Building Local Capacity of Bajo Fishermen, Eastern Indonesia for Whale Shark Conservation Project team: Natasha Stacey, Sam Pickering with Mark Meekan (AIMS). Recent social and ecological research findings have shown that the migration pathways of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) visiting Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia include the eastern Indonesian and Timor Leste region. This research project aims to confirm the presence of whale sharks in the Timor-Roti area through engagement of local fishers in the documentation of whale shark visitations. The project will contribute vital information for considering the feasibility of establishing a whale shark ecotourism venture and for developing collaborative conservation and management measures for whale shark populations moving between Australia and Indonesia. Tranboundary Diagnastic Analysis (TDA) for the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosytem Action Program (ATSEA). Project team: Natasha Stacey. Consultancy to prepare a preliminary TDA for the ATSEA Program for Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia. Dambimangari Social Impact AssessmentProject team: Stephen Garnett; Dermot Smyth, Hmalan Hunter-Xenie, Natasha Stacey, Ram Vemuri, Tanya Vernes Funding: Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation, Mt Gibson Iron Limited This project aims to identify community development, employment, education, training, environmental management, business development and other opportunities arising from the impact of mining on the Dambimangari peoples of the Kimberley region. The project will provide advice on the effective use of royalty payments from the Mt Gibson Iron mine on Koolan Island, Western Australia and is intended to assist with the economic and social development of the Dambimangari people.
Enterprise Development, Value Chains and Evaluation of Non-timber Forest Products for Agroforestry Systems in Eastern Indonesia Project team: Tony Cunningham, Adam Drucker, Sam Pickering A high proportion of households in Indonesia’s poorest province, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), depend significantly on the availability of two categories of natural resources. Those are a) near-shore marine resources and b) products from forests, woodlands and agroforestry systems (often referred to as non-timber forest products - NTFP’s). This project will focus on the link between livelihoods and local enterprises based on NTFP’s.
Natural Resource Management and Enterprise Development: Can They Improve Indigenous Livelihoods?Project team: Adam Drucker, Natasha Stacey, Julian Gorman, Bruce Campbell (CIFOR), Ram Vemuri, Marty Luckert, (CIFOR), Arild Angelsen (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) This project will investigate: (a) the nature of dependence of people on natural resources, in two contrasting Indigenous situations (Northern Australia and Eastern Indonesia); (b) the constraints to and opportunities for livelihood improvement from natural resource management and natural product enterprise development; (c) strategies for improving livelihoods based on natural resources. The research will contribute fundamental knowledge on the economics and behaviour of people dependent on natural resources, and thus provide concrete strategies on how natural resources can contribute to poverty alleviation agendas. Improved understanding of poverty should ensure more effective development assistance, thereby reducing pressures on Australia’s borders.
Wildlife-based Business Development in the Northern TerritoryProject team: Julian Gorman Facilitation of local wildlife-based enterprises is essential if these are to overcome the many barriers that prevent their success. This jointly funded position was set up in response to requests for help from remote Aboriginal communities to navigate the process of establishing and sustaining successful small business based on the use of wildlife. Most work to date has been in establishing community aspirations and disseminating information in from current research.
Business Support for Contract Mine-site Rehabilitation Tiwi IslandsProject team: Kate Hadden, Ram Vermuri, Stephen Garnett This project aims to establish a new enterprise that will provide a contract rehabilitation service across the Tiwi Islands. Markets have already been established with Matilda Minerals Pty Ltd for contract mine rehabilitation, and there are ongoing opportunities for the direct sale of plants and landscaping contracts. Initial support to the business will be through wages subsidised by CDEP, and support form the Tiwi Terrestrial Ranger Programme. Business planning will be undertaken with support from CDU, and business operational support will initially be through Pirntubula Pty Ltd, a well established Tiwi owned business trading as trustee of the Tiwi Islands Community Trust. This initial subsidisation will allow a crucible period that will provide a supportive environment as people move from CDEP to full employment. It will also provide a low risk window for assessment and fine tuning in the early stages. After two years, it is intended that a profitable business will be operating without subsidised labour or other economic support. In the longer term, the enterprise should become the preferred contractor for all revegetation works on the Tiwi Islands. It also has the potential to become the model for other locally owned small enterprise on the Tiwi Islands.
Bamboo Based Development and Poverty Alleviation in Guangxi Province, ChinaProject team: Nick Hogarth, Bruce Campbell, Brian Belcher This project will support and contribute towards the larger CIFOR/International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) project titled: “Forests that Benefit the Poor: Linking Income Generation to Influence among Forest Communities in Asia”. The overall goal of the project is to support more resilient livelihoods for poor and socially disadvantaged women and ethnic minorities dependent on forest resources in Asia. The project will contribute to PEN, contributing data to that of different geographical regions, forest types, forest tenure regimes, levels of poverty, infrastructure and population density. This global and country level analysis of the role of forests in poverty alleviation will build a knowledge base to help formulate national and global policy, build capacity among those involved and assist conservation and development agencies better achieve ‘pro-poor’ outcomes.
