Managing for Indigenous cultural values of water in freshwater protected areas

S. Jackson
Inland Rivers Network, 27-28 September 2004

The Indigenous cultural landscape and social catchments within which rivers flow are two facets of the social geography of freshwater protected area policy, which are examined with specific reference to the socio-ecological systems of northern Australian rivers.

Ngan'gikurunggurr and Ngan'giwumirri ethnobotany: Aboriginal plant use from the Daly River area northern Australia

P. Marrfurra, M. Akanburru, M. Wawul, T. Kumunerrin, H. Adya, K. Kamarrama, M. Kanintyanyu, T. Waya, M. Kannyi, G. Wightman and L. Williams
Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory

This book is about the names and uses that the Ngan'gikurunggurr and Ngan'giwumirri people have for the plants. It is also about the respect for plants and the knowledge that the elders have about these plants, in hope that the younger generations will use this book as they grow up to help them understand about the knowledge and uses of plants. The information about the plants in the Daly River are provided in both english and the local language.

Wise use of wetlands in northern Australia: Indigenous use

P. J. Whitehead, M. Storrs, M. McKaige, R. Kennett and M. Douglas
Centre for Tropical Wetlands Management and Centre for Indigenous natural and Cultural Resource Management, Northern Territory University, Darwin, 29 September to 1 October 1998

Preliminary report on Aboriginal perspectives on land-use and water management in the Daly River region, Northern Territory

S. Jackson
CSIRO, 2004

This report covers a wide range of topics and concerns of the Aboriginal communities in relation to the Daly River. It also supplies some background into the reasons for the report and the development of the Daly River Community Reference Group (CRG).

An Indigenous Management Framework for the Daly River Catchment

M. Wohling
Daly River Aboriginal Reference Group and Northern Land Council

This report is an important document, which outlines the cultural values and the future development that the traditional owners would like to occur in their area. It is not just a report but a management framework for the Daly Region.

An Introduction to the Aboriginal People of the Daly River Region: Their History, Land and Sites

Northern Land Council and Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority,
The aims of this paper are to describe the essential features of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal historical contact (Section 1); to act as a guide to the nature of Aboriginal attachment to the Daly River Catchment and Focus areas (Section 2); and to document the importance of sacred sites to Aboriginal people and discuss means by which such areas are protected.

The report was concerned with the history of Aboriginal presence within, and in close proximity to, the Daly Region Focus Area. In the report there are lists of the Aboriginal groups associated with the catchment area or associated with the Focus Area along with their geographical locations.

This report presents detailed information on the general effects on the Aboriginal population of non-Aboriginal settlement and provides details on sacred sites and their protection.

Water resources Wadeye (Port Keats) and Nauiyu (Daly River) region, traditional knowledge report

A. Matsuyama and T. Haig
Dept of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, Natural Systems Division
http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/hpa-services/techreport?report_id=WRD03030

Water Resources of Wadeye (Port Keats) and Nauiyu (Daly River) region, main report

A. Matsuyama and T. Haig
Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment
The water resources of the Daly River/ Port Keats and Malak-Malak Aboriginal Land trusts were mapped, described and evaluated. The traditional knowledge that the Aboriginal people hold in regards to their water resources was incorporated into the technical study. A set of decision-making tools comprised of reports, maps and an interactive CD-ROM was developed as a result of the study.
http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/hpa-services/techreport?report_id=WRD03029

The Northern Territory’s Daly River catchment planning exercise

M. N. Liddy
Australia, Dept of the Environment and Heritage,
Mona Nungula Liddy, a Wagiman elder, provides an account of her experience as a member of the Daly River Community Reference Group.
http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/integrative/indigenous/daly-river.html

Recognition of Aboriginal rights, interests and values in river research and management: Perspectives from northern Australia

S. Jackson, M. Storrs and J. Morrison, 2006.
Ecological Management and Restoration, v6 (2) p.105-110.
This paper documents Aboriginal perspectives from certain areas in northern Australia, defined as the region of tropical savannas stretching from Townsville to Broome, and offers a number of suggestions for improving current knowledge of Aboriginal values and Aboriginal participation rates in water and catchment management. The paper highlights the cultural significance of rivers and water in selected northern regions, and provides a preliminary outline of research and management priorities as determined by key north Australian Aboriginal land management organizations. Priorities include developing the capacity for collaborative aquatic resource management, conservation of traditional ecological knowledge, riparian resource inventories and threat assessment, as well as improved Aboriginal participation in catchment management and water policy. Although there is a strong north Australian focus to this paper, the issues raised are relevant to water and natural resource management policy throughout Australia.

