Aboriginal people caring for country: good for all of us

1. Aboriginal people caring for country: good for all of us Dr Jocelyn Davies CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Alice Springs Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre 12 September 2008 Livelihoods inLand™ research www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au

2. Critical understandings from land management systems for ‘closing the gap’ in desert Australia Dr Jocelyn Davies CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Alice Springs Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre 12 September 2008 Livelihoods inLand™ research www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au

3. Aboriginal land management – desert Australia • Uniquely placed for sustainable livelihood outcomes (health, well being, income) • Smaller settlements have a key role • Cultural motivations are foundational • Public investment is important to enterprise viability – ‘social enterprise’ • Planning needs to join up land management, health, education and arts

4. Complementary benefits from Aboriginal land management • Health and well being of Aboriginal people • Bush food production, including commercial • Cultural heritage, contributing to: • national cultural life of Australia, • local and export income through tourism and art • Biodiversity conservation, including the protection of threatened species • Greenhouse gas mitigation, carbon sequestration.

5. Closing the gap needs systems thinking ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION HEALTH BUDGET 08 BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CLOSING THE GAP GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP SCHOOLING EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTHY HOMES SAFE COMMUNITIES

6. Engaging land management to close the gap ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION HEALTH Land management Caring for country Working on country GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP SCHOOLING EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTHY HOMES SAFE COMMUNITIES

7. WHO framework for social determinants of health WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, final report August 2008

8. Health follows a social gradient * * * * * * WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, final report August 2008

9. Health gradient in work roles Wilkinson & Marmot. 2003 Social determinants of health, WHO Europe 2nd Ed

10. Photo: Earthbound Consultants

11. Strong languages in desert Australia

12. Photo: Karissa Preuss Photo: Karissa Preuss Photo: Paul Hastings

13. Aboriginal population and settlement pattern

14. Control at work & heart disease Ferrie (ed) 2004. Work, stress and health. Whitehall II study,CCSU/Cabinet Office, London

15. SCARCE RESOURCES Widespread low soil fertility & patchy natural resources SPARSE POPULATION Sparse, mobile & patchy Human population REMOTENESS Distant markets, business education & political centres LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Limited research, local/traditional knowledge relatively important CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Particular types of people, cultures & institutions SOCIAL VARIABILITY Unpredictability in, or lack of control over markets, labour, policy CLIMATE VARIABILITY Variability & extremeness In primary drivers (Rainfall, other weather) Stafford Smith, Mar 2008 Rangeland Journal, Vol 30

16. SCARCE RESOURCES Widespread low soil fertility & patchy natural resources SPARSE POPULATION Sparse, mobile & patchy Human population REMOTENESS Distant markets, business education & political centres SOCIAL VARIABILITY Unpredictability in, or lack of control over markets, labour, policy CLIMATE VARIABILITY Variability & extremeness In primary drivers (Rainfall, other weather) LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Limited research, local/traditional knowledge relatively important CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Particular types of people, cultures & institutions Stafford Smith 2008 Rangeland Journal Vol 30

17. “Country and people and land and health and [customary] Law cannot be separated. They are all one.” (Atkinson 2002) Law Kinship Ceremony Land Plants & Animals Language Land (‘country’) is central to Aboriginal world views, livelihood assets & outcomes MK Turner: “Everything Comes from the Land” IAD Press SEE ALSO: Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu WJ, Holmes M and Box L. 2008. Ngurra-kurlu: A way of working with Warlpiri people, DKCRC Report 41. Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice Springs.

18. Remote regions with strong Aboriginal property rights

19. Very poor Aboriginal health & well being • Aboriginal life expectancy (national): 17-18 years less than national average Rangeland Australia: • Aboriginal mortality rate: 3 x national average • Aboriginal incidence End Stage Renal Disease: 30 x national average • Aboriginal incomes: 25% non-Aboriginal incomes Community wellbeing? • Serious interlinked social issues including alcoholism, domestic violence, child abuse, low literacy Social opportunity cost • $1.5 billion p.a. or $27,000 p.a. per Aboriginal person, in one jurisdiction

20. Explaining the paradox of remote Australia: strong Aboriginal property rights but poor Aboriginal health & wellbeing • State transition in the social-ecological system (land degradation, and loss of traditional knowledge and know-how). • Barriers to accessing traditional lands for ‘caring for country’: poor health & social dysfunction, distance, poverty, reliance on larger centralised settlements for health & education services. • Lack of a systems understanding: not accounting for interrelationships between sectors

