5.3 Co-management in Kakadu and Uluru
Kakadu and Uluru national parks are operated under a system of co-management.
They are legally owned by the Aboriginal traditional owners and then leased back to the commonwealth for operation as national parks. The policy framework for joint management is provided by a management plan that is negotiated at five-year9
intervals. This management plan is implemented by a board of management (De Lacy
& Lawson, 1997:155-167). In Kakadu the board of management currently has 15 members, ten of whom are nominated by the traditional owners. The Aboriginal members of the board are selected to cover the geographic spread of Kakadu as well as the major language groupings. The other five are representatives of specific organisations or have specific skills. The chair of the board is appointed from the Aboriginal members of the board (Director of National Parks, 2007: 7).
Kakadu National Park was established under the commonwealth National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975. This act was amended in 1978 to allow for leasing of Aboriginal-owned land and to ensure greater input from Aboriginal people. In 1978 a 99 year lease was negotiated between the Northern Land Council and the
commonwealth government for Stage I of Kakadu National Park taking effect in 1979.
Stage II and III of Kakadu were later dedicated although not all of the area is
Aboriginal-owned land. A new lease was entered into in 1991 following the successful operation of the 1991 lease at Ulura-Kata Tjuta which gave much greater recognition to Aboriginal interests. Amendments to the ALRA make it a condition that for any land granted to traditional owners in Kakadu, an agreement be entered into for the lease of the land to the ANCA for the purpose of a park. (De Lacy & Lawson, 1997:
161-164). At the time of preparing the 2007-2014 management plan for Kakadu approximately 50 percent of the land within the park was aboriginal land under the ALRA leased to the director of the ANCA by Aboriginal Land Trusts. Most of the remaining area is under claim by Aboriginal people (Director of National Parks, 2007:
22). Although not all of the park is Aboriginal land under the ALRA, the park is managed on the principle that all land is Aboriginal land (ibid.: 35).
The lease for Kakadu National Park is divided into three parts. The first part reserves
9 The most recent management plan for Kakadu National Park is for seven years from 2007 to 2014.
The most recent management plan for Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is for ten years from 2009 to 2019.
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the right of Aboriginal groups to enter and inspect the part. Furthermore it reserves the right of Aboriginal groups to use and occupy the park for traditional purposes. The second part stipulates the terms of the lease. The third part defines the obligations of the lessee in covenants and conditions. Many of the covenants are specific to
Aboriginal rights ( De Lacy & Lawson, 1997: 164-167; Director of National Parks, 2007: 152-169).
A quote attributed to Russell Cubillo, a Jawoyn Bolmo affiliate, in the Kakadu National Park Management Plan reveals a lot about the spirit of co-management. He says, “Bininj/Mungguy [traditional owners] try hard to learn Balanda [non-Aboriginal Australians] law to make informed decisions. Balanda need to make an effort to learn Bininj/Mungguy law” (Director of National Parks, 2007: 5). This shows a spirit of cooperation and compromise. The traditional owners realise that they have to co-exist with the state, but in return they expect respect and recognition of their culture and laws. The Kakadu National Park Management Plan also gives a clear and detailed explanation of the meaning of co-management:
Joint management is about Bininj [traditional owners] and Balanda [non-Aboriginal Australians] working together, solving problems together, sharing decision-making responsibilities and exchanging knowledge, skills and information. Important objectives of joint management are to make sure that traditional skills and knowledge associated with looking after culture and country, and Bininj cultural rules regarding how decisions should be made, continue to be respected and maintained. It is also important that contemporary park management skills are available to enable the joint management partners to look after Kakadu in line with current best management practices (Director of National Parks, 2007: 7).
This system of joint management in Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta has been in place since the late 1970s. This provides several decades over which to understand how it works, the problems and how some of these problems have been solved. Furthermore the model has now extended beyond the Northern Territory to several states. For example, in New South Wales there are now 13 protected areas with co-management agreements. This includes five parks which are Aboriginal-owned with lease back
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agreements (Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water, 2010). This indicates that co-management policies have have attracted broad support from both Aborigines and government policy makers.
This is not to say that there is no conflict between the traditional owners and non-Aboriginal park managers. There are still differences in worldview. An example of this is attitudes to control of feral animals in Kakadu. The subsistence economy still forms an important part of the economy of many communities. This includes hunting or foraging for personal consumption and cultural reasons as well as commercial harvesting. Programs to control feral animals have led to occasional conflict because non-Aboriginal park managers have failed to recognise that certain feral species have historical and economic significance to the traditional owners (De Lacy & Lawson, 1997: 173-174).
Ecotourism can bring major economic benefits to the traditional owners of national parks, but it also imposes burdens on Aboriginal communities. Traditional owners get income from park entrance fees and ownership of tourist infrastructure such as accommodation and shops. However, tourism can also compete with subsistence activities. Aboriginal park rangers may be reluctant to carry out hunting and gathering in front of tourists. Furthermore despite the financial benefits tourism brings the intrusion of many tourists on their lands is something the traditional owners did not seek and may not wish to interact with. As tourist numbers increase the chances for genuine encounters between the traditional owners and tourists are reduced. There is also a greater risk that culture is misinterpreted or trivialised as it becomes
increasingly commodified (ibid.: 174-176).
The most important thing about the co-management model in Uluru and Kakadu National Parks is that it clearly recognises Aboriginal ownership and land rights.
Although this ownership is qualified by the condition of leaseback and joint management (ibid.: 183). Aboriginal culture and traditional knowledge informs all aspects of park management.
The Aboriginalisation of Australian national parks strongly challenges concepts of wilderness and pristineness that have dominated national park culture in Australia. It moves away from seeing humans as a threat to recognising that the so-called natural
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landscapes in Australia are actually cultural landscapes created by thousands of years of Aboriginal land management (ibid.: 186). Joint management is a way to
accommodate the interests of the traditional owners with those of the state. Although there are compromises involved it gives Aboriginal people a high degree of autonomy.
It is also recognises the value of Aboriginal traditional knowledge and allows for the continuing existence of a subsistence economy which contributes to the health of communities and maintenance of culture.
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