Expanding the biocultural benefits of species distribution modelling with Indigenous collaborators: Case study from northern Australia

Abstract

Urgent calls for biocultural conservation highlight the need to engage with Indigenous peoples, whose lands cover some of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. In these places, Indigenous knowledge can be strong, especially for culturally significant species; however, this knowledge tends to be overlooked and deemed incompatible with dominant Western systems of conservation decision-making. The practical mechanics of how Indigenous and Western knowledge systems can be respectfully synergized to inform species conservation decision-making on a regional scale are not well documented. In collaboration with Yolŋu Indigenous rangers from northern Australia, we used a ‘multiple evidence based’ approach to synergize knowledge from senior Yolŋu custodians with Western scientific species distribution modelling (SDM) to explore distribution shifts and biocultural knowledge of two culturally significant, near threatened (critical weight range) mammals: wan'kurra, (Northern Brown Bandicoot, Isoodon macrourus) and marrŋu/rupu (Common Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus vulpecula). Historical Yolŋu species sightings and seasonal observations and the SDM revealed spatial contractions of both species to the northern and mesic regions of the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area over the last 50 years. Knowledge custodians were concerned about the loss of these species and associated cultural knowledge in younger generations. Such cross-cultural knowledge gathering can guide biocultural conservation decision-making and facilitate intergenerational knowledge transmission of threatened cultural knowledge. This approach to collaborative cross-cultural fauna research can be applied globally, and we argue is imperative in contexts where: species and cultures are under threat, and where Indigenous knowledge and peoples can provide insight to inform inclusive biocultural conservation strategies.