Linking Culture and the Environment

A. Trau and R. Bushell 275
The Australian government through the Director of National Parks and
the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts is the government
agency responsible for the joint management of several co-managed
parks in Australia, including the iconic Kakadu National Park and world
heritage site. The Director sits on the Board of Management of each of these
parks in conjunction with elected traditional Aboriginal owners who are the
majority board members and Ministerial appointments representing science,
environment and tourism expertise plus other relevant stakeholders.
The cultural dimension is an extremely important feature and attraction
for tourism in these parks. These parks provide opportunities to care for land
that is special to both the indigenous people and to visitors; opportunities for
indigenous people and others to work together and learn about one another,
and a window into indigenous Australian culture.
Kakadu National Park is jointly managed with the Bininj/Mungguy
people. The Board of Management has 15 members – 10 elected from the
region representing the different regions and language groups. Kakadu is a
special cultural landscape. It was shaped by the spiritual ancestors of aboriginal
people during the Creation Time. These ancestors journeyed across the
country creating landforms, plants, animals and Bininj/Mungguy (aboriginal
people). They brought with them laws to live by: ceremony, language,
kinship and ecological knowledge. They taught Bininj/ Mungguy how to
live with the land and look after the country (DoNP, 2007).
Kakadu National Park is visited by approximately 200,000 people each
year, most of whom stay within the park for an average of 3 days. During
2003, 107 commercial permits were issued to tour operators; 575 for camping;
45 for photography and 30 for filming. There is a high level of visitor satisfaction
(76%). The current Plan of Management and associated Action Plan for
Cultural Heritage, developed in conjunction with senior traditional owners,
plans to increase local aboriginal participation in visitor programmes, as a
means of cultural heritage support, income generation for traditional owners
and increased visitor satisfaction and understanding of the Parks rich cultural
history (Wellings, 2007).
Over 5000 cultural sites within the Park have been registered and a
Register of Oral History Audio and Video Material continues to be developed.
This is an important aspect of the conservation work of the Park. It will
be a valuable resource for the community and for interpretative material for
the visitors.
The Plan of Management aims at capacity building of Bininj-Mungguy
staff and support for their move into senior management positions. Almost
half the staff at Kakadu National Park are local aboriginal people.
The visitor guide has on the cover ‘Welcome to the Aboriginal Lands of
Kakadu’. Throughout it explains the park features and attractions through
the language and customs of the traditional owners. It encourages respect
and understanding of aboriginal culture. Many of the tours and businesses
within the Park are indigenous-owned and indigenous-operated. The Board
recognizes that in order to achieve success through partnerships between
tourism and conservation, considerable planning, monitoring and capacity