Close collaboration between Traditional Owners and NESP TWQ science has resulted in better co-management of country and improved water quality. The NESP TWQ Hub recognises the importance of meaningful engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the sustainable cultural and environmental management of the Great Barrier Reef and its catchments. Addressing targets of the Reef 2050 Plan, the aspirations of Traditional Owners and building capacity is fundamental to land and sea country management and governance.

Together with scientists, Traditional Owners have actioned cultural site clearance and preliminary assessments, gained new skills in wetland rehabilitation, feral pest management, land and sea country mapping, grass seed collection, gully remediation construction, estuary and mangrove management, salinity monitoring, water quality sampling, equipment maintenance, weed management and general site management. Training in jellyfish stinger collection and identification, shoreline video assessment, coral identification and restoration techniques are just some of the skills that have been passed on for future management.

The skills and knowledge gained by Sea Country Traditional Owners supported by the Hub to attend the 2019 Reef Leadership and Restoration Workshop at Orpheus Island have since commenced or begun planning activities on their country in Indigenous tourism and inshore coral monitoring.

A partnership between Hub scientists, Cape York Natural Resource Management staff and Indigenous graziers has reduced sediment run-off from one of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation’s (ILSC) Crocodile-Welcome Station gullies by 85%. This success has spurred on the expansion of gully remediation activities. With the support of the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, the ILSC have now purchased an excavator and employed a crew of local Traditional Owners to continue the works, with good ongoing results.