First Nations Partnerships

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Acknowledgement of Country

Aboriginal people are the First Peoples and Nations of South Australia. The Coorong, connected waters and surrounding lands have sustained unique First Nations cultures since time immemorial. The Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin program (HCHB) acknowledges the range of First Nations’ rights, interests and obligations for the Coorong and connected waterways and the cultural connections that exist between First Nations peoples across the region and seeks to support their equitable engagement. Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual, social, cultural and economic practices come from their lands and waters, and they continue to maintain their cultural heritage, economies, languages and laws which are of ongoing importance.

Background

The health of the Coorong and surrounding lands and waters is intrinsically linked to the health of the Ngarrindjeri and First Nations of the South East. These First Nations communities have historical and on-going rights, interests and cultural obligations for the region.

The impacts of the reduced flows and Millennium Drought on the Coorong has had significant impacts on the wellbeing of the First Nations peoples.

Cultural rights and ability to care for the land, waters and ecosystems that depend on them have been impacted by the decline of the Coorong and surrounds.

First Nations Partnerships

Since the program’s inception, the Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin First Nations Partnerships project has established and prioritised strong partnerships with Ngarrindjeri and First Nations of the South East to ensure they have sufficient capacity to apply their cultural knowledge, values and interests to shape, inform and be involved in implementing initiatives across the program.

These foundational relationships have been essential in informing potential management actions to improve the long-term health of the Coorong, whilst supporting opportunities for First Nations’ involvement across the program.

First Nations partnerships are integral to the success of HCHB, as it brings local, Cultural Knowledge and perspectives together to address critical knowledge gaps in the condition and status of the Coorong. One success story is the Coorong Soaks Research project, which was led by Ngarrindjeri and First Nations of the South East in partnership with the Department for Environment and Water and Flinders University.

What have we done so far?

Engagement with First Nations has been instrumental in guiding HCHB projects to date. Completed projects include:

• Ngarrindjeri Knowledge Project to inform management of the Coorong
• Coorong freshwater soaks project
• Teringie Wetlands regional bird refugia on-ground works project

Engagement activities have included:

• Working Group and Focus Group meetings
• Smoking ceremonies
• Workshops
• Site visits
• Cultural heritage assessments and surveys
• Involvement in multi-criteria analyses
• Risk assessment processes
• Welcome to Country delivered at major HCHB program events.

What’s next?

The department will continue to support the preservation and promotion of First Nations’ culture throughout Phase 2 of the program to ensure that Ngarrindjeri and First Nations of the South East are engaged through each stage of program development, decision making and implementation.

Phase 2 projects include further development of the Ngarrindjeri database, and development of First Nations of the South East Healthy Country Plan.

Get involved

Sign up to receive Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin updates and opportunities, including citizen science activities and community consultations, or contact healthy.coorong@sa.gov.au

Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin Phase One Project Summary

• First Nations Partnerships