- First Nation
- Aboriginals
- Natural Resource Management (NRM)
- Cultural Collaboration
- Westminster Law
- Aboriginal Land Rights Protection Act
Aboriginal History Role Play
The following research is based on the study of the First Nation Interests of Australia in management of the Natural Resources of the country. The main highlights of the research will be the tribal rights of Australia. The colonial interests had earlier discriminated the rights of this forest population who are dependent on the natural resources to earn their living. They were denied to use these traditional resources which seriously dealt a blow to their livelihoods. The long-term protests and agitations were finally heard by the government and they prepared some friendly laws that again ascertained their rights over their own lands. The government employed them to look after the lands by giving them different jobs related to the management of these natural resources. The plans and strategies prepared by the government have been successfully integrated in the form of different programs related to the management of the resources.
There is an ongoing assumption that Fsirst Nation interest [in NRM] are limited to ‘cultural’ values or heritage management’ (Hemming et al, in press). Discuss using a case study about caring as country to support your argument.
There is a stark difference between the first nation and the first Australian. First nation people are referred to those peoples who are aboriginals or belong to different tribes whereas the First Australians are those people who are directly linked with the British who were the first to establish their colony in Australia.
The protection of aboriginal rights is basically dependent on the creation of biodiversity regions, promoting a sustainable environment, creating an ecological balance as well as creation of land management policies (Mitchell et al. 2015). The new rules and regulations that have been implemented in Australia do not helps the cause of the tribal population as they have been barred from using the natural resources of the protected areas. These laws clearly discriminates the rights of the wild population as they depend on the natural resources of the forest lands to survive. The tribal people basically earn their livelihood from the forest regions and curtailing their rights without consulting them makes their existence threatened. There are many organizations in the country who strongly oppose the law formulated by the government. On the other hand these organizations also believe in the protection of the endangered animals and unique plant species of the particular area (Pert et al. 2015).
The leaders of the aboriginal tribes tries to have a control over the traditional lands to maintain their culture develop their community and make them economically dependent. They are least bothered about the environmental protection (Bohensky et al. 2013). There has been a long struggle for these tribes to keep a hold of their land as they have faced innumerable problems since the time of the arrival of the British. The perspective of land control has varied from one tribal area to another tribal area. While some groups believe in the co existence of the population along with the environmental concerns whereas the other groups believe that they are constantly being exploited by the authorities over their land.
What to do Before the Workshop
The present models in the country try to put forward an amicable solution to the existing problems. Nowadays the government has been appointing different management agencies that are using some innovative forms to understand the local culture, tribal history, political systems of the tribal population. The management structures must be based on daily basis so that there is a regular check up on the laws and regulations of the protected areas (Bohensky et al. 2013).
There are a number of different biodiversity and protected areas in Australia where the above mentioned management system has been incorporated. Some common examples of such areas are Northern Territory, Tasmania National Park, Kakadu and many more. There are many more such problems regarding the management as because problems still lie with the proper power sharing between the management and the tribal groups to utilize as well as preserve the natural resources (Pert et al. 2015).
The government must be more careful while assigning rules and regulations of the national parks (Bohensky et al. 2013). Therefore assessing the present situation it can be said that the first nation interests is totally dependent on cultural heritage ad is reluctant to save the rights of the tribal population of the country.
The participation of the local and tribal peoples in the management of the land and water resources has been the key to the success of the different programs as formulated by the government. A cultural bond has been created between the different communities of Australia which has promoted a healthy atmosphere within the different communities of the country (Stannage 2015). The cultural engagement that has taken place in the country has special significance due to a number of reasons;
- The country has been able to achieve a sovereign structure of governance where everyone is treated equally and every people irrespective of their creed enjoy the same rights. The aboriginals especially are treated fairly and are engaged in a number of different activities that are sponsored by the government.
- Cultural collaborations have helped the country to attain sustainability. The government has taken special care to train these groups to use the natural resources in a sustainable manner.
