Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Aboriginal insights enhance land management in SA
The six Aboriginal family groups in South Australia's South East have joined forces to identify the key environmental problems on their land and help develop solutions.
Involvement in the Indigenous Focus Group for Understanding Natural Resource Management (NRM) helps the families ensure that the broad spectrum of land management issues facing different Indigenous communities is addressed.
Fred Stadter from the South East NRM Board said the idea was investigated by the Committee after it had trouble finding an Indigenous person who could represent each of the families and groups in the range of environmental problems facing the region.
"We value the knowledge and experience of local Indigenous groups and wanted to involve them as much as possible in the management of the South East environment," he said.
Funding
"We consulted with various groups including the Aboriginal Lands Trust on how we could best ensure that all the local Aboriginal communities were both consulted and actively engaged.
"We agreed that a focus group would help ensure all viewpoints were heard and successfully applied for $60,000 from the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust programme to support its establishment.
Activities
"As a starting point we engaged the Kungari Association to not only source nominations for the group, but also to research the Aboriginal history of the South East which provided us with some valuable insights.
"The Indigenous Focus Group has now been operational for 12 months and includes not only the six families, but also a member of the NRM Board and two Indigenous representatives with NRM experience. The Board has also employed a dedicated Indigenous Landcare Coordinator.
"One of our projects will see more than $160,000 allocated for a range of on-ground work at Aboriginal-owned or leased sites in the Upper South East, which stretches from Bordertown in the east to Kingston in the west.
"Activities like weed and feral animal control will be coordinated by our Indigenous Landcare Coordinator, who'll also help communities develop work plans for each of the sites."
Fred says the Focus Group also provides advice to the South East NRM Board on important issues such as protection and management of Aboriginal sacred sites.
"One of the future goals of the Focus Group is to develop a policy to protect the many sacred sites in the South East, including middens and traditional meeting places. While there's legislation in place to protect them, there's more we can do to educate landholders and others about where they are and how they can be conserved."
More information
- Fred Stadter, South East NRM Board: (08) 8762 9116 or fred-senrcc@lcrdb.com
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