GUARDIANS OF WATER

^{Story contributed by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.}

Throughout the Wet Tropics, Traditional Owner groups are protecting and caring for water, thanks to innovative partnerships and support from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Healthy Water grant program. 

These projects are improving Great Barrier Reef water quality though a wide range of activities, including:

• Using cultural as well as science-based indicators for water quality monitoring
• Developing culturally informed methods and tools for assessing water quality
• Rehabilitating waterways to restore their cultural and natural significance
• Preserving the wealth of cultural knowledge related to water and its management by recording it in cultural heritage databases and on film
• Developing cultural governance and decision making for waterway management 

Why is this important?

These projects are leading to impactful on-Country work that reflects the values of both Traditional Owner and Western world views. Local knowledge about how individual systems work can inform a deeper understanding of waterway health to inform management. For example, Traditional Owners have reported that just because some water isn’t clear doesn’t mean it isn’t healthy. In this way, holistic understanding of waterway health enhances Western science-informed knowledge.

Culturally informed water quality indicators

Traditional Owner groups are actively developing culturally informed indicators for water quality monitoring. 

In their projects, Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation and Djabugay Tribal Aboriginal Corporation are developing culturally-informed waterway assessment tools to understand the health of the water on their Country and how it can be improved. 

Other groups like Mamu Aboriginal Corporation in Innisfail are already involved in science-driven water quality monitoring programs that recognise the importance of incorporating additional indicators that reflect Traditional Owner values. 

These indicators may focus on the presence or absence of significant plant and animal species, their population size, as well as their physical size. Such species hold cultural significance as food sources, totem species, or bearers of important stories that transmit knowledge to future generations. The loss or damage of these species and culturally important waterway locations not only affects the environment, but also erodes cultural practices and heritage. 

To proactively address these concerns, groups like Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation are developing culturally-informed waterway report cards based on their monitoring programs. This empowers them to understand and promptly respond to any significant changes occurring on their land.

Preserving local, cultural and Traditional Knowledge

Traditional Owner groups are creating resources to ensure knowledge is accessible for current and future generations to manage their waterways and maintain their Country. Jabalbina Aboriginal Corporation has used a film to record Elder knowledge, while other groups like Dabu Jajikal and Yuku Baja Muliku have created cultural heritage databases for water quality projects. 

Traditional Owner Knowledge is informed by a long-standing and intricate understanding of local systems, yet they are routinely excluded from management decisions about priority interventions. These currently focus on reducing dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), sediment and pesticide levels in the water. Often Traditional Owners aren’t included in the water quality projects happening on their Country, and these projects miss out on important learnings from local knowledge. 

To combat this, Traditional Owners are now positioning themselves in key roles so that a broader set of knowledge is included in decision making. Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation has established an Elders Steering Committee to oversee its own partnerships, as well as working with the governance of the Mulgrave-Russell Regional Water Quality Program.  

Grant recipient Thomas Houghton of the Rinyirru (Lakefield) Aboriginal Corporation, says their water quality and wetlands project has revolutionised the funding landscape for on-Country projects. 

“It helps us to get our Elders involved, women and men in women and men areas, and to still follow our protocols. Rather than just focusing on results and data, this allows us to focus on things that are culturally important and implement that into our workplace.”

The Traditional Owner Healthy Water Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.