Compartmentalising culture: the articulation and consideration of Indigenous values in water resources management

S. Jackson, 2006
Australian Geographer, v.37 (1) pp. 19-31.
This paper focuses on the treatment of Indigenous values in contemporary water resource management. The Daly River region of the Northern Territory is undergoing increased agricultural intensification. A 12 month planning exercise sought to integrate social, economic, environmental and cultural values into decisions about land use and water extraction. Separate treatment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous social values compounded the reification of Aboriginal ‘cultural values’ which were perceived largely within the confines of a cultural heritage paradigm. The heritage paradigm and other common influential theories of value focus on objects, entities and places at the expense of recognition and valuation of relationships, processes and connections between social groups, people and place, and people and non-human entities.

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

S. Jackson
Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 12, 3, 136-146, 2005
The nature of Indigenous values for water do not easily translate into Western environmental management frameworks, which have a utilitarian focus. This paper describes the nature of Indigenous values in the Daly river region of the Northern Territory undergoing intensive natural resource management planning.

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.

Preliminary study on indigenous water values and interests in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory

D. Cooper and S. Jackson
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, March 2008
The study aims to describe the social arrangements and cultural practices relating to water and to document the Indigenous knowledge of groundwater and surface water sources held by cultural groups in the vicinity of the regional centre of Katherine. The scope includes the customary relationships to water and Indigenous hydrological knowledge and impediments to the continued customary use of water sources. Issues relevant to Indigenous participation in water planning and the potential impacts arising from inadequate attention to Indigenous interests are considered.
http://www.nailsma.org.au/publications/indigenous_values_water_katherine.html

Murray River Mistakes Repeated in the Northern Territory

A. Buchan
Habitat Australia, 31, 6, 16, 12
Discusses the possible repetition of the mistakes made with the Murray River in the Daly River due to an agricultural irrigation plan of the Northern Territory (NT) government of Australia, as of December 2003. Features of the Daly River; Potential effects of the project on aboriginal communities in the area; Implications for the NT government.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=11748153&site=ehost-live

Landscape design for maintaining ecosystem services in tropical agricultural landscapes

J. Woinarski, Tony Griffiths
NRETA, Tropical Savannahs Management CRC
In Australia's monsoonal tropics, understanding of relationships between vegetation pattern and quality of ecosystem services is rudimentary. As part of a larger and longer-term suite of studies including water availability and quality, this project will examine relationships between designed configurations of retained native vegetation and the protection of local and sub-regional biodiversity, as well as the management challenges and costs created by different approaches to vegetation clearing and retention. Over the medium term, it will also contribute to studies of relationships of vegetation pattern and land use practice with other ecosystem services, including water availability and quality, and the maintenance of cultural values, including Indigenous cultural values.

Engagement of Wangamaty Landcare Group in catchment management issues

Wangamaty Landcare Group
Community monitoring of water quality and pest control in Daly River catchment. Group have a number of NRM projects currently being implemented in the Lower Daly but these are not research based.

Indigenous values and river flows

S. Jackson, M. Finn and E. Woodward
This project will work with Aboriginal communities to document the social significance of water and quantify the economic benefits households derive from their use of aquatic resources. The identification of the value of river flows and river health to indigenous people will be used to assess the potential impacts of altered flow regimes.
http://www.track.gov.au/research.html

Water regime dependence of fish in the wet-dry tropics

M. Douglas, B. Pusey, M. Kennard and S. Jackson
CDU
Relate patterns of fish diversity and activity across contrasting flow and hydraulic habitat characteristics. To support a capacity to predict effects of changes in flow regimes on fish and hence to recommend minimum flow rates. Record indigenous knowledge and values of fish and use this to inform models.

Building better indigenous participation : new ways of involving indigenous people in planning for our water and land resources

N. Collier and H. Hunter-Xenie
CDU
This research will enable governments and catchment authorities to more clearly understand indigenous aspirations within mainstream water planning processes, leading to more inclusive policy making. Pilot study will be with indigenous people in the Daly River Catchment.
http://www.track.gov.au/research.html