Local communities

Indigenous heritage and traditional use of marine resources are a key element when analyzing the protection of the GBR. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, two Indigenous groups of Australia, have a long-standing relationship with the GBR Region and the marine environment as a whole. The Aboriginal people are regarded as the first Australians and are widely recognized as the oldest civilization in the world, with archeological evidence of their presence dating thousands of years before the European colonization of the continent in 1788.²⁷⁰ The Torres Strait Islander people are sea-faring people related to the Melanesians of the south-west Pacific. They have a strong reliance on the sea to sustain their livelihoods, ceremonies and celebrations, and diet; their seafood consumption per person is amongst the highest in the world.²⁷¹ Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples continue to depend on traditional uses of marine resource activities to “provide food, practice their living maritime culture, and to educate younger generations about traditional and cultural rules and protocols.”²⁷² These activities are monitored and managed under both Federal and Queensland legislation and policies, including Traditional Use of Marine Resource Agreements

269 ‘Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975.’ Accessed 14 January 2017.

270 ‘Traditional Owners of the Great Barrier Reef.’ Accessed 20 June 2017.

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-partners/traditional-owners/traditional-owners-of-the-great-barrier-reef

271 Ibid.

272 ‘The Great Barrier Reef.’ Accessed 27 December 2016. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154

(TUMRAs) and Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs). In terms of area usage, these currently cover approximately 30 percent of the GBR inshore area.²⁷³ Traditional Owners consist of approximately 70 clan groups whose sea country connections go back over 60,000 years.²⁷⁴

Approximately 80 percent of the GBR Traditional Owner groups are partnered with the Australian and Queensland governments to manage, protect, and sustain traditional activities in the coastal waters.²⁷⁵ This includes agreements under which they supervise and monitor the condition of plants and animals, attend training programs aimed at providing the participants with a greater understanding of science and coastal management, how to deal with illegal activities, as well as a variety of TEK projects.²⁷⁶ Moreover, such a partnership goes both ways in terms of information-sharing; the enhanced communication between local communities, authoritative bodies and other reef stakeholders is paramount in understanding the perspectives of Traditional Owner groups. Bridging cultural gaps and misunderstandings through continuous communication and collaboration facilitates effective governance of the GBR.

A project that is currently underway is the Land and Sea Country Indigenous Partnerships Program (‘Program’). It is a component of the Australian Government’s Reef Program (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018) and thus far has made ‘positive progress.’²⁷⁷ The Program

provides unique opportunities for Traditional Owners to plan and implement Sea Country Partnership arrangements that protect the Reef’s marine resources and cultural diversity through the development and implementation of TUMRAs.²⁷⁸

These Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements, or TUMRAs, are formal agreements developed by Traditional Owner groups and accredited by the Authority and the Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. Their function varies and may stipulate the role of the Traditional Owner groups in monitoring certain

273 Ibid.

274 ‘Traditional Owner connections to sea country.’ Accessed 9 January 2017.

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-partners/traditional-owners

275 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014, p. 214. Accessed 20 June 2017.

276 ‘Sea country management.’ Accessed 9 January 2017. http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-partners/traditional-owners/traditional-owners-activities

277 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014, p. 214. Accessed 20 June 2017.

278 Land and Sea Country Indigenous Partnerships Program TUMRA Development Funding Guidelines, GBRMPA. Accessed 20 June 2017. www.gbrmpa.gov.au

plant or animal species, the ways in which they wish to manage their access to natural resources, and even prohibitions of external interference in common-pool resource extraction. The Gunggandji Agreement is a prime example of the latter, dictating that no hunting of turtle or dugong is allowed in the areas specified under the TUMRA.²⁷⁹ The Program aims to deliver effective on-ground coastal management at the local level and encourages the development and implementation of TUMRAs. It further supports Indigenous Community Compliance Programs and engages Traditional Owners to collaborate and enhance their knowledge base in sea country management.²⁸⁰ This development of partnerships is regarded as ‘one of the strongest aspects of management’

of the GBR Region and an ‘example of a successful stewardship approach.’²⁸¹ Such programs and engagement activities that include consultation arrangements with key sectors and regions are a key component of effective collaborative governance.

Overall, such initiatives like the Program prove that there need not be a conflict of interests, especially political, when dealing with environmental conservation.

Fostering local community engagement through membership to Advisory Committees or the Indigenous Reef Advisory Committee, providing education of the importance of sustainable usage of the GBR natural resources (such as managing traditional hunting protocols), scientific exchanges and grants, trainings, employment, and ranger programs are all examples of Australia’s initiatives to intertwine the preservation of traditional heritage and economic development for local groups with proper and sustainable marine management. In general, the example of Traditional Owners shows that it is entirely possible for the government to work together with local groups to protect cultural and heritage values while simultaneously conserving the biodiversity and resilience of the GBR ecosystem. Australia’s approach illustrates that it is possible to overcome historical and political differences and build trust to collaborate on a multi-sectoral, multi-level undertaking to conserve, manage, and protect common-pool resources in an adaptive and inclusive way.

279 ‘Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements.’ Accessed 20 June 2017.

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-partners/traditional-owners/traditional-use-of-marine-resources-agreements

280 ‘Land and Sea Country Partnerships Program.’ Accessed 20 June 2017.

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-partners/traditional-owners/land-and-sea-country-partnerships-program

281 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014, p. 215. Accessed 20 June 2017.