Aboriginal cultural values and water resource management: a case study from the Northern Territory

S. Jackson
Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 12, 136-146,
This paper describes the nature of Aboriginal values in a specific region of the Northern Territory undergoing intensive natural resource management planning. I argue that the subjective, intangible and highly distinct values underpinning Aboriginal people’s relationships to water do not easily translate into Western environmental management frameworks, which have a utilitarian focus and are highly reliant on objectification, quantification (e.g. environmental flows) and monetary valuations as a basis for resource allocation, regulation and management.

This paper draws on the limited literature on the significance of water to northern Australian Aboriginal societies to distil the generic values of water. It describes the nature of Aboriginal values and reveals the significant differences between water’s value and meaning to the settler and Aboriginal societies.