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Caring for our Country
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IPAs Growing Up Strong, the first 10 years of Indigenous Protected Areas in Australia.
An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is an area of Indigenous-owned land or sea where traditional Aboriginal owners have entered into an agreement with the Australian Government to promote biodiversity and cultural resource conservation.
In return the Government agrees to give some support to the traditional owners to carry out the land management work required to conserve its ecological and cultural value.
The CLC has one declared Indigenous Protected Area on Aboriginal land in its region and several other areas are currently undergoing feasibility studies with a view to having them declared as IPAs in the future.
The Indigenous Protected Areas element of the Caring for our Country initiative supports Indigenous communities to manage their land as IPAs, contributing to the National Reserve System.
Above: Northern Tanami - Warlpiri women at a significant
wetland area known as the Duck Ponds
As such, they are of increasing national conservation significance. As there is substantial overlap between traditional aboriginal land use and contemporary conservation management, considerable opportunity exists for agreements that meet the aspirations of both traditional owners and the broader public.
Much of the Tanami is the traditional country of the Warlpiri people and ninety per cent of the Tanami region is held as Aboriginal freehold title under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976
The dramatic landscapes of plains and escarpments and the flourishing wetlands of this region are haven to a number of threatened species including the greater bilby, the great desert skink and the Gouldian finch.
The region is an invaluable contribution to Australia’s national reserve system and the declaration of the area is a significant economic and social boost to the community of Lajamanu which already hosts an active ranger group.
Now an even larger area, the southern portion of the Tanami, is under consideration for declaration as an IPA.
Above: Southern Tanami - picking up Elliot traps during
a survey for the proposed IPA
It includes Yinapaka (Lake Surprise) which is already included on the Directory of Important Wetlands of Australia (DIWA).
This lake is considered to be in almost pristine condition and, when full, is the largest body of fresh water in the Tanami Desert.
It is known to provide important habitat for waterbirds and fish
Two large saline lake systems, Lake MacKay and Lake Lewis have international significance as episodic breeding grounds for wetland bird species protected under international treaties.
This area is in the south west of the Northern Territory and borders three states – WA, SA and the NT.
It is the traditional land of the Pitjantjatjara people and surrounds the small community of Docker River.
The country has rugged quartzite and granite ranges and gently undulating spinifex sandplains. There are also vast saline lake systems of the Great Sandy Desert
Water places in the arid zone have inherent cultural and biological values and the region contains a range of wetland types, some of which have high biological significance.
Traditional owners want to manage their country, and pass on their knowledge to younger generations. They are extremely concerned about protecting sites of cultural significance and the maintenance of water resources like rockholes and bores in remote country.
The area is home to threatened species like the princess parrot and the great desert skink .
The proposed IPA boundary extends around the Katiti and Petermann Aboriginal Land Trusts incorporating substantial cultural and biodiversity values.
The IPA will greatly enhance regional conservation efforts as the proposed boundary completely surrounds Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, adjoins Watarrka National Park in the NT, and adjoins the Ngaanyatjarra IPA on the West Australian Border.
There exists huge potential for significant biodiversity and cultural management outcomes on a broad scale.
