News Latest News Agreement Supports Traditional Owner Participation in River Management
Agreement Supports Traditional Owner Participation in River Management
For the first time, the Traditional Custodians of the middle and upper reaches of the Mitchell River in north Queensland have joined forces with each other and researchers to protect and restore the water and ecology of the Mitchell River. The different Traditional Custodian groups have formed and incorporated the Mitchell River Traditional Custodian Advisory Group (MRTCAG), which aims to review and manage any scientific research carried out on their country.
On November 24, MRTCAG signed an agreement with the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) research program, which includes some of the researchers in the Water Planning Tools Project. It allows for cooperation and collaboration for conducting research on lands owned and managed by the Mitchell River Catchment Traditional Custodians.
Among the researchers involved include Water Planning Tools project leader Poh-Ling Tan and researchers John Mackenzie and Sue Jackson. The agreement will mean TRaCK researchers will follow an agreed set of protocols and a code of conduct for working on Indigenous lands in the Mitchell River Catchment.
"I hope that my people, Western Gugu Yalanji, can have a practical input into the research projects and give advice about the areas of note – the story places along the river," says MRTCAG spokesperson Kawanji Brady.
"We can show the researchers where to go and where to not go, how to be and how not to be."
Aboriginal lawyer and newly appointed Chair or MRTCAG, Ruth Link whose family are one of the Traditional Custodian groups represented, facilitated the Agreement between the Traditional Custodian groups and TRaCK. "While our initial focus was natural resource management and research on the Mitchell River, the Advisory Group is expanding its focus to look at much more than this," Ms Link said.
"TRaCK gave us the platform to join forces to look at the health and well-being of the catchment, but we’re also interested in the health and well-being of our people. We’re now looking at things like employment and economic development.
"It was TRaCK’s willingness to sit down and speak and listen to Traditional Owners in a respectful way that initiated this process."
The Mitchell River, which flows from north of Cairns to the Gulf of Carpentaria, is one of the biggest rivers in Queensland and covers a range of habitats from the wet tropical rainforests to dry inland savannas. However, the river is threatened by weeds, erosion and the introduced Tilapia fish. TRaCK research focuses on improving knowledge about Australia's tropical rivers and estuaries to better inform decision-making by communities and governments. It draws together more than 70 of Australia's leading social, cultural, environmental and economic researchers from CSIRO, Griffith University, Charles Darwin University, the University of Western Australia and other research agencies.
