6. Caring for our cultural heritage
DECCW has a responsibility to identify, care for and promote the cultures and heritage of NSW. Within the NSW park system, protecting, preserving and maintaining heritage values begins with respect and understanding of cultural practice and the significance of heritage and, where possible, co-operative management activities. To this end, DECCW makes an important contribution towards the NSW State Plan through increased participation and integration in community activities and improved health, education and social outcomes for Aboriginal people.
Bush to Beach Interps training and connecting to country
NSW is fortunate to have a park system with rich cultural diversity. Cultural heritage in parks includes places of significance for the NSW community, Aboriginal artwork sites, scar trees and ceremonial grounds, old mission buildings, lighthouses, pastoral stations, forts, quarries and mining sites. For Aboriginal people, landforms, minerals, plants and animals can have important associations, represent spiritual beliefs and provide links to cultural lore. Human interaction with parks transforms natural areas into cultural landscapes.
Effective cultural heritage management relies on the availability of objective, comparable and reliable information that improves the understanding of our cultural and historic heritage. It also requires us to consider the factors that threaten these values, the type and level of management intervention required to sustain their long-term viability, as well as approaches to monitoring and evaluating management outcomes.
For more specific information on DECCW's approach to managing Aboriginal cultural heritage and historic heritage, as well as consideration of our effectiveness in their management, can be found by following the links below:
Page last updated: 27 February 2011
