BROMLEY COUNTRY WATER QUALITY WORKSHOP

_{^{Story created in collaboration with Bromley Traditional Owners.}}

Located in the Cape York Peninsula, the Bromley Native Title determination area includes Country belonging to Wuthathi, Kuuku Yáu and Northern Kaanju Traditional Owner groups. Bromley Country encompasses the Bromley (Ampulin) and Bromley (Kaanichi) National Parks, featuring a diverse geography including giant white silica sand dunes and perched lakes north of the Olive River, and coastal heaths and wetlands in the Temple Bay area. Sandstone ridges, escarpments of the Glennie Tableland and a mosaic of rainforest and eucalypt woodlands can be found in the ranges north of the Pascoe River.

Bromley Country is rich in traditional and contemporary cultural significance for Traditional Owners. National Parks on Bromley Country are jointly managed by Bromley Traditional Owners and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Bromley Traditional Owners engage on water resources and the Great Barrier Reef Project” sought to understand Traditional Owner priorities for looking after water resources on Bromley Country, both within the parks and beyond their boundaries to inform ongoing management activities.

Bromley Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) held a workshop in Lockhart River with Traditional Owners to discuss and develop a plan for looking after the quality of water resources on Bromley Country.

At the workshop, speakers from East Cape York Water Quality Program and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service provided presentations on water quality and the Great Barrier Reef from a Western science perspective.

There were several important topics addressed, including identifying and mapping water resources and their catchments on Bromley Country as well as the cultural, economic, social and biological values of the water resources that exist there. The workshop also covered the threats to those water resources and their impact on the quality of run-off to the sea. Lastly, the group explored opportunities and activities that could be taken to better protect and improve the quality of Bromley water resources and where the greatest benefit to the Reef could be achieved.

The workshop identified that Bromley Traditional Owners want to learn from other Traditional Owners in their region who have water quality projects, including water quality monitoring activities. Having Traditional Owners working on Country together, including Elders and youth, to teach cultural practices was identified as a high priority. Feral animals, including pigs, receding water and climate change effects on the coastline were all issues to be addressed, with a particular focus on protecting permanent springs. Establishing a ranger group to care for Country and identifying funding opportunities were identified as essential to meeting these priorities.