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Native Title, Land and Water

Native title and joint management of national parks

This project examines increasingly critical issues for native title agreement-making: the joint management or co-management of national parks and other protected areas. Of particular interest are comparisons in what has been achieved through native title in a range of State and Territory agreements. This project broadly involves comparisons of native title and joint management arrangements in states and territories, case studies of joint management in protected areas, as well as publications from various workshops related to native title and joint management, more specifically it includes:

The Native Title Research Unit has documented the scope of the project on native title and joint management arrangements in greater detail in: Project Overview pdf 8Kb.

The Checking and Learning Project: Charles Darwin University’s Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Joint Management Project  

This checking and learning project is about helping Traditional Owners and the NT Parks and Wildlife Service (Parks) to improve joint management by working together. Parks and Traditional Owners assisted by the Northern and Central Land Councils and Charles Darwin University are discussing and deciding on a framework to monitor and evaluate joint management of four parks. The framework will identify key questions (indicators) to find out how joint management activities in Parks are working, like caring for country, looking after visitors and decision-making processes.

The project ran for three years (2008-2011). Funds for the project were provided by the Australian Research Council as well as Parks, Northern and Central Land Councils and Charles Darwin University.

Interim findings and activities of the Project have been prepared by Dr Natasha Stacey and Dr Arturo Izurietawere. Findings were presented at the AIATSIS NTRU 2010 Native Title Conference:

End of project findings have been published as journal paper, and also formed the basis of a guidebook, which is intended for use by traditional owners, parks staff and land council staff involved in joint management.

Izurieta, A., B. Sithole, N. Stacey, H. Hunter-Xenie, B. Campbell, P. Donohoe, J. Brown and L. Wilson. 2011. Developing Indicators for Monitoring and Evaluating Joint Management Effectiveness in Protected Areas in the Northern Territory, Australia. Ecology and Society pdf 326Kb 16 (3): 9. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss3/art9/

Izurieta, A., N. Stacey, J. Karam, with contributions by M. Moyses, R. Ledgar, M. Burslem, D. Scopel, P. Donohoe, P. Donohoe and B. Panton (2011) Guidebook for Supporting Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Jointly Managed Parks in the Northern Territory pdf 2.8Mb, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, 54pps.

Comparison of Native Title and Joint Management Arrangements in States and Territories

The Native Title Research Unit has produced analyses of native title and joint management arrangements for protected and other conservation areas in all states and territories except for Tasmania:

Case studies of joint management of protected areas

AIATSIS completed three case studies in the joint management of conservation and Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in partnership with the Australian Collaboration, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Poola Foundation (Tom Kantor Fund), as part of the AIATSIS ‘Success in Aboriginal Organisations’ Project. Within this project, Ms Toni Bauman completed a case study of Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park. Mr Dermot Smyth carried out two case studies on the Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area and the Booderee National Park in the ACT.

See also:

For a case study of joint management arrangements of national parks in South Australia, see G Leaman, Innovative arrangements for co-management of parks in South Australia, National Native Title Conference, Canberra, 2010 pdf 44Kb

International case studies of joint management

International examples of joint management arrangements provide a useful source of information and comparison. In 2009, the First Nations Forestry Program, Canada, published a compendium of case studies showcasing examples of successful joint management projects. The case studies demonstrate progressive approaches to increasing the involvement of First Nation communities in the forest sector through forest management, business development, skills training and capacity building.

Workshop papers and presentations

The Native Title Research Unit has coordinated and been involved in various workshops related to joint management and native title.

2011

National Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 1-3 June 2011

A joint management workshop was held at the 2011 Native Title Conference in Brisbane.

Bauman, T. 'Joint or co- management as governance in a national community of effective practice' 638Kb, PowerPoint presentation to Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 2 June 2011.

Bauman, T. 'Evaluating management or joint management? ' 634Kb, PowerPoint presentation to Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 2 June 2011.

Mundraby, D. 'Mandingalbay Yidinji IPA Planning'  3.37MB, PowerPoint presentation to Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 2 June 2011.

Rose, B. 'Indigenous Protected Areas' powerpoint 729Kb, PowerPoint presentations to Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 2 June 2011.

Smyth, D. 'Native Title, Indigenous Protected Areas and Joint Management' 1.38MB, PowerPoint presentation to Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 2 June 2011. 

Stacey, N. & Izurieta, A. 'Participatory monitoring and evalutaion of joint management in the Northern Territory: Challenges and Lessons' 2.88MB, PowerPoint presentation to Native Title Conference, Brisbane, 2 June 2011 

Download the workshop abstract, agenda, biographies of panellists and participants, a summary of workshop outcomes and a Native Title Newsletter article here:

2010

National Native Title Conference, Canberra, 1-3 June 2010

A session on native title and the joint management of national parks was held at the 2010 Native Title Conference in Canberra.

2009

National Native Title Conference, Melbourne, 2-5 June 2009

A session on native title and joint management arrangements in the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia and the Northern Territory was held at the Native Title Conference in Melbourne 2009.

Masters of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (MAAPD), Australian National University, 30 April 2009

Canberra Evaluation Forum: Emerging trends in Indigenous evaluations, 16 July 2009

The forum examined current trends in evaluating services and outcomes for Indigenous Australians including whole-of-government evaluation, strengthening the use of evidence in evaluation, and joint management outcomes. Speakers included Mr Stephen Powrie and Ms Kim Grey of the Performance and Evaluation Branch in the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC), FaHCSIA, and Ms Toni Bauman, AIATSIS Research Fellow.

2008

Native Title Conference, Perth 2008

A session on joint management was held at the Native Title Conference in Perth 2008 with an emphasis on arrangements in Queensland and Victoria. The session was convened by Ms Bauman and presentations were made by representatives of the Djabugay Native Title Corporation and the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Corporation.