Incorporating First Nations knowledge and land management practices into water modelling and land rehabilitation projects

First Nations communities have a long history of observation and interaction with the natural environment, leading to the development of collective skills, deep understanding and philosophies about land management practices. The recognition and application of this knowledge is significant within First Nations cultures and also plays an important role in sustainable natural resource management and restoration under conditions of rapid and sustained environmental change.

The Queensland Water Modelling Network, of the Department of Environment and Science, supported a project to improve understanding of how Indigenous Knowledge and First Nations Land Management Practices could be incorporated into technical projects for landscape rehabilitation and landscape resilience outcomes.

Over the last 12 months, a collaborative and innovative piece of work has been undertaken between Relative Creative, Aunty Kay Blades (Mandandanji Traditional Owner and project advisor), Firesticks Alliance and Water Technology and has included consultation with Queensland Murray-Darling Catchments Ltd Aboriginal Rangers.

The first phases of the work involved research, listening and exploration to identify how First Nations land management practices are currently used or engaged for technical applications. The identified gaps and learnings highlighted several opportunities that were explored further in the trial phase of the project, centred around the cultural and environmental concerns at an inland wetland located on the lands of the Mandandanji people, in St. George.

Barriers for meaningful engagement with First Nations Knowledge holders were found to include:

? Client scope, budgets and timeframes not enabling meaningful (if any) engagement with First Nations Knowledge holders;

? A lack of established relationships with First Nations Knowledge holders, even if meaningful engagement is supported by a project;

? Engagement is limited to ‘inform/consult’ rather than ‘collaborate/empower’ (IAP2 spectrum), which can lead to consultation fatigue;

? Projects are compartmentalised, with scope to only complete one technical aspect of the overall project; and

? Engagement with First Nations Knowledge holders can be limited to the subject matter of Cultural Heritage, rather than Cultural Knowledge of land management practices

These barriers were tested with 20 industry representatives during a project showcase at the Queensland Water Modelling Network Forum in October 2022.

Initial recommendations from this work are:

? Early consideration should be given to how First Nations inputs could be sought to enhance overall project outcomes in initial project design; and

? Collaboration with First Nations Knowledge holders should occur throughout all stages of a project to incorporate valuable perspectives and knowledge, focus on implementation and action on the ground and project contributors need to be fairly remunerated.

The outcomes of this work are based on the engagement conducted on the lands and waters of the Mandandanji people, and we acknowledge the wisdom, knowledge and connection to Country that we strive to learn from.

For further information on this work please contact Tahlia Rossi