Seasons Greetings
Joe Morrison and all
the
NAILSMA staff wish
you
peace, joy and happiness
for Christmas and
2011.
*
* * * * * * * * * *
We hope you enjoy this
short video of the Mapoon Western Cape College Carol Night, where
the school children 'wish you a Merry
Christmas'.
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Wenlock Catchment Traditional Owner
Forum – Mapoon, Cape York, Qld
Photo: Wenlock River Traditional owners sharing knowledge
about their catchment on the first day of the meeting.
The Mapoon Land and Sea Advisory Committee held a forum in
Mapoon for Traditional Owners of the Wenlock Catchment between 1st
and 3rd December 2010.
The meeting brought together Traditional Owners from several clan
and language groups from across the Wenlock Catchment, who were
joined on the second day by the Chair of the Indigenous Water
Policy Group, Joe Ross, Professor Pat Dodson (Lingiari Foundation),
Mona Liddy (Daly River NT), Michael O’Donnell (Barrister
legal research), Robbie Sallee (Cape York Land Council) and
representatives from Kowanyama, Michael
Yam and Rodney Whitfield.
The Mapoon Land and Sea Committee and community invited NAILSMA and
Balkanu/Cape York Development Corporation to support the meeting so
that people with the same interests along the river could:
- hear and learn from people who are already involved in the
catchment management and water planning;
- get a sense of the bigger picture of water reform, planning,
and policy;
- hear the legal perspective of their rights to water; and
- establish some principles and actions for a Wenlock catchment
group.
The meeting was chaired by Peter Guivarra (Mayor, Mapoon
Aboriginal Shire Council) and facilitated by Jane
Blackwood, (Mapoon Land and Sea Ranger Coordinator) and Waubin
Richard Aken, NAILSMA Water Facilitator, working through
Balkanu/Cape York Aboriginal Development Corporation.
“It was great that leaders came and shared their
experience and knowledge.” Mapoon young
leaders’ workshop.
“Rivers are fundamental to our identity, culture,
values, traditions and history. Hearing from our
visitors from Kowanyama, WA and NT has been like a breath of fresh
air, very enlightening and uplifting.” Linda
McLachlan
“I’ve always been saying, get those leaders over
hear to speak to our Rangers. They know the story for the big
picture and they can teach us. Now that it’s happened,
we’re right to go. We know where we want to
go." William Busch
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Water Markets Report now
available
Stakeholder values and attitudes towards water markets across
northern Australia, by William Nikolakis, R Q Grafton and H
To is now available. Some key points include:
- sustainability, environmental protection, social, equity and
economic development are important values;
- Indigenous engagement in water planning and water reform is
vital; and
- environmental needs should be balanced with economic
opportunity.
The concept of a water market is supported, but conflicts with
people’s attitudes that land and water should not be
separated. It was also shown that government should be engaged and
regulate water markets, but Indigenous people should be engaged in
these processes.
Download a copy from the NAILSMA
Sustainable Enterprises TRaCK 6 web page.
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Sustainable Enterprises - TRaCK 6
news
The TRaCK workshop held in Brisbane, October 2010 brought
together for the first time, all Theme 6 project leaders and
researchers to discuss findings, issues and ideas for further
research. All projects are running well and to expected
timeframes. Some key interests immerged across the projects,
including:
- protection and use of Indigenous Knowledge;
- the importance of building relationships;
- the importance of raising awareness – both ways;
- scoping a definition for strategic Indigenous Reserve;
- issues around governance; and
- cultural and environmental flows.
Michael Storrs, the previous Theme 6 coordinator, completed his
service at NAILSMA earlier this year and now works with the
National Water Commission, in Canberra. NAILSMA is coordinating
Theme 6 through its Indigenous Water Resource Management Program
and acknowledges the significant contribution Michael made to the
TRaCK program and wishes him all the best in his new position with
the NWC.
Dr
Lorrae McArthur has been assisting with this Theme and is
the point of contact for future purposes until further notice is
made.
For information about each project, see the News
Bulletin on the NAILSMA website.
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Carbon Farming Consultation
Paper
The Government has released a consultation
paper which is its first step in a dialogue with
stakeholders about the Carbon Farming Initiative.
Submissions are due by 21 January 2011. Submission
Guidelines are included in the document which is available on the
NAILSMA
Carbon Library web page, or the Department of
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency’s website.
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Adaptive Fire Management
Workshop
Photo: Clara Matjandatjbi shares information about
digging for yam, on the women's field trip.
A workshop held at the Ngaliyindi outstation in Arnhem land 20 -
26 September, brought together senior Aboriginal people from around
the Arafura Swamp region together with scientists and local rangers
to discuss land management planning for the region.
The workshop focused particularly on fire management and related
issues (fire-sensitive biota, traditional ecological knowledge),
and reaching a better understanding for the need:
- to implement strategic fire management;
- for economic opportunities to achieve land management outcomes;
and
- useful ways for monitoring progress especially with respect to
core cultural, social and biodiversity values.
The workshop was part of the ongoing development of economically,
ecologically and culturally sustainable land management projects
for remote Indigenous communities across the fire prone savannas of
northern Australia. The workshop involved a mix of site visits,
hands on monitoring techniques and semi-structured sessions.
