51 Lawson Crescent Acton Peninsula, Acton ACT 2601 GPO Box 553, Canberra ACT 2601 ABN 62 020 533 641 www.aiatsis.gov.au Environment and Communications References Committee The Senate Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Via email:
[email protected] o·ear Committee Members Senate Inquiry into Australia's faunal extinction crisis AIATSIS Submission The Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission in support of the Senate Inquiry into Australia's faunal extinction crisis. AIATSIS would recommend the focus of this senate inquiry includes: consultation with traditional owner groups; native title corporations administering native title settlements and agreements bodies; Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs); Native Title Service Providers (NTSPs) and Aboriginal Land Councils: all of whom exercise responsibility for the management of the Indigenous Estate and large tracts of the National Reserve System. This critical consultation and engagement is to ensure that traditional knowledge and management is acknowledged as being an essential element in threatened species recovery, management and conservation. AIATSIS submits that acknowledging the totality of the Indigenous Estate and its interconnection with the National Reserve System is essential in terms of addressing the faunal extinction crisis across the content. Caring for Country programs, Indigenous Land and Sea Management Programs (ILSMPs) and Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are achieving great success in terms of threatened species recovery and the eradication of feral pests and species. Please find attached the AIATSIS submission which is based upon 26 years of research and practice by AIATSIS in Indigenous cultural heritage and native title law.