MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE STARCKE RIVER CATCHMENT AND JUUNJUWARRA SEA COUNTRY

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The Juunjuwarra Homeland encompasses The Starke River and adjoining sea’s and encompasses an entire river catchment of The Great Barrier Reef in the South-Eastern Region of Cape York

Juunjuwarra Country is a stunning landscape abundant with rock art and story places. It is diverse, with an impressive habitat cascade incorporating rare remote rainforests and great escarpments that roll down escarpments to a huge coastal plain containing wetlands, lagoon systems and salt pans. The adjoining Juunjuwarra sea Country is home to mangroves and seagrass beds, islands and coral reefs that house some of the largest turtle and dugong populations left in Australia.

“‘Juunju + Warra’ is Junnju, meaning Country, and Warra, meaning people. Juunjuwarra is not Juunjuwarra unless Juunju and Warra are together.”

– Nana Norma Jacko, Juunjuwarra Elder

Juunjuwarra were the first Traditional Owners on Cape York to get their land back following the landmark Starcke campaign 1993, which resulted in the compulsory acquisition of the pastoral leases and conversion to National Park and Aboriginal freehold land. This set the framework for The Cape York Heritage Act and Land acquisition program that has returned 70% of Cape York back into Aboriginal control. However, remoteness and a lack of access have hindered their ability to return and care for their Country.  With the support of a Healthy Water Grant from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Corporation has delivered a leadership program and catchment management plan to build a strong foundation for Traditional Owner-led management of Country.

The program participants of six board members and six young leaders undertook an      immersive integrated leadership program, to ensure  strong governance based on both cultural and western frameworks.

By increasing organisational capability, great governance and developing a strong leadership base and workforce, Juunjuwarra are establishing a strong foundation for long-term, sustainable management of their Country, which has seen significant degradation and deterioration over several decades. This work has empowered and improved the well-being of Juunjuwarra people and their Country whilst providing an opportunity to care for Country, on Country.

Juunjuwarra’s on-Country activities include water quality monitoring and fire management training for cultural burning. They have also conducted extensive cultural surveys, recording and registering culturally significant sacred rock art sites across Juunjuwarra Country. Importantly, intergenerational knowledge sharing is an important component of all these on-Country activities.               

Looking forward, the catchment management plan outlines Juunjuwarra priorities for looking after Country, outlining a program of on-ground activities, employment pathways and entrepreneurial opportunities. Significantly, since implementing ‘Juunjuwarra – Empowering People, Building Governance and Developing Strategies to create a Sustainable Homeland’, Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Corporation have successfully secured funding for a ranger program, enabling the vision set out in the catchment management plan to be realised.

Juunjuwarra’s impressive work and commitment has also seen the Great Barrier Reef  Foundation. provide two new grants to the Juunjuwarra Aboriginal Corporation. The first grant focussed on trialling a highly innovative cultural observation program to collect data and monitor country as well as an extensive community engagement and partnership building program. Stay tuned for stories on these projects as they progress.