’s Point, Coorong National Park
NRA seeks to further its engagement across
Government and research organisations using
the SOC innovation. Further, it has developed a
guideline for researchers interested in studying
Ngarrindjeri Ruwe / Ruwar so they are more
aware of, and better equipped to appropriately
and effectively engage with Ngarrindjeri.
© DEWNR: Joint on-country meeting at Kartoo Road, Coorong National Park
Acknowledgements: Lachlan Sutherland (DEWNR) and Rob Selfe (DEWNR) and Regina Durbridge (GWLAP)
This project is part of the South Australian Government’s Murray Futures program
funded by the Australian Government’s Water for the Future initiative.
Copyright Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources 2012