Aboriginal knowledge and community values in NRM. A major project undertaken by the DECC to assist A

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Aboriginal knowledge and community values in NRM.
A major project undertaken by the DECC to assist
Aboriginal communities in NSW to become better
engaged in Natural Resource Management.

• Mal Ridges, Joedie Davis, John Beattie, Paul
  Donnelly, Mick Kelly Carlos Torres.
• (Regional Assessment Unit CHD)

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Issues with NRM for Ab. Comm.s

• Priorities set by natural heritage
• NRM language of maps natural heritage
• Hap-hazard outcomes for Ab. Comm.s
• Poor integration between natural cultural
  projects
• Tick-a-box engagement (just to meet targets)
• Ab. Comm. often compromise knowledge just to get
  involved or an outcome
• Some NRM outcomes conflict with CHM outcomes

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AKCV Project

• Goal is to assist Ab. Comm.s get more out of
  their involvement in NRM
• This means helping Ab. Comm.s talk NRM-speak
• It involves taking a whole-of-landscape view
  thinking strategically
• The project is doing this on two fronts
• equipping Ab. Comm. with better landscape
  information
• helping Ab. Comm.s map values and translate them
  into NRM actions

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Broad Scale View of Country(whole of landscape)
PART 1.

• Begin with a talk to community about their
  landscape
• Encourage community to situate their knowledge
  and aspirations in the broader landscape
• Emphasise that the exercise is not focused on
  recording their knowledge and values
• Instead, the objective is to work towards
  generating derived information that identifies
  NRM opportunities
• Community take-home map to annotate

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AHIMS (knowledge repatriation)
PART 1.
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Landscape view of site distribution models
PART 1.
Likelihood
Low
High
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Landscape view of impacts
PART 1.
Likelihood
Low
High
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Accumulated impacts
PART 1.

• An accumulated impact map gives a landscape view
  of where features have been impacted the most
• This can be used by a community to choose areas
  to focus on for assessment
• A community might choose places for detailed
  assessment that could be addressed through the
  process (eg ones that could attract CMA funding)

Impacts
Low
High
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Broad scale cultural mapping
PART 2.
Discuss with community the things they value
and/or they are concerned about in the landscape
We help community map using on-screen digitising
in the community and site visits mapping with PDA
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Exploring interests
PART 2.
The next step is to explore how the values and
concerns about the landscape might be addressed
through different mechanisms
Here we help community work through matching
values with potential interests in NRM
opportunities
Cultural projects
NRM projects
Regulatory projects
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PART 2.
Strategically identifying opportunities
Opportunity crown land (gain access
management opportunity) Mechanism Dept Lands
crown land assessment Priority Sig. value
(carved tree) in a highly impacted landscape with
other surrounding values
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PART 2.
VIP Mapping Values, Interests
Priority Capture using PDA
Community now get on site with NRM project
officers and map specific issues that can be
addressed through NRM project using PDAs
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Key Points

• Aboriginal community maintain all critical
  knowledge about their values
• We assist them with articulating the implications
  of those values within a conservation (NRM)
  framework
• Community determine the final map that they can
  use to negotiate the outcomes they want to
  achieve
• Community improve their capacity to start
  strategising for the kinds of projects they want
  to run, and use this to influence NRM priorities