Ranger groups unite to protect sea country through science and traditional knowledge

The founding members of the Northern Australian Marine Monitoring Alliance have come together for the first time, meeting with scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and launching their new website. Representatives from the Bardi Jawi and Oorany Rangers from WA, the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers from the Northern Territory, and the Kemer Kemer Meriam Nation in the eastern Torres Strait met Australian Institute of Marine Science researchers to share knowledge and launch the new NAMMA website. The website provides access to training modules, Certificate III training packages, manuals and reporting dashboards — tools designed to support Indigenous-led monitoring and make data accessible to local communities. Bardi Jawi ranger Azton Howard said the partnership had already started producing real benefits. “Since we began working with AIMS, we have been collecting data on our fish stocks and corals. We send it off to the AIMS crew, they analyse our data and then we bring the information back to our community, to our schools to teach the young ones, and to our elders to make sure they’re informed. We can use the data to help us manage Country,” he said. NAMMA was formed to bring together traditional owners, Indigenous rangers and sea Country managers across the Kimberley, Northern Territory and Torres Strait to collaboratively manage marine environments. The alliance combines traditional ecological knowledge with western science to create culturally relevant, effective monitoring programs. Bruce Mountford from the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers on Groote Eylandt said learning from other rangers was one of the highlights of the gathering. “Talking to other rangers and people from different parts of northern Australia about what’s going on is awesome,” he said. I’ve learnt a bunch of stuff just listening to people talk about coral bleaching and what they have discovered by using baited remote underwater video stations.” Uncle Kapua Gutchen from Darnley Island in the Kemer Kemer Meriam Nation said both knowledge systems had to work together. “We are teaching children our traditional knowledge but that alone won’t help us make the situation improve or come better in our Country. We need the western science to marry up with ours so we can come up with plans that help our work,” he said. AIMS scientists Dr Martial Depczynski, Dr Kathy Cure and Libby Evans-Illidge have worked with the ranger groups since 2018, helping co-design marine monitoring frameworks that respect and integrate both knowledge systems. “Now that the strong network of Indigenous ranger communities around Australia is being established, an important next challenge is to put into motion bespoke tailored monitoring partnerships that address training, capacity building, joint monitoring and community reporting on the state of the environment. We are taking an important step towards this goal with NAMMA,” Dr Depczynski said. Dr Cure said the rollout of monitoring tools through NAMMA allows Aboriginal rangers to act quickly. “Unfortunately, while sea Country is often remote and well managed by traditional owners and rangers, it is not immune from the impacts of climate change and other disturbances,” she said. “Just recently the Bardi Jawi and Oorany rangers recorded an extensive coral bleaching event on their sea Country. The data they collected will be joined with long-term monitoring data to provide community with a clearer understanding of coral bleaching impacts. “Having the rangers on Country keeping an eye on reefs and having the option to quickly respond to bleaching events, reinforces their value as sentinels looking after local marine life and helping inform local management decisions with data collection.” The Bardi Jawi Rangers are managed and supported by the Kimberley Land Council. The Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers are supported by the Anindilyakwa Land Council.