A Bicultural Approach to Natural Resource Management in Australia - Assignment Example

BICULTURAL APPROACH TO NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA Natural resource Natural resources are those that occur freely in the environment, without the influence of man, these resources are said to exist relatively undistributed by humanity. Natural resources have often been characterized by the amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in different ecosystems on the face of the earth. Human beings depend on natural resources in order to power various systems in their daily processes of life; they use these resources to develop business systems, social as well as other important man-made resources. In terms of distribution, natural resources are often said to be unevenly distributed on the face of the earth, existing in various degrees of intensity. Natural resources are used to improve the quality of life on earth, for instance, rivers and lakes provide water for domestic and industrial use. Trees provide timber for building and construction; they are important sources of food and medicine and at the same time, perform the most crucial role of purifying the air through carbon dioxide fixation. Natural resources are also described as materials found freely in the environment, it is important to realize that every man-made product on the face of the earth is composed of natural resources at their most fundamental levels. Natural resource management Management of natural resources has been held with great esteem by most nations, this is because, their depletion in the natural environment has serious effects. For instance, depletion of forests has been the cause of drought in many places, in addition, the absence of forest cover increases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thus increasing atmospheric temperatures, a situation commonly described as global warming (Salvati & Marco, 2008, p.520). Currently, the world is grappling with effects of global warming that have been described as the current menace on the face of the earth. All this has come into existence because people have been ignorant of efforts to manage and conserve the environment at different levels. The international community has had to engage in various treaties and agreements in order to engage all nations in efforts to manage and conserve natural resources on the face of the earth. Management of natural resources refers to supervision of natural resources like land, soil and water as well as flora and fauna, with a specific focus on how the process affects the quality of life for present and future generations. In this case, the process of natural resource management has to deal with effective administration of the manner in which people and natural landscapes interact in their natural environment. The process brings together all aspects of land use planning, water management, conservation of biodiversity as well as future sustainability of related industries like mining and forestry among others. Natural resource management approaches realizes that people and their livelihoods rely on health and productivity of landscapes, and their actions as stewards of the land play a critical role in maintaining this particular health and productivity. For this reason, it is prudent that collaborative efforts be put in place to ensure reliable success in this process. It is important to realize that natural resource management specifically centers its attention on various scientific and technical understanding of resources and ecology as well as the life-supporting capability of those particular resources. Management approaches One of the most significant aspects of natural resource management approaches is that they are inherently complex; in addition, they involve ecological and hydrological cycles, climate as well as other important geographical characteristics (Gaston & Spicer, 2004, p. 287). All these factors play an important role in complementing management efforts; similarly, they are interrelated, meaning that a change in one of them poses far-reaching consequences that appear to be irreversible in most angles. In addition to natural systems, natural resource management has the responsibility of managing various stakeholders and their interests as well as policies, geographical boundaries, economic implications among other competing wants. However, it is important to realize that satisfying all these stakeholders is not an easy task, in most cases there are various conflicting situations. Different countries have enacted various approaches thought to be effective in ensuring that natural resources are well managed and conserved. These approaches are aimed at increasing forest cover, water quality as well as perseveration of endangered flora and fauna. The efforts are intertwined to involve policy, financial and human resource efforts in meeting set goals and objectives for effective natural resource management. Natural resource management programs in Australia The Australian government has been on the forefront ensuring that it commits its efforts fully in inspiring its population towards effective natural resource management. In the recent past, the government has made partnerships with different institutions in order to come up with programs that set and deliver effective goals and objectives in natural resource management, some of these partnerships have involved State and Territory governments. These partnerships have undertaken ambitious experimentation within Natural Resource Management (NRM) policy and programs, in all cases; the aim has always been to establish programs positioned to use public funds to best effect in achieving valued NRM outcomes. In the experiments that have been carried out, one of the most significant elements has involved a decentralization of NRM planning down to the