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and those we work with are achieving and learning together

Responding to the Indigenous Ranger Sector Strategy 2022-2028 - Consultation Draft

There are just four days left to provide feedback on the Indigenous Ranger Sector Strategy 2022-2028, Consultation Draft. While Conservation Management commends the National Indigenous Australians Agency in acting on the need for an overarching strategy and supportive structures for the Indigenous Ranger Sector, we see some critical failings in the overall approach. Our feedback is  a collective effort from the Conservation Management team – please feel free to adapt and use any views we have expressed here to make them your own.  You can find the Draft Strategy documents, and provide feedback via consultation workshop (Tuesday 31 May), survey or written response at the NIAA website.  

Palawa people speaking for country

It's exciting times, to have Tasmanian Government Departments stepping up to the plate by supporting traditional custodians to speak for country and develop a shared vision for its future use and management. 

Painting Country for looking after Country

It was wintertime in the desert country of Maralinga Tjarutja people, and properly aru (cold) too. Camping out, we were lucky to have shelter from a shed tank as we woke up to thick fog and then rain. The Oak Valley Rangers were hosting several schools from the area for a two-way science camp, talking and learning about weather and seasons. We were also there to continue planning for the proposed Indigenous Protected Area; recording the important things to look after (targets), and the threats impacting on those targets.

Translating to Tetum – Conservation Standards Training in Timor Leste

As we have talked about previously, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that we’ve had to adapt the way that we deliver training and workshops, and support teams and communities across the world. Working with Conservation International (CI) in Timor-Leste has been an enlightening experience of how we can work together to share the Conservation Standards adaptive management framework in Covid times and in another language – Tetum. Neither of our facilitators Heather Moorcroft or Pip Walsh speak Tetum but with the CI in-country team both translating and helping out with the in-room facilitating, we were able to successfully run the first training block on the Conservation Standards from our homes in Australia.

Protecting marine biodiversity

Marine Protected Areas tend not to get the same air-time as their terrestrial cousins, but Conservation Management is working to change all that.  We have recently been working with Parks Australia staff on adapting the Conservation Standards for use in the Australian Marine Parks context (see blog post here). 

Philanthropic fundraising: is it right for your organisation?

Registrations are open for our philanthropic fundraising course for cultural and natural resource management organisations in Australia.  Conservation Management and Xponential will run the course over four half-day online sessions.  

Gooniyandi Rangers – Passion with good process

The Gooniyandi Rangers are in Fitzroy Crossing, Kimberley Region, North-west Australia. They help look after one the most important river system in Northern Australia – The Fitzroy River. It’s been a privilege to work alongside the Gooniyandi Rangers as they start a new era of indigenous land management.  

Adapting the Conservation Standards for different contexts

Offshore marine parks are not as widely understood as terrestrial protected areas; however, people depend on the marine environment to support livelihoods, recreation, and cultural connections as well as the provision of ecosystem services. It is important to improve our understanding of this space and explore the threats to these environments as well as opportunities emerging from them.

Northern Border – Working on Country Plans, foundations for communities

“Heading north again?”, a friend asks me. My answer, “yeah, it’s gonna be a cracker this one”. There have been a few reflective moments in my career where I find myself feeling extremely privileged to be doing what I do. Then I remember it takes a couple of decades to get here, with a lot of support from family and significant personal and professional strategy.

Supporting Wilinggin Healthy Country Planning

Iconic journey, that’s the only way to describe travelling up the Gibb River Road in April after a stonker (big) wet season.  The road, a single bush track with green grass creeping up to its edges, is waiting to be graded or mowed down by tourists.  The intersecting ranges are broken up by full waterways lined with paperbarks and Pandanus. We are travelling through Wilinggin Country, home of the Ngarinyin people.