Kowanyama Aboriginal Land & Natural Resource Management Office
Since its inception in 1991, Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office (KALNRMO) has operated on a charter to Promote and facilitate Aboriginal management of the natural and cultural resources of Kowanyama land and sea country by the people of Kowanyama.
Through community consultation and direction, KALNRMO has developed a community development agenda for the Kowanyama region, including:
• Homelands Development
• Fisheries Management
• Land Management including weeds and feral animal control
• Tourism and Visitor Management
• Kowanyama Ranger Service
• Native Title Interests
• Cultural Resource Documentation
Through Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office initiatives, Kowanyama community is widely regarded as a leader in indigenous land management issues. Since 1987, Kowanyama has effected substantial local control over fishing in the Mitchell River Delta, including the closure of some waters to non-Aboriginal fishing under state fisheries legislation.
This action, funded through the enterprise income of the Kowanyama Aboriginal Council, has provided Aboriginal people access to the river’s fish stocks for their cultural and economic needs. In this way, Aboriginal people can fish and hunt as they have done for many thousands of years. Further to this the closures have added significantly to the conservation values of the area, providing a unique fish habitat protected area.
Kowanyama Rangers (working through KALNRMO) implement land management strategies in many areas of the DOGIT, and, in addition to tourism and visitor management, they patrol closed and open waters. The Rangers also observe fisheries regulations, especially for illegal commercial or recreational fishing in closed waters.
Kowanyamas on ground involvement in the Carpentaria Ghost Net Program to date has been limited, primarily due to its location in the southern gulf, where it is presumed that the influences of the circular gulf currents are minimal. Thus the area is fortunate to suffer from a minimal number of ghost nets on its beaches.
The Ranger service however has in the past removed significant portions of nets and rubbish from Kowanyama’s 50 kilometer coastline that have accumulated over time. The Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and NRM Office is about to begin an ongoing ghost net monitoring and removal program, a project that will be undertaken in conjunction with other land management and surveillance activities.
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