Indigenous Land Management practices have evolved with changing ecosystems and tools. Today, Aboriginal Land Managers take advantage of modern technologies, such as Environmental Systems Solutions, drones, satellites and helicopters, to enhance efficiency.

2016. Helicopter view of Mt Baird Station. © BLHGAC.

Miromaa Software is used to control the reclaiming and sharing of group’s own culture and language. Recorded by Ethnobotanist Gerry Turpin (Australian Tropical Herbarium) with Binthi Elder Roy McIvor. © BLHGAC.

What has not changed is the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge when caring for our Country. This ancestral connection with the land remains critical to contemporary conservation and control efforts. According to Binthi Elder, Roy McIvor, “Dad often spoke about being aware of the consequences of our actions. He used different stories as teaching tools, but the idea was the same. Like a boomerang, your bad actions will come back to hurt you” *1.

© Roy McIvor

Yiirmbal (Rainbow Serpent). © Roy McIvor.

“There is a sacred waterhole on my Country. This waterhole is said to be the site where the Creator Spirit, the Rainbow Serpent, returned to rest after moving over the land creating all that is.

Binthi Bama have a serious respect for such sacred places and considered it taboo for many regular activities, such as swimming. Anyone who participated in such activities got sick” – Binthi Elder Roy McIvor.

By supporting and seizing opportunities for government funding, Indigenous communities are engaging in land management projects across Australia. Read on to learn more about the main types of Indigenous Land Management.

Indigenous Protected Areas

Established in 1997, the Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) program supports Aboriginal groups to manage parcels of land and sea through voluntary agreements with the Australian Government.

IPAs form part of the National Reserve System, and most fall under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Categories 5 and 6, which balance biodiversity conservation efforts and other sustainable uses to achieve social, cultural and economic objectives in Indigenous communities.

By combining traditional and recent knowledge to implement land management projects, the IPA program offers employment, education and training to local Aboriginal people. These participants reported feelings of empowerment, well-being and connection to Country.

Indigenous Rangers

Indigenous Rangers care for Country through a range of tasks, such as:

Protected species monitoring and conservation;

• Weed and feral animal management;
• Habitat restoration;
• Fire management;
• Erosion control;
• Cultural heritage site management; and
• Tourism management.

Indigenous Rangers continue cultural traditions and traditional knowledge while applying the latest technologies and developments for effective land management *2. For example, they may read the land for signs of sickness and follow our Country’s seasonal calendar to determine when and where to clear wildfire fuel, before using modern incendiary devices to ignite a controlled burn.

Indigenous ranger programs are guided by the authority of Elders and have proved particularly successful as a result. In a 2017 survey of 1,000 Queenslanders, over 80% of respondents supported Aboriginal land management and 88% backed a proposal to employ more rangers.

There was widespread consensus that “people living on the land in the outback have an important role to play in protecting and restoring the natural environment” *3.

Land management plans and partnerships

Aboriginal communities are also using their traditional knowledge to inform the development of Healthy Country Plans across Australia. These strategies empower Traditional Owners to define their own vision, targets, threats and actions for the land.

Once developed, this plan serves as a framework for Indigenous communities to forge partnerships with government agencies, non-Indigenous organisations and other Traditional Owners for land management funding and resources. Together, we conserve and nurture the land for the benefit of all Australians.

Guthi. Binthi’s most revered healing sacred site. © Binthi Elder Grace Rosendale.

As a proud leader in Indigenous Land Management and development, BLHGAC has built strong partnerships to achieve positive outcomes for our community and environment. Through close consultation and careful preparation, we balance opportunities for economic development with the protection of our animals, plants and sacred sites.

Gabaga (Dellinia alata). © BLHGAC.

Our Strategic Plan ensures that Indigenous Land Management practices are effective, efficient and sustainable.

Priorities include:

• Celebrating excellence in traditional land management and protection for its contributions to our quality of life;
• Encouraging Binthi youth to undertake to continue professional development;
• Facilitating international and national recognition of BLHGAC;
• Promoting BLHGAC as an attractive organisation;
• Promoting solutions to ensure the education standards necessary for successful Indigenous Entrepreneurs and Indigenous Land Managers;
• Promoting the value of Indigenous Entrepreneurs and Indigenous Land Managers;
• Pursuing a nationally consistent regulatory regime; and
• Taking leadership positions on, and engaging in policy debates with governments on matters affecting our community and organisation.

Carbon abatement

Carbon abatement initiatives enable Aboriginal people to gain carbon credits in exchange for land management practices that bring an estimated reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This credit is then sold to fund subsequent land management activities.

For example, cool burning is a traditional fire management practice, whereby slow, low-intensity fires are intentionally lit in the early dry season to clear scrub that serves as wildfire fuel. These blazes release less greenhouse gas emissions compared to what would have been emitted by more severe bushfires caused by lightning strikes.

Although BLHGAC does not qualify for carbon abatement because it does not manage savanna landscapes, other Indigenous-owned fire management projects in northern Australia abate 1 million tonnes of emissions every year.

Aboriginal land management provides irreplaceable insights into our ecosystems, their needs and threats, as well as sustainable practices that maintain a vital balance in the natural environment.

Therefore, failing to involve Indigenous communities in land management programs can have catastrophic consequences for our Country.

Since colonisation, Australia has experienced one of the greatest losses of biodiversity in the world, with over 100 native flora and fauna species now extinct.

This decline has kept pace since European settlers first began land clearing *4, which today causes the deaths of approximately 50 million animals per year in Queensland and New South Wales alone *5.

The 2022 State of the Environment report shows that 7.7 million hectares of land were cleared in Australia between 2000 and 2017, and 93% of vegetation felled without securing federal approval for threatened species habitats *6.

Such destruction, coupled with climate change and the continued application of European techniques to unique Australian landscapes, has had severe ramifications for our Country in recent years.

For example, the tragic 2019–20 bushfires burnt over 30 million hectares of land throughout Australia, torching entire habitats, killing or displacing 3 billion animals, and releasing over 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere *7.

In light of these devastating events, there has been mounting appreciation for Aboriginal land management practices among landowners and policymakers, particularly as a way to reduce the intensity and frequency of wildfires.