Indigenous engagement

The ACT is N(g)unnawal/Ngambri country.7 The Indigenous people of the ACT have valuable and enduring insights into the land and its management. The ACT can use this knowledge to assist in longterm management of our natural resources. The relationship of Indigenous people to land is fundamental to their existence and can provide insight into how the environment can be valued. Engagement of Indigenous people in managing natural resources will assist in their retention of traditional knowledge and provide another avenue for Indigenous communities to support themselves while dealing with an array of social and economic issues.

This target focuses on putting new arrangements into place quickly. It will result in an increase in the use of traditional knowledge along with ongoing improvement in the level of participation of natural resource management projects by Indigenous people. Some 4000 Indigenous people currently live in the ACT. This population consists of not only Ngunnawal people but also of Indigenous people from other regions within Australia. If 5% of the Indigenous population are currently active in both paid and voluntary natural resource management (the same proportion as for the entire ACT population), doubling this to 10% by 2030, as the population grows, would require an additional 10–15 people involved every year.