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Session 4 — Human capability development

Chair: Stephen Garnett

Job Done? Is Indigenous capacity done? Joe Morrison

For many years, Indigenous representative and development agencies have agitated for increased engagement with the research community to support them in strengthening their ability to manage and/or develop their ancestral estates. Importantly, Indigenous people still maintain that they are not just another sector or stakeholder in the region, but with customary obligations and deep unmatched connections that extend thousands of years in the past. The Tropical Savannas CRC (TS-CRC) offered an opportunity to do just this, but with historical neglect and a focus on land rights, citizenship and equality the road to Indigenous engagement was going to be a hard one. The northern alliance that was formed to examine native title, presented as the means by which land and sea management could be maximised and provided a unified point of contact for engagement with groups such as the TS-CRC. After a long gestation this lead to the eventual birth of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA).

So has NAILSMA achieved what it set out to with the TS-CRC?

Indigenous management of turtles and dugongs in northern Australia: Rod Kennett

Northern Australia is one of the last great strongholds for marine turtles and dugongs on the planet. With home ranges that cross borders and seas, these migratory species face a diverse range of threats and impacts that, collectively, have decimated populations elsewhere around the world. Maintaining Australia’s great herds of dugong and marine turtle requires effective partnerships, networks and collaborations that span northern Australia and indeed the SE Asian region.

Northern Australia is also home to some of the longest running, intact land and sea management regimes in the world. Indigenous communities of northern Australia maintain long-held rights and responsibilities for land and sea management and continue to enjoy dugong and marine turtles as a significant natural and cultural resource.

Talk about a walkabout: pathways and potholes for savanna knowledge in schools Julie Crough

Savanna Walkabout is the first learning module to be completed for the Tropical Savannas Knowledge in Schools project. The EnviroNorth website which provides the framework and support resources for teachers and students for Savanna Walkabout and subsequent modules, was launched in February 2007. A CD-ROM of Savanna Walkabout was disseminated to all schools in the Northern Territory with a letter of support by the NT Department of Employment, Education and Training’s CEO in April 2007. Both resources have been disseminated and promoted in educational professional circles throughout Australia and overseas.

There’s more where that came from: future directions for NRM Information Tools in northern Australia Peter Jacklyn

Over the last thirteen years the Tropical Savannas CRC (TS-CRC) has developed a range of Natural Resource Management (NRM) Information resources that are now valued tools used across northern Australia, including the NAFI website and the Savanna Links newsletter. This talk will outline the plans we have to continue maintaining and developing these resources after the TS-CRC winds up later in 2008.