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Reg Dodd Reg Dodd was born in November, 1940 at Finniss Springs Mission Station which is situated on the Southern Shore of Lake Eyre.

He attended School there until the age of thirteen then went to work at Anna Creek Station as a Stockman in 1953

He left Anna Creek and started work with the Railways at Marree in 1960 where he stayed until the closure of the Railways in 1986.

After leaving the Railways he worked with the Department of Community Welfare gaining experience in Office skills and report writing. At the end of twelve months he was then employed by the Department of Environment and Planning and Aboriginal Heritage.

He was employed as a Field Officer in the Lake Eyre Region doing photographic monitoring the Mound Springs and other culturally and environmentally sensitive areas. Prior to his employment there was no management within the area.

After finishing with the DEPAH due to lack of funding we continued the role through the Marree Arabunna People’s Committee where he was employed as Co-ordinator. He became the Chairperson for this organisation when funding ceased.

He started Arabunna Tours ten years ago and is still leading them.

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ABORIGINAL TOURISM AND LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE LAKE EYRE BASIN: ARABUNNA ABORIGINAL TOURS

Reg Dodd1 and Tom Jenkin2

1 Aboriginal Tour Operator and Leader, Arabunna Aboriginal Tours, Marree. 2 PhD Candidate, School of Geography, Population and Environmental Management, Flinders University.

Arabunna Aboriginal Tours has operated a family, community based cultural and nature based tourism enterprise for 10 years. Initially the business operated as a partnership between Marree Arabunna Peoples Committee and Community Aid Abroad, but now operates as an independent Aboriginal enterprise. A variety of tours from 1 to 7 days in duration are offered across Arabunna country, travelling along the Oodnadatta Track. Tours explore and interpret the cultural landscapes between Marree and William Creek visiting Lake Eyre, Finniss Springs Station and Mission, Coward Springs, Strangways Telegraph Repeater Station and various Lake Eyre springs including the Bubbler and Blanche Cup and other areas of interest. Tour groups sleep in swags under the stars, cook on open-fires and travel by mini-bus and 4WD. Since its inception, many school groups, environmental groups, academic groups, international visitors and Australians from all walks of life, from the young to the elderly, have experienced the wonders of the Lake Eyre region in the company of Arabunna Aboriginal Tours. On their journey, Aboriginal tour leaders fill the outback landscapes with features and values of significance. The Oodnadatta Track and its often-perceived emptiness is left behind and diverse places are revealed. Food is located and sampled. Animals are tracked. The great 'colonial' endeavours are recounted and rewritten to highlight a shared history. The Arabunna tour leaders draw on their personal experiences in bringing to life these cultural landscapes and narrating the shared history of these lands. For Arabunna Aboriginal Tours, the venture has many objectives ranging from income generation to cultural nourishment. The tours are also about sharing in knowledge: knowledge of land, the Aboriginal stories, the flora and fauna, and the history of land use, management and exploitation. Participants are brought into a nurturing educational environment, where time is taken to observe, listen and learn about the environments and the people of the Lake Eyre region. By sharing with tourists the land and the stories, Arabunna tour leaders are looking after country—visiting and looking after sites, educating others about the significance of sites and the region, and how to respect these arid lands and the cultural and environmental values that they hold. Thus Arabunna Aboriginal Tours, through providing visitors with valuable cultural experiences and educational opportunities, is making important contributions to land management in the Lake Eyre region.

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ABORIGINAL TOURISM AND LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE LAKE EYRE

BASIN: ARABUNNA ABORIGINAL TOURS

Reg DoddA and Tom JenkinB,C

A Arabunna Aboriginal Tours, c/o Post Office, Marree, South Australia 5733 B,C School of Geography, Population and Environmental Management, Flinders

University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia 5001 C Corresponding author. Email tom.jenkin@flinders.edu.au

