Help realise the dream of Victoria's first Indigenous owned National Park

After ten years of campaigning, Victoria is set to see the creation of the first National Parks to be jointly managed with Traditional Owners. In an historic moment for environmental and land justice in this state, Premier Brumby announced on December 30 2008 that 92,000ha of Red Gum forests along the Murray and its tributaries will be protected in new conservation reserves. And two of them - Barmah and Nyah - are to be co-managed with the Traditional Owners.

BACKGROUND

Barmah-Millewa is the largest River Red Gum forest in the world, in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country. It is predominantly State Forest, which means that it is threatened by unsustainable logging and grazing practices, but also means that it is possible for the State government to recognise Traditional Owner interests though handback or agreements over its use and management. Hence the Barmah-Millewa Collective developed with the Yorta Yorta the proposal of an Aboriginal owned (or ‘jointly managed’) National Park. Similar parks exist in NSW, QLD, the ACT and Northern Territory, the most well known being Uluru and Kakadu. In these parks the land title was handed back to the Traditional Owners who now lease the park to the government in exchange for royalties, a majority on the Board of Management and a range of other benefits such as employment and training opportunities.

Yorta Yorta Elder Wayne Atkinson leading a cultural tour in Barmah-Millewa forest

Lobbying of the Victorian government for Victoria’s first Indigenous owned National Park was led by the Yorta Yorta and the Barmah-Millewa Collective, and resulted in the government investigating the possibility of new river red gum national parks along the Murray with some form of Aboriginal Management through the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) River Red Gum Investigation. For the first time ever VEAC was instructed to investigate “possible opportunities for Indigenous management involvement.” Premier Bracks made a promise to prior to his re-election at the end of 2006 to deliver on VEAC’s recommendations, and so now is the time to ensure this is acted upon.

Barmah-Millewa Collective protest in Melbourne 2006

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

On July 25th 2008 – the long-awaited, independent report commissioned by the Victorian Government handed down a series of recommendations for new parks and reserves to protect Murray River Red Gums and improve the health of the river system. Significantly, the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) Report recommended creating Victoria’s first National Parks that would be jointly managed with the Traditional Owners.

As Yorta Yorta chairperson, Neville Atkinson acknowledged, “The VEAC recommendations are a social justice package to Indigenous people. Premier Brumby has the chance to make an act of tangible reconciliation by adopting them.”

Instead of immediately honouring its pre-election promise to implement the recommendations of the VEAC’s report, on August 7th 2008, the Victorian government announced the establishment of a new ‘Community Engagement Panel’ to review the findings of the report.

The Community Engagement Panel Report reflects extensive consultation with stakeholders in the community, including those with interests in recreational uses, industries (timber and grazing), rural communities and local government authorities, in addition to Aboriginal interests. Some opposition was expressed to Aboriginal people having a special role in public land management over other community or user groups. The report, nonetheless, still recommended that Boards of management should be established for Barmah and Nyah-Vinifera National Parks that will result in majority Indigenous management, in conjunction with training and resources to facilitate this new role.

On December 30th 2008, Victorian Premier John Brumby made an historic announcement. 92,000ha of Red Gum forests along the Murray and its tributaries will be protected in new conservation reserves, two of them - Barmah and Nyah - to be co-managed with the Traditional Owners. Since then, however, there has been little or no discussion or disclosure as to how and when these important changes will occur.

WHAT NEXT?

Under the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council Act (2001), Environment Minister Gavin Jennings must respond to each recommendation within six months of the report reaching parliament. The last date he can do so is therefore March 10th 2009. Both the VEAC Report and the Community Engagement Panel Report stress the importance of the Government treating the implementation of these recommendations as a high priority.

According to Mr Jennings, “The Victorian Government acknowledges the aspirations of Traditional Owners to co-manage public land on their country. I look forward to working with Indigenous communities on progressing this historic opportunity for greater participation in land management decisions.” However we are yet to see how a co-management model between the traditional owners and public land managers will play out and the extent to which it will give all Aboriginal groups in the area control over the use and cultural and ecological preservation of their country.

It is likely that specific legislation and regulations regarding the establishment and management of these Red Gum National Parks will need to be created. It is important that any such act or regulation passed explicitly includes the increased Indigenous involvement in the management of the parks. We must ensure that the Traditional Owners who are represented under the co-management model are actively involved in the decision making processes and are not just a symbolic presence.

GET INVOLVED

This will be the year in which new co-managed red gum national parks are entered into the Victorian statute book. It is a year in which we must ensure that the political will we have generated is converted into environmental justice on the ground, and the momentum we have developed keeps flowing into new successful environment and land justice campaigns.

The Barmah Millewa collective will be holding campaign information meetings on the first Monday of every month, as a way of giving people like you a chance to keep up to date on the campaign and how you can support it, whether that's by joining the collective, volunteering on specific projects or simply being better informed so you can carry the message out with you into your networks.

Meetings will be held at 6:30pm, the first Mondayof every month at the Friends of the Earth Cafe - downstairs 312 Smith St Collingwood. RSVP/Info: 9419 8700 / barmah@foe.org.au

Facebook

Show your support and increase awareness via the social networking site. Visit the Save Murray River Red Gum Wetlands cause on Facebook.

Contact the Barmah-Millewa collective or ANTaR Victoria for further information. News, events and activities will be advertised on ANTaR Victoria’s site or you can subscribe to the monthly FoE Barmah e-bulletin barmah@foe.org.au.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The Barmah-Millewa collective is led by Friends of the Earth Melbourne and holds monthly meetings at 6.30pm on the first Monday of every month at the Friends of the Earth Café, 312 Smith Street, Collingwood. New members are very welcome to attend at this important time, or contact the collective for more information.