A four-year project aiming to combine social, cultural, and ecological research for managing marine and coastal areas with Yawuru Traditional Owners has gained UNESCO's endorsement as a UN Ocean Decade Action.
The UN Ocean Decade is a ten-year plan to discover, create, and apply essential knowledge for sustainable ocean management.
The Yagarrajalajalan nagula buru project being co-led by Murdoch University's Dr Adrian Gleiss and Dean Mathews of Nyamba Buru Yawuru tackles a problem of great importance to resource managers globally - how equity in resource management can be achieved with Indigneous people.
"Marine environments hold shared resources accessed by a whole range of stakeholders with very different interests and responsibilities, which creates potential barriers for effective management," Dr Gleiss said.
"We are concentrating on a single jointly managed marine park in Western Australia, Yawuru Nagulagun (Roebuck Bay) and working with both joint managers: the Yawuru Traditional Owners and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, to create a thorough understanding of the social, cultural and ecological forces that influence and inform local, national and global conservation practices."
Australia offers a significant example when it comes to handling shared marine resources in cross-cultural settings.
Roebuck Bay's management of green turtle and dugong populations is an excellent way to examine these dynamics.
In Northern Australia, Traditional Owners have strong cultural connections and a long-standing tradition of harvesting green turtles and dugongs where these species are not only protected but also vital for tourism operators and local ecosystems.
"The research aims to answer how to effectively co-manage marine resources – specifically turtles and dugongs cross-culturally," said Mr Mathews.
"In doing so, it will identify and document which areas of Roebuck Bay have importance for customary practices surrounding the use of these marine resources, as well as identify areas of importance for recreational activities within the marine park.
"Together, this will help identify what management practices can be used to ensure the cultural, recreational, social and environmental values of the marine park are managed sustainably now and into the future."
The program aims to bring social, environmental, and economic benefits by devising strategies to address potential conflicts and enhance cooperation through improved management and communication.
Funded by the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science, and Innovation, with additional support from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, as well as Rio Tinto, it involves collaboration between Murdoch's Harry Butler Institute and partners in Perth and Broome, including Nyamba Buru Yawuru, University of Notre Dame Australia, James Cook University, Edith Cowan University, The University of Western Australia, and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
This will create a blueprint applicable to situations involving co-management of resources or co-production of knowledge.
"We recognise the value, skills, knowledge and lived experience of Indigenous land managers, and this project is an opportunity to merge western science and traditional knowledge, which is really important for effective two-way knowledge sharing," Dr Gleiss said.
Science Minister Stephen Dawson said the WA Government is committed to the sustainable management of the marine environment for the benefit of local communities and visitors to the state.
"Having endorsement under the Ocean Decade will help foster an international collaborative response to assisting with our marine science issues as well as showcase the state's leading science expertise," Minister Dawson said.
"These important research projects will provide vital information to support decision making and management of the local marine environment."
The research team will organise national and international forums, bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous managers and researchers, where they will exchange experiences on two-way knowledge sharing and compare co-management frameworks.