regional scale: the establishment of the so-called ‘regional NRM delivery model’ (regional model) which has been formally in place since 2003. Adopted from (Salvati & Marco, 2008, p.531) The efforts by the Australian government to improve natural resource management efforts has been boosted in those past decades since most of the goals and objectives have been achieved. This has been made possible by the implementation of a bicultural approach that has been seen to incorporate various stakeholders; this approach has been successful at various levels in different instances. Bicultural approach to natural resource management in Australia Australia is a multicultural society that values natural resources as important assets in the life of its citizens. One of the ways that are being adopted by various governments in effective natural resource management is adopting a bicultural approach (Northern Territory Government, 2006, p. 87); this is where people’s efforts are taken into consideration in ensuring that particular natural resources are effectively managed. It is important to realize that people’s knowledge about the environment is an important asset in natural resource management projects and approaches. Enacting bicultural approaches is viewed as a developmental approach to resource management; this is because, people are encouraged to learn to make use of the resources and thereafter ensure their continuity. In this regard, natural resources are taken to be part and parcel of human life, so that people ensure their use leads to their management and conservation, for instance, people can make use of wood as a natural resource for fuel and timber, thereafter, they complement their use by planting more trees in the deforested regions. Bicultural resource management approaches in Australia have seen various partnerships between different stakeholders in ensuring that different resources are well taken care of. One of those established systems that have adopted the bicultural approach in natural resource management include Land and Water Australia. Land and Water Australia Land and Water Australia is a natural resource management project that has enjoyed huge success in efforts towards effective management and conservation of natural resources in Australia (Measham, 2007, p.150). The project is currently finding a portfolio of indigenous-focused research that is comprises of eleven projects as well as two community fellowship in Australia. The efforts carried out by Land and Water Australia have been boosted by overwhelming support from these particular communities. In 2004, there was a forum that was held in Darwin and brought together various researches in the projects being funded in order to make fruitful discussions on effective options of co-coordinating natural resource management strategies. All the research projects showcased presented a range of innovative approaches towards indigenous involvement in research and development approaches. According to feedback information from people that participated in the forum, it was a perfect and valuable opportunity for particular researchers to establish a professional network and share knowledge as well as various methodologies for cross cultural research. Since its inception, this group has been successful in ensuring a bicultural approach in natural resource management; so far, there has been successful generation of new knowledge towards this important goal. Land and Water Australia is working to ensure that this information is made available to different communities as well as organizations that share similar goals and objectives (Jaraith & Smyth, 2003, p. 65). It is important to understand that acknowledgement and incorporation of both indigenous and western knowledge frameworks (dual knowledge systems) has been a common practice in Land and Water Australia projects. This approach has been adopted by the projects in order to constructively enhance natural resource management goals and objectives as well as expected outcomes. In Australia, it has been a common observation that the Aboriginal people are in control of a growing proportion of the land across the Top End and are trying to maintain (or re-establish) responsibilities to Country within a contemporary political framework. The result for this development has been a collective challenge for Indigenous people and NRM agencies responsible for land management as well as other resources therein. Different projects are fast developing approaches and frameworks by which to conduct research within this context that has been considered as being cross-cultural. Importance of this development It is important to understand that approaches and methodologies being fronted by Land and Water Australia have been in response to a cross-cultural research environment that is characteristic of Australian republic. It has been understood that a participatory approach is highly essential in the true engagement of Indigenous people, as well as for effective knowledge adoption. At the same time, there is a multidisciplinary research design that is being adopted for an integrated approach, in this case, the Aboriginal people see their landscape and the ecological and cultural management of that landscape in a very connected way, therefore, a highly integrative approach is critical. So far, engaging with Aboriginal people for effective management of research projects means building strong and ongoing relationships of mutual trust. This is something that is being considered fundamental for effective communication as well as knowledge adoption to enhance the involvement of Aboriginal people in natural resource management and sustainable land management practices. Land and Water Australia has so far been very effective in crafting and working with a bicultural approach towards natural resource management (Central