Aboriginal peoples’ connection to the land is based on an instinctive understanding passed on from generation to generation, and it is this connection that could influence the future of nature conservation in Australia.
According to Australian conservationist and Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra Professor Peter Bridgewater, in his recently published paper in BioScience, this intergenerational knowledge can inform a realistic response to nature conservation and agricultural practices in Australia.
“Their ancestral connection to the land gives the Aboriginal people a profound understanding of land use and conservation that can surpass the knowledge of many well-versed experts,” said Professor Bridgewater.
A good example of land care is the use of fire employed by the Aboriginal people in the past, to help with hunting as well as grassland management. This created a landscape that reflected good land care management that was fire resistant.
“The managed conservation approach could potentially transform the Australian landscape in the future and return it to its lush green value of the past,” said Professor Bridgewater.
According to Professor Bridgewater the best solution to sustainable conservation is the development of Indigenous protected areas and empowerment of farmers and land owners to become active land care agents where they live and work.
“Population expansion, energy concerns and infrastructure development can be easily managed through building natural areas where we live, work and play,” Professor Bridgewater said.
Land should not be simply seen as “set aside” for protected areas or reserves. Rather, it should be “used” for nature conservation, making people accountable and responsible for managing it.
“Nature conservation should be a shared responsibility that rests in the hands of those who best understand its uses and how to manage the conservation of natural habitats, ecology and native flora and fauna,” Professor Bridgewater concluded.
The co-authored paper – Half Earth or Whole Earth: What Can Natura 2000 Teach Us? was published in BioScience.
