Abstract
The critical role that Indigenous people play in natural resource management is globally recognized, with such endeavors frequently supported by Government and non-government funded programs. We explore the perceived impact of the knowledge-exchange opportunities arising from these programs, using data from a survey of Indigenous people from northern Australian communities involved in Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs). We find that ILSMPs are perceived as opportunities for exchange of both western and Indigenous-generated knowledge, with more people reporting opportunities to learn and share traditional rather than western generated knowledge. Aspects of life perceived as improved by learning and sharing were in relation to self, to others (community and family) and the Indigenous culture overall. Learning is having a positive impact on wellbeing; sharing is predominantly positive, but survey responses also reveal some negatives: mostly related to examples of sharing undertaken in culturally inappropriate exchanges, which not only impacts wellbeing, but also erodes the quality of the information exchanged. Reducing the negative sentiments related to sharing will not only improve the wellbeing of Indigenous people, but will also improve the quality of knowledge exchanged with consequent positive outcomes for the environment and society as a whole.
Highlights
The importance of indigenous peoples in sustainable land manage ment has been recognized throughout the world (Garnett et al 2018)
Most learning/sharing opportunities were provided to those directly involved in Indigenous Land and Sea Management Programs (ILSMPs) (43 out of 45, or 95% of those directly involved reported knowledge exchange (KE)), but spill-overs were evident in that 15% of those who had not been directly involved, had KE opportunities (19 people)
Using data from a survey of Indigenous people from communities that are involved in Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs) in northern Australia, we explore the costs and benefits, to Indigenous people, of the opportunities for knowledge exchange (KE) that arise from these programs
Summary
The importance of indigenous peoples in sustainable land manage ment has been recognized throughout the world (Garnett et al 2018). In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (hereafter referred to as Indigenous people, using a capital ‘I’ as is appropriate under Australian protocols) have been managing their country for tens of thousands of years. Their deep understanding of ‘Country’ as a complex, interconnected system, and the knowledge of how to manage it is invaluable to western scientists interested in natural resource man agement (Ens et al 2012; Ross et al 2011). The Australian Federal government first acknowledged the impor tance of investing in Indigenous land management during the 1980s Apart from intended environmental benefits associated with ILSMPs, numerous social, health and wellbeing, and economic benefits have been recognized (Addison et al 2019; Barber and Jackson 2017; Hill et al 2013; Jarvis et al 2018a; Jarvis et al 2018b; Larson et al, 2019a; Larson et al 2019b; Pert et al 2020)
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