21. Relationship between ‘caring for country’ & chronic disease • Building on previous research (health benefits of traditional diet, better health at smaller settlements) • Adult health checks of a representative sample (c300) in a northern Australian settlement + triangulated self-assessment of the time the people sampled spend in caring for country activities (living at outstation, hunting, art, ceremony). • Correlations between time on country and markers for three chronic disease conditions, some pre-symptomatic • Estimated probable change in severity for chronic disease conditions per unit increase in engagement in ‘caring for country’: • Analysed primary health care costs • Concluded there are significant economic efficiencies for securing improved health outcomes if engagement in land management is increased, even by a relatively small amount. • Now analysing generalisabity of these findings, inc in desert areas (Campbell et al in prep; Burgess et al in prep and see Garnett, S and Sithole B 2007, Sustainable Northern Landscapes and the Nexus with Indigenous Health: Healthy Country Healthy people. Land and Water Australia, Canberra;)

22. Engagement in land management and chronic disease risk. HYPOTHETICAL Chronic disease risk Control over life (self assessed) through engagement in land management

23. WHO framework for social determinants of health WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, final report August 2008

24. Understanding ‘caring for country’ as a social – ecological system Improved Health Agency Assets More Activity More Food Harvested Local Assets New Skills More Species Higher Income Caring for country Activities & Projects More Art Stronger Knowledge OtherWork Educated Youth Participant Motivation

25. Youth knowledge of country is a key variable “The old words tell us where we come from” Shane Jupurrula White Photo: Michael LaFlamme Photo: Karissa Preuss Shane Jupurrula White recording knowledge of his responsibilities from elders

26. Modelling optimal rates youth engagement with elders & country

27. _ TIME SPENT ON COUNTRY More income More job opportunities Systemic impacts from youth engagement with elders & country More other opportunities Natural resource management contracts Shop food match to bush food seasons Technacy, literacy & numeracy Improved nutrition + YOUTH KNOWLEDGE + PHYSICAL HEALTH Recording information: GIS & multimedia Country visits Seasonal changes learned Observations named, shared in local language and English More physical activity Better fitness Country-based learning

28. Troubled questions…. • What do Aboriginal people actually do in land management? • Do we (society) really need that? • Where is income going to come from? • And isn’t education – literacy, numeracy - actually very important? • Does everyone out bush actually want to do land management? • What about all the other jobs that need to be done in remote settlements? • Who is going to pay for it? • And how does it get organised?

29. Photo: Karissa Preuss Photo: Karissa Preuss Photo: Lucas Jordan

30. Do NRM programs follow principles of customary Law? “The IPA needs to not be afraid of being adopted by Ngurra-kurlu” Steven Jampijinpa Patrick, Lajamanu Signing North Tanami IPA Agreement

31. Photo: Karissa Preuss

32. Photo: Karissa Preuss Pictures – caring for country Photo: Karissa Preuss Photo: Jane Walker

33. Photo: Karissa Preuss

34. Photo: Karissa Preuss Photo: Karissa Preuss

35. Photo: Josie Douglas

36. www.schools.nt.edu.au/tlcland

37. track plots + experienced trackers = meaningful data Track based monitoring Southgate and Moseby. 2008 Track based monitoring for the deserts and rangelands of Australia. NHT funded, Report to WWF, TSN.

38. School DustWatch School DustWatch www.school.dustwatch.edu.au

39. Potential public sector demand, given capacity

40. Potential private sector demand, given capacity

41. Application of the cost-effectiveness plane in joint production of health and environmental services 1B: Positive incentives No policy action Campbell, Davies & Wakerman. 2007. Desert Knowledge CRC, Working Paper #11; and forthcoming in Rural & Remote Health Online Journal PUBLIC NET BENEFIT + 2 1A 0 3A 3B _ 4 Negative incentives _ + PRIVATE NET BENEFIT

42. Principles for land management to produce health & wellbeing outcomes, covering… • Authority structures accountable to customary governance of land • Intergenerational learning • Partnerships for two-way learning about environmental change • Management approaches that promote social learning and account for community and investor aspirations

43. Planning for cross-sectoral outcomes for local people and investors Examples of outcomes

44. Aboriginal land management – desert Australia • Uniquely placed for sustainable livelihood outcomes (health, well being, income) • Smaller settlements have a key role • Cultural motivations are foundational • Public investment is important to enterprise viability – ‘social enterprise’ • Planning needs to join up land management, health, education and arts

45. Collaborating & support organisations: CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Centre for Remote Health Charles Darwin University Northern Territory Government Central Land Council Community members and staff: Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Anmatjere, Wilowra, Ntaria, Nepabunna, Hay Warlpiri Media Australian Government Department of the Water, Environment, Heritage and the Arts Australian National University Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Land and Water Australia Collaborating researchers including: David Campbell, Paul Burgess, Stephen Garnett, John Wakerman, Michael LaFlamme, Jane Walker, Karissa Preuss, Josie Douglas, Fiona Walsh, Miles Holmes, Steven Jampijinpa Patrick., Lance Box,. Photos: Earthbound consultants, Karissa Preuss, Paul Hastings, Michael LaFlamme, Jocelyn Davies, Josie Douglas, Lucas Jordan, Jane Walker Thankyou This research is supported by funding from the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centre Program through the Desert Knowledge CRC; the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of Desert Knowledge CRC or its Participants.