- The cultural growth of the tribal people has helped their next generations to have the opportunities for higher studies and have also opened doors for them to get respected jobs.
- The main aim of the cultural collaboration of the company is to derive the best out of the tribal population to safeguard the natural resources of the country.
- The socio economic status is also changed due to this collaboration.
The current policies that exist in the system of the government have been instrumental in increasing the scope of the cross cultural aspects of the country.
The law system of Australia is one of the best systems that have been implemented by the Australian government. The law guarantees all the citizens of the country with sovereign rights irrespective of their status and culture (Schmoldt et al. 2013). The government is divided into three different units namely the parliament, the Executive and the judiciary. The researcher here has taken the case study of the Management of Aboriginal people of Australia. According to the research the country has six special areas which are;
- Natural reserve
- Natural parks
- Managed resource Protected area
- Protected Land space or Sea space
- Natural Monument
- Habitats
The government has declared all the areas to be of equal importance that can be used by the traditional tribal population. The needs of these people have been understood and have been addressed by the government. The commonwealth meeting in Australia in 1970 adapted the IUCN guidelines which clearly defined the different protected areas (Bohensky et al. 2013). The National Park is termed as the area of land or water which is;
- Having an ecological balance of either a single or more than one ecosystems
- Having the least disturbance from any external sources which might damage the environment of the place
- Having the scope to become a place having ample research, educational and is a place of proper tourist interest
- Having a proper management system in place
- Having the best security to ensure that no disruptions or security breach takes place
- Having a good monitoring system in place to assess the conditions of the park on a regular basis
- Having a technical and support team ready for maintenance of the parks
- Having a professional and trained team of guides and helpers to organize adventure rides for the tourists inside the national parks.
There has been a large dispute between the tribal people and the Government of Australia for a long time. Australia was a colonial country and thus it has a long history of suppression of the black aboriginal tribal population by the whites who settled in the country. The tribal population was denied of their traditional rights and many a strict laws and regulations were passed that clearly violated their rights (Bohensky et al. 2013). One of the main problems that existed was the use of the waters of the country. The settlers proclaimed that the waters cannot be used freely by the tribes and they must pay huge tax to use these waters (Langton 2014). After the extensive protests by the tribal population the Government finally accepted their demands and gave the tribal population their much needed rights. Though major changes have taken place the country presents an uncertain future for the country. Extensive climate change is the main factor behind such a danger. There are many issues that have crept up concerning the debate over the rights of the tribal people on the waters of the island continent;
- As mentioned earlier the tribal people were totally in dark about the different policies related to the waters of the continent
- The Government fails to understand the emotions and traditional rights of the aboriginal people relating to the water bodies and thus the policies they make does not addresses the needs of the mentioned group of people
- The utilization of the water resources has been very much less in respect to the commercial and economical purposes and thus the water bodies lay neglected
- There has been extensive use of water resources in some areas especially in the Murray-Darling basin of Australia. The extensive use of these systems has stretched its limits much beyond its capacity and thus it can be used only for a few years more.
- The tribal people who have a great knowledge of the water resources have been kept out of developmental programs by the Government which has been another negative factor for the development of water resources across the country.
During the Workshop
Over the last twenty years Australia has seen a large transformation of the laws related to the water systems of the country. The country has achieved huge success in water management and now stands at the forefront of managing water resources in the world. The government has taken serious steps to ensure the participation of the aboriginal groups in the development of the water resources of the country. Some of the steps are;
- The government has appointed several aboriginal groups to formulate a specific plan for maintaining water resources of the country.
- The government granted fishing rights to many of the aboriginal groups living in the coastal areas of the nation.
- The granting of fishing rights have helped these people to earn their livelihood and maintain a proper and disciplined life
- The tribal groups engaged in the management of water resource are trained by experts on how to make sure that the resources are being used in a sustainable manner.