Land Council, 2005, p. 305). The change of focus of projects that are within LWA portfolio is directly related to building and developing effective research processes rather than simply presenting products and outputs. Following this approach, it is evident that a need has been identified for more work that is geared towards developing communication links across and within projects by audience identification and profiling. The different projects being funded and supported by Land and Water Australia comprises of a wide range of disciplines cutting across a wide range of Natural Resource management issues locally, regionally as well as nationally. Much of the research by LWA has been facilitated by an aim of developing processes through which to acknowledge the value of both western and Indigenous knowledge frameworks while at the same time, building better capacity of local people, researchers and the government. For this case, natural resource management initiatives have come up with different innovative and collaborative solutions for better land management (Craig, 2005, p. 40-5). Indigenous land management Land is a universal natural resource that is considered and held with great esteem by people in all countries, this is because, land is the single resource from which other resources can be derived. Bicultural resource management in Australia have played an important role in ensuring that this resource is effectively utilized and managed in Australia through Land and water Australia as well as other organizations concerned with effective human resource management. Indigenous land and sea management, which is also referred to as ‘caring country’ comprises of a wide range of environmental, natural resources as well as different cultural heritage management activities that are being undertaken by various individuals, groups as well as organizations across Australia (Hunt & Smith, 2006, p. 109). All this is usually carried out for various important reasons including customary, community conservation and economic reasons (Billgrena & Holme, 2008, p. 104). The origin of all this activities can be traced back to the holistic relationship that exist between traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies that exist in Australia as well as customary land and sea estates. This relationship is described as having existed for over 50, 000 years, for this reason, increasing formal involvement of indigenous people was brought to light in the 2011 Australia state of the environment reports that were made at the time. Indigenous people are reported to have played an important role in ensuring that land and its resources are effectively utilized and managed. The rights and interest of indigenous people are recognized formally through specially made agreements or land title in over half of the total land in Australia. This recognition has been specially designed according to the tenure system, in this development 8.3% of the land through native title has been determined as being held over the whole area. Similarly, 12.9% has been availed through native title determined as held over part of the area while 39% of the land has been through Indigenous land use agreements (ILUAs) with multiple other parties. In addition, more than one of these mechanisms apply to some land areas, and ILUAs may give limited or no access for Indigenous land management purposes. Conclusion Natural resources are important for any country on the face of the earth, their utilization as well as effective management and conservation approaches determines the extent to which a country and its people benefit from them. By using a bicultural approach, countries are better placed to involve all people in effective management of resources while averting cases of disagreement and foul play that may arise by people and organizations tasked with management and conservation of such cases (Bauman & Williams, 2004, p. 345). The Australian case provides a perfect example of a bicultural approach can be used in management and conservation of such resources. Bibliography Bauman T & Williams R 2004. The Business of Process: Research Issues in Managing Indigenous Decision-Making and Disputes in Land. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra. Billgrena, C., & Holme, H. 2008. Approaching reality: Comparing stakeholder analysis and cultural theory in the context of natural resource management. Land Use Policy. Vol 25, No. 1. pp. 550–562 Central Land Council. 2005. Undertaking projects and research in Central Australia: Central Land Council protocols and the development of protocols for projects and research in the CLC region. Anne Books, Canberra. Craig D. 2005. Ethical relationships for biodiversity research and benefit sharing with Indigenous peoples: Macquarie. Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law Vol 2, No. 1. Pp. 30–74. Gaston, K J & Spicer, J. I 2004. Biodiversity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing Company, Malden. Hunt J & Smith D E. 2006. Building Indigenous Community Governance in Australia: Preliminary Research Findings. Australian National University, Sidney. Measham T. G 2007. Building capacity for environmental management: local knowledge and rehabilitation on the Gippsland red gum plains. Australian Geographer, Vol 38 No. 2. Pp. 145–159 Northern Territory Government. 2006. Northern Territory Implementation Plan for the Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative. NT Government, Darwin, Adelaide. Salvati L & Marco Z 2008. Natural resource depletion and economic performance of local districts: suggestions from a within-country analysis. Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. Vol 15, No. 6. Pp. 518–523. Jaraith H & Smyth D 2003. Innovative Governance: Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and Protected Areas. Ane Books, New Dehli. Read More