Australia’s outback is often thought of as a vast, empty, dry and inhospitable place. It is viewed as a place where explorers struggled and often failed, where settlers’ hopes were unfounded, where farmers now strive to profit from their vast acreages and where mining companies now operate global enterprises. These themes are part of the attraction of the outback and are what many visitors seek and experience on their visits to the rangelands. The outback themes of exploration, colonial heritage, and pastoralism are also what drive much of the tourism marketing strategies to attract visitors to the tracks and towns that cross and dot these lands. The values of the Lake Eyre Basin are similarly promoted and experienced. Across the Lake Eyre Basin and Australia’s rangelands, there are also the stories of Aboriginal people — the long term occupation, utilisation and management of lands and waters and the richness of Aboriginal cultural knowledge and heritage. Aboriginal people and their traditional and contemporary relationships to the land, however, remain largely hidden from most visitors to the Lake Eyre Basin. Through Arabunna Aboriginal Tours, the hidden Aboriginal meanings and values of the lower Lake Eyre Basin are revealed. Arabunna Tours challenges and builds understandings with visitors gaining a more holistic appreciation of the lands and the people who call it home. Arabunna Tours offer a variety of tours exploring the Oodnadatta Track and surrounds between the towns of Marree and William Creek. For over 10 years, Reg Dodd and family as traditional owners of this area have taken independent travellers, school and university groups, professionals, environmental groups and others on a journey through their home. Arabunna Tours has cultural, educational, economic, and recreational aims which include to promote and protect the unique Arabunna culture and land and waters, to share the unique relationship between people and land and Arabunna knowledge and values, to enjoy working together (Aboriginal and European) and to provide income and employment for family and support the Arabunna community achieve independence from government and welfare dependency. Tour groups visit numerous cultural and natural sites, sample bush tucker, track animals, sleep under the stars, hear and experience first hand cultural understandings and knowledge, learn of colonisation and the shared history of these lands, and gain an understanding of these arid lands and of looking after country. These are just some of the key experiences of Arabunna Tours. Arabunna Tours takes a slowly slowly approach to revealing the multiple meanings and values of the lower Lake Eyre region through both Aboriginal and European eyes. Tourists are not rushed from destination to destination, from outback town to the next, from interpretive site to the next. Rather, daily activities and discussions unfold slowly and, for tourists, often unexpectedly. Participants on the tour thus shift their focus from gazing at the landscape, to experiencing the landscape, listening, watching and feeling the environments that surround them. The knowledge and experiences of Arabunna tour leaders ensure that the hidden values of the region are revealed. Some of the valuable and influential activities that Arabunna guides involve tourists in include:

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1. Welcome to Country: Arabunna traditional ownership of country and the relationships between adjoining groups is discussed with entry protocols described and key landscape features identifying ‘boundaries’ pointed out.

2. Culture, Landscape, Stories, Connections: Through storytelling and travelling over the land, the environments are filled with cultural meaning, and the Aboriginal cultural, spiritual and physical connections between distant places are revealed.

3. The Boom and Bust of the rangelands: All landscape changes and events are valued and understood with tourists seeing, experiencing and appreciating: a. the unique and changing faces of Lake Eyre — from the ‘dead heart’ to the

‘inland sea’ — and learn of its Aboriginal significance. b. the desert blooms with the spectacular wildflower displays, and the dries with

the shimmering gibber and fragile vegetation cover. 4. Bush tucker and medicine: Tourists observe and are shown how to follow the tracks

of animals and they also collect and sample bush tucker and medicine. Just how the land provided for all the needs of Arabunna people is revealed.

5. Water and its many values: Tourists gain knowledge of water in Arabunna country and its complexities. Water is realised to have diverse values with ‘different waters’ or watering points (e.g., mound springs, soaks and rock holes) having cultural, spiritual and functional values. Tourists often ask how the Arabunna people know where to find water, and it is told that Arabunna just know as they have been told by their elders and ancestors.

6. Shared histories: Tourists listen to Arabunna stories of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people ‘working together’ and sharing the land and responsibility of looking after the land. Finniss Springs Mission Station is an important element for this activity and its significance for Arabunna people is outlined.

Through these and other activities, Arabunna Tours brings to life and fills the arid lands with meaning. The traditional and contemporary ways in which Arabunna people have and continue to look after country and participate in environmental management, is self evident in the journey. Tourists also learn much about these lands and attain greater appreciation of all its social, cultural, environmental and economic values and how to sustain them. For Arabunna Tour operators, the tours also provide valuable opportunities to visit, keep an eye on and look after important places. Thus Arabunna Aboriginal Tours is making important contributions to land management in the Lake Eyre region.

Aboriginal Tourism and Land Management in the Lake Eyre Basin:

Arabunna ToursReg Dodd

Arabunna Tour Operator - Marreeand

Tom JenkinPhD Candidate

School of Geography, Population and Environmental Management Flinders University, Adelaide

(Senior Project Officer, Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Native Title Unit)

Typical tourist experienceson the Oodnadatta Track

ORSharing unique experiences of

Arabunna Culture

The aims of ArabunnaTours are:

• To promote and protect the unique Arabunna culture

• To promote and protect land & waters• To share the unique relationship

between people and land – Sharing Arabunna knowledge and values– Working together – Aboriginal and

European

• To provide income & employment for family and support the Arabunnacommunity

• To provide independence from government and welfare dependency

So what do people experience on Arabunna Tours?