Read more about the NAILSMA Carbon
Project and Team, Joe
Morrison, Donna
Bush , Project Officer, and Glenn
James, Social Programs Officer.
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East Kimberley Water Forum
Water Facilitator Network staff in the Kimberleys coordinated a
Water Forum in the East Kimberley in October.
The meeting brought together Traditional Owners from across the
Kimberley to talk with some of Australia’s leading academics
and researchers on Indigenous rights to water and how climate
change could effect traditional use of water resources in the
region.
The Forum went a long way to achieving its aims which were to:
- collect Indigenous peoples’ concerns about water planning
and management in the East Kimberley region;
- explore the roll that climate change may have on communities
and the way in which they manage land and water; and
- provide community members with the opportunities to talk with
leading academics and researchers that have worked with ICWF
project over the last two years.
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Indigenous Water Policy Group sets
its course for 2011
Since NAILSMA received its next round of funding from the National
Water Commission, the Indigenous Water
Policy Group (IWPG) convened its 12th meeting in Cairns. The
meeting was instrumental in setting the course of the IWPG over the
coming year, 2011.
Up to 25 participants attended the meeting from 29 November to 1
December. Participants included core IWPG members,
IWPG advisors, and Facilitators from the NAILSMA
Indigenous Community Water Facilitator Network.
The IWPG successfully drafted a strategic plan for its next 18
months of operation firstly by discussing opportunities arising
from the new funding agreement and secondly by re-establishing the
IWPG terms of reference, including its role and key objectives. The
IWPG also examined and considered its past research activities and
outputs alongside potential research partnering opportunities that
would support future key objectives.
“Next year looks to be a very exciting time for
Indigenous water policy. NAILSMA will be working through its water
program to secure meaningful outcomes in terms of community
participation in managing water resources at all levels and setting
a course toward community benefits”, says Joe
Morrison, CEO, NAILSMA.
The IWPG will be working on delivering a number of regional forums
across the north of Australia for Indigenous and non-Indigenous
water managers to come together and discuss their interests and set
future directions for engagement and partnerships. The outcomes of
these forums will assist in developing a holistic Indigenous
participatory approach toward future water management and
development across the north of Australia.
Read more about the NAILSMA Water Resource
Management Project and Team: Lorrae
McArthur, Coordinator Indigenous
Water Policy Group . Hugh Wallace
Smith, Coordinator, Indigenous
Community Water Facilitator Network and Robin
MacGillivray, Communications Officer.
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Kimberley Regional Water Plan
released for comment
Kimberley Water Facilitator, Natalie Young, attended the launch of
the draft Kimberley
Regional Water Plan on 6 December, 2010, in Kununurra.
Department of Water WA is calling for submissions - a submission
template appears on page 64 of the document. Submissions close
28 February 2011.
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First Peoples' Water Engagement
Council
Here's some brief news from The First People’s Water
Engagement Council:
- Anne Poelina has resigned as Chair due to a large work
load;
- Phil Duncan was elected as the new Chair; and
- Robert Dalton of the Northern Land Council has been welcomed as
a new member.
When the Council met at the National Indigenous Land and Sea
Management Conference in Broken Hill in November, it determined
that 'water for cultural purposes should always be defined
distinctly from environmental water or environmental
flow'.
Read more about the Council
and meeting
outcomes on the National Water Commission website.
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Rangers Developing I-Tracker
Training Tools
Photo: Thamarrurr Ranger Malcolm Martin with Ruth Wallace
from SPiL.
The Thamarrurr and Dhimurru Rangers began work this month on
developing tools that will help rangers participating in the
I-Tracker project learn how to use CyberTracker software. The tools
are being developed in collaboration with the Social Partnerships
in Learning Research Consortium (SPiL) at Charles Darwin University
and funded by Indigenous Training for Employment Program, Northern
Territory Government. Read more.
Listen to Interviews.
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Saltwater People Network I-Tracker
training across north Australia
Photo: Thamarrurr Rangers Suzanne Dodd and Angus Melpi at
I-Tracker Training, Wadeye NT.
The Saltwater People
Network (SPN) project conducted more that 10 training events
for about 200 people from 25 Indigenous ranger groups in
2010.
Training was conducted across the north – from Home Valley
Station in the Kimberley, Darwin in the Top End, Normanton in the
Gulf and Coen on Cape York. If travelling by car to the training
venues using Darwin as a base, the distance covered would be 22,000
km, about three times around the earth. Read more
about I-Tracker training. Listen to interviews.
2011 promises to be an even bigger year with two major
events already planned for February: a network planning and
feedback meeting to be held in the Top End ,and a training workshop
for Cape York rangers. More information in e-news early next
year.
SPN
Team: Rod
Kennett, Micha
Jackson, Joshua
Kitchens . This project is supported by NAILSMA, through
funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our
Country.
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Best Picture Series Winner - Working
on Country Photograph Competition
Craig Wheeler (right), Mapoon Land and Sea Ranger, won
Best Picture Series, in the Working on Country Photograph
Competition 2010, for his three photos of fellow Rangers rescuing
and releasing a large flatback turtle.
These and other photos in the competition are displayed on the
competition
gallery.
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