Central Land Council

Rose Report One

Executive Summary

Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory supports a range of land uses which vary from traditional hunting and gathering activities to intensive and localised resource uses such as mining. Land degradation on Aboriginal land has been seen as relatively unimportant in the national context and as a result little attention has been given to land degradation problems. the Aboriginal fire management regime.

Considerable areas, particularly on former pastoral leases, have been exposed to grazing cattle and other feral species leading to changes in vegetation composition, vegetation decline and soil degradation. Many of the land degradation issues affecting Aboriginal land are similar to those on other lands in central Australia. The widespread loss of native mammal species is well documented and attributed largely to the impacts of rabbits, the introduction of grazing animals and changes in Other land degradation issues occurring on Aboriginal land result from increased resource use pressure in high use areas such as around communities and along roads. These include vegetation decline and topsoil disturbance which leads to wind and water erosion and dust problems. Other impacts are depletion of bush food species and resources such as wood for fires and artefact manufacture. While many of these issues are localised their impact on the health and lifestyle of Aboriginal people makes them a high priority issue.

More information is needed to clarify the likely long term impacts of contemporary Aboriginal resource use and to identify strategies to ensure resource uses are sustainable. Significant concern is raised about the levels of Aboriginal access to appropriate funding programs and services for land management activities. The lack of effective coordination of the range of different programs available is also an issue which requires attention.

At present Aboriginal land use aspirations are poorly documented and as a result are largely under-represented in programs that support Aboriginal land use. Mainstream land management programs lack the flexibility to respond to Aboriginal priorities and programs formulated for Aboriginal people often focus on issues that are not Aboriginal priorities.

Access to government and non-government funding programs and services will continue to play an important role in shaping the future direction of Aboriginal land use and management. It is argued that Aboriginal organisations working with land management issues need to be adequately resourced and supported to coordinate and access existing land management programs and, where necessary, to develop specialised services to meet Aboriginal needs.