The role of indigenous land management and governance in tackling the global crisis
For the Kaanju people based at Chuulangun on Kaanju Ngaachi on Cape York Peninsula Indigenous cosmology ties land, flora, fauna and people. The landscape was shaped by ancestral beings or 'Stories' that left law (or governance) and language. 'Bloodlines' tie people to different tracts of land - the foundation of Indigenous governance, land tenure and land management. The Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation, established in 2002, is based on an Indigenous governance structure that is highly localised and has been passed down through Kaanju 'bloodline' to the present generation of owners, managers and lawmakers living on homelands. Chuulangun's objectives include the reaffirmation of the position of the Kaanju people as primary managers for their homelands and sustainable homelands reoccupation, which will see direct benefits for local people and for the protection of biological diversity. In order to help facilitate its objectives Chuulangun seeks to engage with mainstream agencies on the basis that local Indigenous governance and land management is not compromised.
There is a growing body of evidence that the presence of Indigenous people on country has direct economic, ecological and cultural benefits . There are also an increasing number of international symposiums and conventions that are beginning to recognise the integral role of Indigenous governance and land management in tackling the biocultural diversity and climate change crises. However there are serious shortcomings with current Australian government policy and legal and institutional frameworks that do not recognise in appropriate forms the legitimacy of Indigenous governance structures, knowledge systems and management regimes nor the significant role of Indigenous land management and governance in tackling the global crisis.