Great Barrier Reef Traditional Owner Workshop Reef-Wide Forum 1St-3Rd May 2018
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TitleReef second 2050 line OPTIONALGreat Barrier SUB LINEReef Traditional Owner Workshop Reef-wide Forum DATE 1st-3rd May 2018 Final Report Great Barrier Reef Traditional Owner Workshop Reef-wide Forum 1st-3rd May 2018. Final Report Disclaimer The funding bodies Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC) and CSIRO do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the use of or reliance on any material contained in this publication or in any material referenced in this publication. Information provided in this report is considered to be true and correct at the time of publication. Changes in the circumstances after time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information and the authors give no assurance as to the accuracy of any information or advice contained in this publication. The authors recommend that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to their use of this publication and that users carefully evaluate the accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance of the material for their purposes. The material in this publication may include the views or recommendations of third parties, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding bodies, or indicate commitment to a particular course of action. Page 2 of 27 Contents Disclaimer .............................................................................................................................. 2 Contents ................................................................................................................................. 3 Acronyms ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5 Workshop Overview .......................................................................................................... 5 Workshop Participants ....................................................................................................... 6 2.0 Indigenous Heritage in reef integrated monitoring and reporting program (rimrep) ........... 9 Background ....................................................................................................................... 9 Activity at the forum and outcomes ...................................................................................10 3.0 Reef 2050 Aspirations Project ........................................................................................ 13 Background ......................................................................................................................13 Forum activity and outcomes ............................................................................................13 Reef 2050 Traditional Owner Actions ................................................................................... 13 Reef 2050 Traditional Owner Governance............................................................................ 15 Traditional Owner Initiated Issues ........................................................................................ 18 The reef funding announcement .......................................................................................18 Traditional Owner reef initiatives .......................................................................................20 Traditional Owner concerns about the reef .......................................................................20 APPENDIX 1 ........................................................................................................................ 22 APPENDIX 2 ........................................................................................................................ 23 APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................................ 24 Page 3 of 27 ACRONYMS AIMS ............. Australian Institute of Marine Science CSIRO ........... Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation DoEE ............. Department of Environment and Energy FPIC .............. Free, Prior, Informed Consent GBR .............. Great Barrier Reef GBRF ............ Great Barrier Reef Foundation GBRMPA....... Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority IHEG ............. Indigenous Heritage Expert Group ILUA .............. Indigenous Land Use Agreement IUCN ............. International Union for Conservation of Nature JCU ............... James Cook University LIMAC ........... Local Indigenous Marine Advisory Committee LMAC ............ Local Marine Advisory Committee RIMReP ........ Reef Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program RRRC ............ Reef and Rainforest Research Centre TO ................. Traditional Owner TUMRA ......... Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement Page 4 of 27 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Reef 2050 Plan formally recognises that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Traditional Owners of the GBR area and have a continuing connection to their land and sea Country” (Commonwealth of Australia 2015, ii). Furthermore, the Plan explicitly recognises that inherent in the effective long-term management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are the cultural and economic aspirations of the Indigenous communities of Queensland where strong connections with Country continue. “The cultural and ecological knowledge of Traditional Owners will be essential in delivering this plan” (Commonwealth of Australia 2015, 3). Traditional Owners (TO) were broadly engaged in the development of the Reef 2050 Plan, including the development of the various outcomes, objectives, targets and actions encompassed within. Specific Traditional Owner engagement is structured into the Reef 2050 Plan national advisory arrangements with representatives nominated from Traditional Owner groups in the GBR region being within the Reef 2050 Advisory Committee (chaired by The Honourable Penny Wensley AC)1. Indigenous actions are embedded right across the Plan’s scope, and Traditional Owners recognise this as a major Reef 2050 Plan achievement (Dale et al. 2016, 16). The importance of Traditional Owner knowledge is explicitly recognised within the Reef 2050 Plan, through the ‘Principles in decision-making’ recognising that decisions should be based upon the best available information. This requires that decisions are based on the full range of knowledge, including scientific understanding, Traditional Owner and community knowledge (Commonwealth of Australia 2015, 35). A number of projects are currently underway to implement the principles enshrined in Reef 2050 into practice. Workshop Overview A Reef-wide Traditional Owner Forum was held at Palm Cove in far north Queensland, from 1-3 May 2018. The forum was facilitated by Ken Markwell. The purpose of the forum was to obtain input from Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Traditional Owners to two specific projects: The Reef Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program (RIMReP) Indigenous Heritage theme project funded by Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Department of Environment and Energy (DoEE); and the Reef 2050 Traditional Owner Aspirations project funded by the DoEE and administered by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC). More detail on these specific projects and outcomes obtained from the forum are outlined further below. Both project teams, and the forum itself, were led by Traditional Owners. An additional purpose of the forum was to create opportunities to address reef issues of concern to Traditional Owners. The forum agenda included sessions on the state of the reef; an opportunity for Traditional Owners to express concerns about the state of the reef and be provided with a response to the concerns; and opportunities for Traditional Owners to present 1 http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/reef2050/advisory-bodies Page 5 of 27 their own initiatives and projects in land and sea country management. The major reef funding announcement made immediately before the forum (on Sunday 29 April) also raised a number of additional unanticipated concerns and issues of importance to Traditional Owners at the forum. The project teams agreed to adapt the agenda to accommodate time to fully discuss and respond to these concerns. Further detail is provided below. A website link to download the full record of the forum is provided at Appendix 1; and a website link for the agenda and all powerpoint presentations are provided at Appendix 2. Workshop Participants A total of 66 GBR Traditional Owners representing 35 Traditional Owner groups participated at the forum. A participant list can be found at Appendix 3. Participants were selected from nominations solicited from all Traditional Owner groups along the GBR. Participants represented a broad geographic spread along the reef, based on the nine geographic zones used in both projects, and there was also a good gender balance with 48% female representatives. See Figures 1 and 2. Note that the geographic spread in Figure 2 shows figures which are an underestimate of participants from at least zones 2, 4 and 5. The graph will be updated with final numbers as part of completing the final report. Page 6 of 27 Figure 1: Map of the GBR showing 9 geo-regions used at the forum. Page 7 of 27 Figure 2: Geographic spread of forum participants nominated and invited to attend the forum; and gender balance of participants. Page 8 of 27 2.0 INDIGENOUS HERITAGE