Recently completed researchDugong and Marine Turtle Project Partner Feedback SurveyProject team: Natasha Stacey, Lisa Petheram, Gill Ainsworth Funding: Internal consultancy This project has been conducted as part of an evaluation for the NAILSMA – Tropical Savannas - CRC Dugong and Marine Turtle Project (DMTP). The survey was conducted to help evaluate the effectiveness of project management and delivery, communication between partners and awareness-raising about the project in general. It also considered the strengths, weaknesses and benefits of the project. It is hoped that results from this survey will guide development of similar future cross-regional projects involving multiple stakeholders. It will also provide valuable information if this project is funded for a second phase. Review of the Terminalia ferdinandiana Industry DevelopmentProject team: Tony Cunningham, Julian Gorman, Stephen Garnett, David Boehme, Kim Courtenay Terminalia ferdinandiana is potentially the base for an important wildlife-based industry. However, while economic and agronomic potential is high, a variety of social and policy impediments currently make it unlikely that these benefits will accrue to those on whose land it grows. This project aims to understand these impediments and develop ways of overcoming them. Healthy Country: Healthy PeopleProject team: Team Leader: David Bowman 2003-April 2007; Stephen Garnett: April 2007- ; Environmental Group, David Bowman CDU, Don Franklin CDU, Owen Price NRETA, Barry Brook Uni Adelaide, Aaron Petty CDU, Grant Williamson CDU, Louis Elliott CDU; Health Group: Fay Johnston CDU, Paul Burgess CDU , Susan Jacklyn CDU, Amy-Jo Vickery CDU, Kerin O’Dea UniMelb Policy Group: Bev Sithole, Consultant, Tess Lea, CDU, Peter Whitehead, NRETA, Stephen Garnett, CDU. The Healthy Country, Healthy People study investigated the close connections between Indigenous people, their ancestral lands and the impacts this may have on the health of landscapes as well as the physical health and well-being of populations. For the first time, the health of people actively involved in caring for country was compared with that of people not engaged. Health and ethnographic research was employed to compare health indicators among a range of Indigenous people in the collaborating community. Environmental research compared various measures of ecological health under different types of tenure and management. The researchers conclude that investment in natural and cultural resource management activities in Indigenous communities would deliver a healthier people, a higher quality environment, sustainable economic development opportunities and has the potential to deliver significant economic savings in health care expenditure.
Media Release (8th May) Newsletter #1 (Feb 05)
Exchange, Use and Conservation of Animal Genetic ResourcesProject team: Sipke Hiemstra, Adam Drucker, Nils Louwaars, Kor Oldenbrook, Morten Tvedt, Irene Hoffman and Taylor Brown The aim of the project is to support informed decision-making by exploring a range of policy and regulatory options related to the exchange, sustainable use and conservation of farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR). Such options are explored through an analysis of the current situation regarding exchange, use and conservation, and through the elaboration of a range of scenarios and their potential implications related to future globalisation, climate change and environmental degradation, the occurrence of new epidemic animal diseases, as well as further developments in the field of biotechnology. An analysis of the implications of these scenarios, should they occur in practice, is carried out through a global assessment of the experiences, interests, objectives and views of a wide range of stakeholders, including at the global level and in specific case study developing and developed countries.
Improving the Livelihoods of Poor Livestock-keepers in Africa Through Community-based Management of Indigenous Farm Animal Genetic ResourcesProject team: Adam Drucker, Workneh Ayalew, Isabelle Baltenweck, Lemma Gizachew, Haro Guyo, Olorounto Delphin Koudandé, Clemens Wollny, Brigitte Kaufmann, Anne Valle Zárate, Annette von Lossau This project aims to improve the livelihoods of poor livestock-keepers through the conservation and sustainable use of indigenous animal genetic resources(AnGR). This is achieved through the empowerment of local communities, through an improvement of their analytical, technical, managerial and organisational skills to manage their AnGR, in order to reduce poverty and food insecurity. The project works across a number of sites in Benin, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Review of the Dhimurru Aboriginal Land Corporation’s Sea Country Management Plan in North East Arnhem Land (Yolnguwu Monuk Gapu Plan of Management)Project team: Merrilyn Wasson, Ilse Kiessling, Karen Edyvane The purpose of the review is to promote the economic and traditional rights of the Yolngu people, represented by the Dhimurru Corporation, to the customary management of their traditional sea domain through reform to policy and legislation, including appropriate zoning arrangements.
Timber Harvest Management for the Aboriginal Arts Industry: Socioeconomic, Cultural and Ecological Determinants of Sustainability in a Remote Community ContextProject team: Tony Griffiths, Jennifer Koenig, Jon Altman (CAEPR) The Aboriginal arts industry is one of few development opportunities for Indigenous people in remote communities. Yet there has been limited research that has combined assessment of the social, ecological and economic determinants of arts production sustainability. This project addresses this issue with reference to the rapidly expanding manufacture of sculptures.
Wild Harvest of Cycad arnhemica in Arnhem LandProject team: Tony Griffiths, Julian Gorman The commercial wild harvest of plants is a flexible form of employment suited to Aboriginal people living in remote communities. The global commercial trade in cycad products has been restricted after populations where threatened by habitat destruction and unsustainable collection for the ornamental plant trade, but the Northern Territory government has established a Cycad Management Program that allows the wild harvest of cycad under regulation. The results of this study indicated that wild harvest of juvenile stems of C. arnhemica, will have minimal impact on wild populations, provided that restrictions on repeat harvesting of the same location are applied.Griffith, A.D., Schult, H.J. and Gorman, J. (in press) Wild harvest of Cycad arnhemica (Cycadaceae): impact on survival, recruitment and growth in Arnhem Land, northern Australia.
Production for Marginal Lands: Sustainable Indigenous Enterprise Development and Commercial Use of WildlifeProject team: Peter Whitehead, Julian Gorman This project consisted of three stages. The first was the creation of a data base of animal products utilized by Indigenous communities, including an assessment of their commercial potential. In the second stage case studies of enterprises utilizing wildlife were evaluated to determine which factors were important to successful enterprise development. The results of the study were presented at a workshop where Aboriginal people involved in wildlife-based enterprises gathered to share their experiences and discuss issues affecting enterprise development.
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