Partnering and engaging with Traditional Owners in conservation translocations

Dorian Moro; Rebecca West; Cheryl Lohr; Ruth Wongawol; Valdera Morgan

doi:10.1071/WR24053

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Partnering and engaging with Traditional Owners in conservation translocations

Dorian Moro

^A , Rebecca West

^B ^* , Cheryl Lohr

^C , Ruth Wongawol ^A and Valdera Morgan ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation, 82 Beaufort Street, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.

^B Wild Deserts, Centre for Ecosystem Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

^C Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, 37 Wildlife Place, Woodvale, WA 6026, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: rebecca.west@unsw.edu.au

Handling Editor: Sarah Legge

Wildlife Research 51, WR24053 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR24053

Submitted: 5 April 2024 Accepted: 28 August 2024 Published: 24 September 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Conservation translocations are increasing in number and so too is the interest and expectation from Traditional Owners (TOs) that they will be involved in management occurring on their Country.

Aims

Our objectives were to identify the levels of past TO engagement as experienced through the western and TO lenses, examine the key steps, challenges and opportunities that emerged from survey responses, and also to provide a case study of a conservation translocation that describes Indigenous involvement to support a reintroduction of golden bandicoots (Isoodon auratus) in Australia from Martu Country (Western Australia) to Wongkumara and Maljangapa Country (New South Wales).

Methods

The key questions the surveys sought to address to western practitioners were as follows: (1) what types of TO involvement were observed; (2) if TOs were not involved in the translocation, was there a reason; and (3) for each translocation project where TOs were involved, (a) why was this engagement sought by their agency; (b) what worked well in terms of involvement and partnerships; and (c) how could these partnerships be improved? From a TO lens, perspectives were sought with a survey addressing the following questions: (1) how were you involved in the translocation; (2) why was it important to you and your community; and (3) ow would you like to be involved in the future?

Key results

Of 208 Australian translocations, 27% involved TOs. The following four themes emerged from the survey responses: the need to recognise and adopt the cultural dimension of conservation translocations on Indigenous Country, maintain on-Country relationships between western practitioners and TOs, enable co-ownership of projects, and maintain community links between western and TO practitioners. The golden bandicoot translocation partnership provided a foundation for TO engagement across generations, setting the scene for long-term and future translocation collaboration opportunities.

Conclusions

The perspectives of all participants involved in conservation translocations highlighted a common theme: the need to support TOs to be engaged fairly, to be culturally safe during their engagement, and to enable them to be part of a wider project and community team. The case study highlighted a sequential approach for engaging the TO organisation and supporting TOs to work alongside western practitioners to capture, record and transport animals from their Country to a new (reintroduction) site.

Implications

We provide suggestions for non-Indigenous managers and practitioners to consider a cultural dimension to conservation translocations when engaging TOs.

Keywords: Aboriginal, conservation translocation, Indigenous, Martu, Matuwa, partnership, reintroduction, traditional ecological knowledge, Traditional Owner.

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