Welcome to Country

Entering ‘country’, home, owned, known, cared about,

cared for, respected

Culture Landscape

StoriesConnections

• Sites/places revealed• stories and dreamings• landscapes filled with life and new meanings

Tourists see and experience the unique changing faces of Lake Eyre Basin within Arabunna

Country

- Lake Eyre -

Desert Dry

Desert Blooms

All landscape changes, events and cycles are

valued and understood

Tourists observe and are shown how to follow the tracks of animals. They also collect and sample

Bush Tuckerand Medicine

Gain understanding that the land provided for all the needs of

Arabunna people

Tourists gain knowledge of the Water in Arabunna Country

Different waters- cultural and spiritual (non-consumable) water

- cultural and consumable water

Knowledge of waters- Finding water? We know!- Respect - Sustainable Use

Mound Springscultural and spiritual

values

Wabma Kadarbu CP

Rockholesdrinking - knowledge

Tourists listen to Arabunna stories of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people

‘working together’ and sharing the land and responsibility of looking after the land

A Shared History - Working Together -Living Together

Shared History - Working Together - Living Together

Dog fence & PastoralismOld Ghan Railway

- established to maintain family togetherness- safe - home - school - identity - stayed on and lived off land- Aboriginal & European culture

Finniss Springs Mission Station

Arabunna and Environmental Management

Fencing the Oodnadatta Track through Finniss Springs Mission Station to restrict unauthorised access that impacts on culturally and environmentally sensitive areas

Arabunna and Environmental Management

Fencing of Mound Springs to reduce impacts of rabbits and stock

Tourists share and experience the Arabunnavalues of the Lake Eyre Region

• Slowly, slowly – not rushed to get to next destination!• Tourists experience:

– Multiple cultural values of landscapes– Arabunna connections to ‘country’– Arabunna experiences of colonisation– Arabunna cultural transition from hunter gatherer to the

economic workforce• Tourists gain knowledge of climatic and environmental

changes (natural and human induced) and learn to appreciate the values of the environment – “[I learned] how land was not desolate but rich in features, life, food,

history, cultural significance…” (Tour Participant 2001/2002)

Arabunna Tours – Filling in the gaps!

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Angus Emmott Angus Emmott is the independent chair of the Lake Eyre Basin Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and represents pastoral, community and natural resource management interests on the CAC. Angus is a pastoralist and beef cattle producer, who, with his wife and two children, lives in the top end of the Queensland channel country. He is a keen natural historian with an interest in natural resource management. Angus has been involved in the Lake Eyre Basin process since it was formed, and is currently deputy chair of both the Lake Eyre Basin Coordinating Group, and the Cooper Creek Catchment Committee. Angus is highly regarded by community, industry and the scientific community. In 2004 Angus was awarded an Honorary Master of Science degree by Central Queensland University for his contribution to ecology.

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THE FUTURE OF PASTORALISM IN THE LAKE EYRE BASIN

Angus Emmott, Noonbah Station, Qld

The pastoral industry in the Lake Eyre Basin comprises big pastoral companies, large private landholders, and smaller family owned holdings. The industry produces food and fibre for the domestic and overseas markets, derived primarily from beef, mutton and wool. Lake Eyre Basin pastoralists are operating in an arid landscape with one of the most variable rainfall regimes in the world. They also operate within a distinctive economic and regulatory framework, and have developed a distinctive culture and value system.

This leads to a number of pressures and opportunities. Two of the major pressures are declining terms of trade, with all its inherent issues, and climate change. On the other side of the ledger, we have a river basin that, after over a hundred years of pastoralism, is by world standards in very good shape. There is also a growing demand for clean, green produce, and a major increase in tourism and ecotourism.

This leads to a number of responses, both positive and negative. On the positive side, we are learning to do business better. I.e. improved genetics, improved management systems, marketing etc. On the negative side, we have inappropriate development pressures. Pastoralists that are struggling to meet their commitments are looking at options such as irrigation, aquaculture etc in river systems that are unable to support this type of development.

The future appears to be an accumulation of land holdings to a size where they have economies of scale, a move towards private conservation organisations becoming more involved in land management, and the development of a stewardship system whereby the community at large will pay for specific on-ground outcomes for biodiversity and sustainability.

An alternative future might be to go down the development path, acceding to political and economic opportunism, without looking at the long-term outcomes of this path.

It is our role and responsibility to ensure that we take a path that leads to long-term sustainability and leaves the door open for future opportunities. To do this we need to actively pursue a long-term strategic vision at all levels of government and community, if we wish these resources to be sustainable into the future.

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THE FUTURE OF PASTORALISM IN THE LAKE EYRE BASIN

A. EmmottA

AChair, Lake Eyre Basin Community Advisory Committee ‘Noonbah Station’, LONGREACH, QLD 4730

Email: akemmott@bigpond.com

INTRODUCTION The pastoral industry in the Lake Eyre Basin varies widely, but basically consists of big pastoral companies, large private landholders, and smaller family owned holdings. This wide range of operations produces food and fibre for Australian and overseas markets, derived primarily from beef, mutton and wool.