The case study on the management of water resources in the Murray-Darling area has highlighted the demands and the despairs of the aboriginal people of the nation. The earlier scenario of the country on the management of water resources has improved a lot and it has already been rewarded with the best water management system of the world (Langton et al. 2014).The first nation land and sea management program refers to the efficient management of the land and water bodies of the country. The researcher has referred to the case study of Australia in this context (Moreton-Robinson 2015). The Government of Australia passed the aboriginal Land Rights Act in the year 1976 to identify and conserve the resources of the country in a proper way. The act clearly separated some special areas that were identified as national parks and were declared protected areas where hunting and cutting down trees were termed illegal activities (Barber et al. 2014). The most important cases of this period are the examples of Kakudu national park as well as the Gurig National Park located in the Northern territory of Australia. There were widespread protests in the island continent by the aboriginals who demanded the protection of their traditional rights over the ownership and management of the lands and sea resources (Langton et al. 2014). After a long succession of such protests and agitations the government finally accepted their demands and made some changes in the original law which supported every demand of the tribal people (Altman and Jackson 2014). The picture has changed in the present day as the aboriginal groups are mainly engaged to protect the land and water resources of the island continent. The program which started from the Northern Territory has now extended to every other states of the island continent (Altman and Jackson 2014). The aboriginals are much more concerned about the resources and their policies are much better than those prepared by the government as they have a better sustainable plan while using the different resources (Barber et al. 2014). The first important policy that was formulated by the government of Australia was the Commonwealth Employment program in Natural and Cultural Resource Management. The particular act provided the tribal people with different employment opportunities. The tribal people got different scopes of employment opportunities that was helpful for them to earn their living (Langton et al. 2014). These people obtained permission to have access in the national parks and the water bodies and create a sustainable future for the natural resources. These people in turn started a number of businesses in these areas like starting contractual teams, management consultancies, tour operators, forest rangers and many more as such. The aboriginal groups utilized the water resources by forming coastal teams to ensure that the waters of the country are maintained in a proper way. The government has been instrumental in funding the program as they have been constantly providing financial resources that act as a support for the entire system (Curtis et al. 2014).
Final Debrief
As mentioned earlier these groups are engaged in various kinds of activities like managing, keeping a strict vigil as well as patrolling the areas under their command. The engagement of these people ensures the protection of the native people’s rights over their traditional lands and their rights and practices while on the other hand it ensures the protection of the natural resources (Potts et al. 2015). The tribal people are more aware of the different features of these resources and thus the government has engaged the right people for the job. The government of Australia uses some innovative process and techniques to implement this special program across the length and breadth of the country.
- GPS systems are used to collect information regarding the natural resources of the country which may include the cultural, natural and biodiversity data of the particular area.
- Using cyber tracker systems to safeguard the important and endangered species of the land.
- There is a regular monitoring of the area which includes the tracking down of different fauna species as well as keeping an updated record of the flora species available in the area.
- Assigning NGO’s and different independent private organizations in the program helps to diversify and speed up the process of management as well as it ensures a glitch free assessment of the natural resources.
- The Government has appointed a cyber security cell to maintain the system and ensure the safety of the computerized based data.
- Different species of Fauna like the Kangaroo, Koala and Dingo are radio collared to track their movements and ensure their safety from poachers.
- The most key factor of the following program is a country based planning which ensures the establishment of a healthy relationship between the government and the aboriginal management or the Nongovernmental Organizations.
Conclusion
The following study on the first nation rights of the aboriginals of Australia has been able to meet all the aims that were supposed to be completed at the end of the research. The research was conducted in a professional manner and thus the best possible results were available after the successful conduct of the research. The use of the primary and secondary sources was both useful to complete the research but the secondary research was more necessary to make the research more compact. The analysis of the whole report points to a new chapter in the maintenance of the Natural Resources in the country. The colonial discrimination of the aboriginal people had led to widespread protests which led to the formulation of new laws and creation of a healthy environment for managing the resources of the country. The contemporary governmental policies ensure the collaboration of all the tribal population across the country and help to eradicate discriminations and unemployment. Therefore it can be concluded that the country has been able to provide all its tribal citizens with the basic human rights that are enjoyed by all other people of the island continent.
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