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Aboriginal land management for biodiversity

Land Alive


Land Alive - Aboriginal land management for biodiversity 

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The Land Alive project was undertaken by Office of Environment and Heritage and was funded by the Environmental Trust ($5 million). It finished in 2011.

Land Alive enhanced Aboriginal landowner capacity to conserve biodiversity by building on existing skills and experience in land management. It also incorporated cultural land management knowledge and practice into biobank sites and management plans.

Land Alive achievements

  • The first biobank agreement - protecting artefacts, scar trees, stone arrangements, ceremonial areas and camp sites that are culturally significant to the Gandangara and Wiradjuri peoples - was signed in November 2011. Several other formal applications for biobanking agreements, on Aboriginal owned land, are being prepared.
  • A successful trainee program resulting in 27 of 42 (65%) Aboriginal people acquiring a formal qualification (Certificate III and II) in conservation and land management. This is more than twice the completion rates experienced in TAFE Western Institute which has a high Aboriginal student enrolment. Land Alive paid not only for training but also the wages of the trainees ($1.5 million).
  • The delivery of 13 plans of management, including biodiversity conservation, for over 5,000 hectares of Aboriginal owned land
  • Four biobanking assessments on Aboriginal owned land covering an area of over 800 hectares
  • Two feasibility studies on Aboriginal owned land over an area of 4,000 hectares
  • A range of communication products, which will remain as a legacy of the project, for continued use in the biobanking scheme. The products promote the management of cultural values and biodiversity, and land management.
  • A successful partnership with NSW Aboriginal Land Council to develop the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (ALR Act) specific policy, resources and land dealing approval processes to adequately consider biobanking activities.

Legacy materials and links

  1. NSW Biobanking scheme
  2. NSWALC Biobanking website
  3. Land Alive brochure(PDF 820KB)
  4. Questions and answers about biobanking for Aboriginal landowners (PDF 996KB)
  5. Sample biobanking agreement  for Tricketts Arch (PDF 2MB)
  6. Sample cultural management plan for BioBanking Agreement  - Tricketts Arch
  7. Case study: Pathways DVD (Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council)
  8. Education Kit/CD-ROM: Cultural connections to biodiversity (Ngulingah Local Aboriginal Land Council)
  9. NSWALC publication: What you need to know about biobanking     
  10. NSWALC publication: Guide to Biobanking for Aboriginal Landowners
  11. NSWALC publication: BioBanking and development: a guide for Local Aboriginal Land Councils
  12. NSWALC publication: BioBanking option - sustainable land use options toolkit
Page last updated: 09 September 2015