More than 20 groups of Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples have been caring for our land and waterways in the Wet Tropics region for thousands of years. Their knowledge is the basis of 14 new waterway health projects led by Traditional Owners through the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Traditional Owner Healthy Water grant program.

Activities range from water quality monitoring and restoring wetlands to waterways management training for the younger generation of Traditional Owners. They also include the development of cultural indicators, to be used with scientific data, to assess waterway health and preserve cultural knowledge.

Madjandji

The Babinda-based Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation is the first Traditional Owner group to produce an environmental report card assessing the condition of waterways on Country as a basis for an action plan.

Senior Ranger Anthony Satini says rangers have planted 2000 trees on degraded sugarcane land in the lower part of the Russell catchment, and removed pond apple infestations.

“We’ve noticed the birdlife coming back and we wanted to build on this by assessing the feeder creeks in the upper part of the catchment,” he says.

The group held a cultural mapping workshop with Elders, scientists and other people in their network. After walking the landscape, nine sites of cultural story significance were identified including Harvey Creek, a place for baptism.

“Once we chose the nine monitoring sites, we began to gather scientific data and cultural knowledge to assess their condition,’’ he says. “We received training in water quality monitoring to measure nutrient and pH levels and we also worked with partners to do plant, fish and bird surveys.

“Bringing all of this information together helps to build the story about how healthy our waterways are. For example, we noticed that degraded sites had more birds, but that species diversity was less rich, and the birds weren’t necessarily the right bird species. It was the same with fish. In degraded areas there weren’t any nesting sites for Gulun (eel tailed catfish) because they’d been pushed out by tilapia.

“These observations about species are a good indicator of how healthy the waterway is because certain species like the kingfisher rely on good water quality and healthy aquatic species. The next step for us is to create a management action plan and source funding to start making improvements.”

Goondoi

Manni Edwards, a Goondoi Ranger near Innisfail, has been part of a wetland restoration project that includes water monitoring and designing sedimentation ponds.
Declining cassowary numbers led Manni to suspect an ecological imbalance in Goondoi wetlands.

“The main food source for cassowaries is the cassowary plum tree, which was declining because it was being crowded out by pond apple, an invasive species that chokes wetlands,’’ he says.

“The cassowaries had resorted to eating pond apple fruit, which is not only less nutritious for them but also full of seeds which the cassowaries were spreading further afield. On top of this, other invasive weeds were compounding the problem by trapping cassowary plum seeds on the overgrown forest floor, which was then impacted by runoff from nearby farms. All of this was stopping them from growing and adding to the decline of the cassowary’s vital food source.”

The rangers are tackling the problem through weed control, and by constructing sediment ponds between farmland and wetlands to cleanse the water runoff.

Pia Harkness, program manager of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Traditional Owner Healthy Water grant program, says 10 Traditional Owner groups are leading the waterway health projects.

“By incorporating local Traditional Owner knowledge about how individual systems work, it is leading to a much deeper understanding of waterway health,” she says.

“For example, Traditional Owners have reported that just because water isn’t clear doesn’t mean it isn’t healthy. This holistic approach is resulting in impactful on-Country work that ultimately benefits the Great Barrier Reef downstream.”

Traditional Owner Projects

• Dabu Jajikal Aboriginal Corporation (Dabu Jajikal): Mapped culture and heritage values related to saltwater, to help inform a management plan and actions.
• Dawul Wuru (Yirrganydji): Developed a Healthy Country Water plan and a tool for Aboriginal communities to consistently measure and prioritise river and wetland health.
• Djabugay Tribal Aboriginal Corporations (Djabugay): Identified and recorded how to care for their Storyplaces and Storywaters and identified steps for improving waterway health.
• Goondoi Arts Aboriginal Corporation (Dyirrabarra and Bagirgabarra clan groups): Developed a management plan to measure water quality and initiate activities to restore waterway health.
• Jaragun EcoServices (Wanjuru Yidinji): Managed weeds, including pest tree species, and revegetated banks of Babinda Creek.
• Mamu Aboriginal Corporation (Mamu): Developed cultural indicators to assess and monitor water quality to complement and expand on scientific indicators.
• Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation (Madjandji): Mapped the knowledge and cultural values
• Wanyurr-Majay waters and places and developed a monitoring program and report card to inform rehabilitation work.
• Mungalla Aboriginal Corporation (Nywaigi): Developed skills of Traditional Owners in water quality monitoring and reporting and implemented wetland restoration.
• Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation (Eastern Kuku Yalanji): Recorded their healthy water knowledge (both fresh and saltwater) for future generations.The Traditional Owner Healthy Water Grant Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.