‘Caring for country’: a review of Aboriginal engagement in environmental management in New South Wales

Abstract

This article discusses some emerging models of Indigenous engagement in environmental management in New South Wales and urges expansion of such engagement. NSW Aboriginal people own only around one per cent of the state's land, which suggests that land ownership and rights-based approaches to Aboriginal participation in environmental management are insufficient in NSW. Alternative approaches that recognise Aboriginal responsibilities to ‘care for country’ are needed. This article reviews opportunities for Aboriginal people to be involved in environmental and natural resource management activities, noting some of the constraints. It suggests some ways to extend such Aboriginal engagement, emphasising both employment creation aspects and the need to reconcile Indigenous and western governance arrangements for the natural environment.