The Pintubi traditional owners have helped to create the largest protected zone of arid land on earth, by declaring 4.2 million hectares of their land an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) under the Kiwirrkurra IPA.
“A lot of people think the desert is empty,” said Lindsey Langford, an anthropologist who works out of the tiny community in Western Australia that gives the IPA its name.
“But the desert is full of life. IPAs recognise that the best people to manage country in Australia are the people that have been managing it for thousands of years.”
Indigenous Protected Areas are an Aboriginal-led agreement on how country should be managed and by whom. They need to satisfy an Aboriginal value system and a government one to gain approval. The common ground is preservation – of ecology on one hand and culture on the other.
Job creation in some of the most remote communities in Australia is another government draw card.
“It works into tourism and into a whole range of other opportunities that opens up communities to economic developments,” said Richard Aspinall, state manager Western Australia for Prime Minister and Cabinet, who has worked on the Kiwirrkurra IPA with the traditional owners.
“We expect from that we’ll get employment outcomes and we’ll also start working with kids, getting them inspired that the future is rosy and important for the whole community.”
~ Richard Aspinall | Western Australia State Manager | Prime Minister Cabinet
Repost ~ Traditional owners, scientists and cat gizzards key to IPA agreement | ABC News
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