Abstract
This chapter is about sustainability and the special relationship First Nations People have with their land. Australia faces big and urgent environmental problems, such as soil salinity and species extinction, and the answers to these problems may be more easily discovered and implemented if non-Indigenous knowledge can partner with the traditional knowledge of First Nations People. The case study in this chapter is called Gondwana Link and describes a partnership between a not-for-profit community organisation and Nyoongar Elders. The outcomes of that partnership have been beneficial to not only the land, that is showing remarkable signs of recovery, but also to the Nyoongar community who participate by sharing traditional knowledge and practicing culture.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In 2020 catastrophic bush fires on the East Coast of Australia are burning as we make the final edits to this book. Bushfires have burnt 10.7 million ha of land, killed 26 people, and pushed numerous plant and animal species to the brink of extinction.
References
ALT (2017). Policy and guidelines. Government of Western Australia Retrieved from https://www.daa.wa.gov.au/globalassets/pdf-files/land/aboriginal-lands-trust/policy-alt-leaseholders-and-lease-applicabts-july-2017.pdf.
Bradby, K., Keesing, A., & Wardell-Johnson, G. (2016). Gondwana link: Connecting people, landscapes, and livelihoods across southwestern Australia. Restoration Ecology. The Journal of the Society for Ecological Restoration, 24(6), 827–835.
Chatwin, B. (1987). The songlines. London: Picador.
Collins, J. (n.d.). Threatened flora of the Western Central Wheatbelt. Retrieved from https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/threatened-species/recovery_plans/wildlife_management_plans/threatened_flora_western_central_wheatbelt.pdf.
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. (2006). Article 8. In-situ conservation.
Department of the Environment. (2014). Australia’s Fifth National Report to the United Nations Convention of biological diversity. Retrieved from Canberra http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/fd293bd1-c8b8-4ef3-9178-315d06a1663d/files/5th-national-report-final_0.pdf.
Department of the Environment and Energy. (n.d.). Indigenous protected areas. Retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/land/indigenous-protected-areas.
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage. (n.d.). ALT estate. Retrieved from https://www.daa.wa.gov.au/land/alt-estate/.
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Indigenous Rangers—Working on Country. Retrieved from https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/environment/indigenous-rangers-working-country.
Gammage, B. (2011). The biggest estate on earth: How aborigines made Australia. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Gioia, P., & Hopper, S. D. (2017). A new phytogeographic map for the Southwest Australian floristic region after an exceptional decade of collection and discovery. Botannical Journal of the Linnean Society, 184, 1–15.
Gondwana Link: Overview. Retrieved from http://www.gondwanalink.org/aboutus/wherewework.aspx.
Hales, L. (2014). Biodiversity hotspot in WA explained. Australian Geographic.
Hallam, S. J. (2014). Fire and hearth: A study of aboriginal usage and European usurpation in south-western Australia (Revised ed.). Perth: University of Western Australia Publishing.
Hancock, P. (2013). Noongar curse followed Swan River blasting. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/noongar-curse-followed-swan-river-blasting-20130920-2u43w.html.
Hobbs, H., & Williams, G. (2018). The Noongar settlement: Australia’s first treaty. Sydney Law Review, 40(1), 1–38.
Hopper, S. D., & Lambers, H. (2014). Human relationships with and use of Kwongkan plants and lands. In H. Lambers (Ed.), Plant life on the sandplains in Southwest Australia. Perth: The University of Western Australia.
Indigenous Land Corporation. (2018). National Indigenous Land Strategy 2018–2022. Retrieved from https://www.ilc.gov.au/IndigenousLandCorporation/media/Items/Content/Publications/CorporateDocuments/NationalIndigenousLandStrategy-2018-22.pdf.
Indigenous Land Corporation. (n.d.). Land purchased. Retrieved from http://www.ilc.gov.au/Home/What-We-Do/Land-Purchased.
Lambers, H. (Ed.). (2014). Plant life on the sandplains in Southwest Australia. Perth: The University of Western Australia.
Lambers, H., & Bradshaw, D. (2016). Australia’s south west: A hotspot for wildlife and plants that deserves World Heritage status. The Conversation.
Lullfitz, A., Dortch, J., Hopper, S. D., Pettersen, C., Reynolds, R. D., & Guilfoyle, D. (2017). Human niche construction: Noongar evidence in pre-colonial southwestern Australia. Conservation and Society, 15(2), 201–216.
Palmer, K. (2016). Noongar people, Noongar land. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Pascoe, B. (2014). Dark emu, black seed: Agriculture or accident? Broome: Magabala Books.
Pascoe, B. (2018, Spring). Australia: Temper and Bias. Meanjin Quarterly.
Peck, A., Barrett, G., & Williams, M. (2018). The 2018 great cocky count: A community-based survey for Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo, Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo and Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo. Retrieved from Floreat, Western Australia.
Perkins, R. (Director). (2012). Mabo [DVD]. Australia: Roadshow Entertainment.
South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. (2018). Settlement agreement. Retrieved from http://www.noongar.org.au/settlement-agreement/.
Stasiuk, G. (Director), & Robertson, F. (Producer). (2015). Synergies: Walking together—Belonging to country. Perth: Black Russian Productions.
Stocker, L., Collard, L., & Rooney, A. (2016). Aboriginal world views and colonisation: Implications for coastal sustainability. Local Environment, 21(7), 844–865. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2015.1036414.
United Nations General Assembly. (2008). UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/un-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples-1.
Yunkaporta, T. (2019). Sand talk. How indigenous thinking can save the world. Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Johnston, M., Forrest, S. (2020). Sustainability. In: Working Two Way. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4913-7_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4913-7_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4912-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4913-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)