A historic goal in Western Australia! After years of work, the Marino Park Bardi Jawi Gaara has been completed and, to date, it is the first marine park of the country designed in collaboration with the indigenous populations, “traditional owners”.
With an area of 204 thousand hectares, which includes sea reserves 10 times larger in the port of Sydney, it will protect whales, turtles, dugons, corals and much more, paying tribute to the culture Bardi Jawi and the Sea Country.
Overall, the three marine parks – Bardi Jawi Garra, Mayala and Maiyalam – extend over 600,000 hectares in the spectacular Buccaneer archipelago. An area of enormous naturalistic and cultural value, which will now be protected with an innovative management model: co-planning between state and indigenous communities.
Ancient knowledge and modern tools
For the first time, indigenous knowledge has been put at the center of the design of a sea park. So we protect ecosystems and sacred places, while guaranteeing sustainable and respectful uses, says Tyronne Garstone, CEO of the Kimberley Land Council (KLC).
The creation of these parks was born from a path started in 2017, made of consultations, cultural maps and respect for the decisions of the Aboriginal communities.
View this post on Instagram
The rangers as custodians of the Sea Country
Daily management will be entrusted to the indigenous rangers of the Kimberley Ranger Network, which have been operating in the area for years by combining traditional knowledge and modern environmental skills.
Ranger are the heart of the protection of these seas. With the new agreements we will have more resources to protect cultural sites, manage tourism and create job opportunities for young Aborigines, explains Daniel Oades of the KLC.
A sustainable future for tourism? The challenges behind the enthusiasm
The Dampier peninsula is one of the most spectacular and visited areas of Kimberley. In the next ten years, tourist flows are intended to more than double, and the creation of co-planned sea parks is seen as a guarantee to protect the sea, enhance the indigenous culture and ensure equivalent benefits for local communities.
A model that combines tradition and innovation, and which could become a reference for the management of territories all over the world. But be careful: there is no shortage of critical points.
If on the one hand the co-planning represents an epochal step forward, on the other the perspective of a strong tourism growing could put to the test the same ecosystems that you want to protect. In fact, more visitors mean more pressure on coral reefs, sacred sites and local communities, which risk being overwhelmed by commercial interests and external dynamics.
Finally, it remains to be understood how much governments will really know how to respect the decisions of traditional owners in the long run, without reducing the “joint management” to a slogan.
Don’t you want to lose our news?