Throughout the Lake Eyre Basin pastoralists operate in an arid landscape with one of the most highly variable rainfall regimes in the world. They also operate within a distinctive economic and regulatory framework, and have developed distinctive cultures and value systems.

This combination of circumstances creates a number of pressures for Lake Eyre Basin pastoralists, and also a number of opportunities.

PRESSURES Two of the major pressures on pastoralists are declining terms of trade (and the problems this causes with commodity prices and profitability) and climate change, creating longer and more frequent drought conditions over more of the Basin. Other pressures include:

• short term cash-flow where property revenues are separated by long intervals; • a regulatory framework that is continually becoming more complex and difficult for

operators to fully understand and comply with; • increased public expectations for better environmental management and biodiversity

stewardship on productive pastoral properties; • land speculation, tending to increase land prices and corresponding rental costs of

leasehold land; and • social and family issues associated with isolation and financial stress.

OPPORTUNITIES The circumstances and history of the Lake Eyre Basin, on the other hand, also create some important opportunities for the pastoral industry. After over a hundred years of European colonisation and pastoralism, the Basin is in very good shape by world standards. The Basin has not yet been the target of major developments typical of regions further east and south, and our future options in the Basin have not yet been limited by major resource degradation.

There is a growing world demand for clean, green produce, an opportunity that is beginning to be taken up by producers in the Basin. There is also a major increase in tourism and ecotourism in the Basin, based on iconic sites of environmental and cultural significance.

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OUR RESPONSES The pastoral industry in the Basin responds to these pressures and opportunities in a number of ways, both positive and negative.

On the positive side, we are learning to do business better. We have improved genetics, improved management systems, and more effective marketing of our products. The knowledge available to the industry for better land management decisions has improved greatly. This includes a better understanding of ecosystem functioning, and better access to improved climate forecasting. This has gone hand in hand with the growth in organic production and in clean, green marketing, and a strengthening voice in developing policy.

On the negative side, development pressures continue that are inappropriate for the Basin. Governments make disjointed policy choices, and landholders are forced to make short-term land management decisions. Pastoralists who are struggling to meet their commitments are looking at options such as irrigation and aquaculture, in river systems that are unable to support this type of development.

WHERE IS THIS LEADING US? Future trends appear to be an accumulation of land holdings to a size where they have economies of scale, a move towards private conservation organisations purchasing land for conservation purposes and becoming more involved in land management, and the development of a stewardship system whereby the community at large invests finances via the tax base to pay for specific on-ground outcomes in biodiversity and sustainability.

In this environment, the future of small, family enterprises is difficult to predict.

A less desirable future might be to go down the development path, acceding to political and economic opportunism, without looking at long-term outcomes. This is a path of ad hoc policy development and inappropriate development, which lacks long-term vision.

MAKING SENSIBLE CHOICES We need the courage to make the right choices now. It is our role and responsibility to ensure that we take a path that leads to long-term sustainability and leaves the door open for future opportunities. To do this we need to actively pursue a long-term strategic vision at all levels of government and community if we wish the resources of the Lake Eyre Basin to be sustainable into the future.

The Future of Pastoralism

In the Lake Eyre BasinAngus Emmott

The LEB pastoral industry

• Big pastoral companies

• Large private landholders

• Smaller family-owned holdings

Producing food and fibrein an arid landscape

…. in a highly variable rainfall regime

Boom

Bust !

Pressures• Declining terms of trade• Short term cash-flow• Climate change• Regulatory framework• Public expectations• Land speculation• Social and family issues

Opportunities• A basin still in great shape after over

100 yrs of European colonisation

• Growing world demand for clean, green products

• Growth in tourism and ecotourism

• Future options not yet limited by major resource degradation

What has been our response to these

pressures and opportunities?

Positive responses• Greater understanding of ecosystem

functioning

• Improved climate forecasting

• Greater knowledge base for land management decisions

• Improved genetics, management systems, marketing etc

• Growth in organic and clean, green marketing

• Stronger voice in developing policy

Negative responses

• Inappropriate development pressures

• Short-term land management decisions

• Disjointed policy choices

Where is this leading us?

Private conservation

Stewardship agreements

Accumulation of land holdings

Small enterprises?

An alternative future• Ad hoc policy development

• Political and economic opportunism

• Inappropriate development

• No long-term vision

Do we have the courage to make the right choices now?

Our role and responsibilityEnsure that we take a path that

leads to long term sustainability and leaves the door open for future opportunities

How?• If we wish these resources to be

sustainable into the future, we need to actively pursue a long-term strategic vision at all levels of government and community.

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Rod Ferdinands Rod Ferdinands works as Monitoring & Evaluation Officer for Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ) in Longreach, Queensland.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of Columbo, Master of Science (Industrial Science) from Brunel University UK, and both a Graduate Diploma (Water Studies) and Doctor of Philosophy (Water Quality) from Monash University Water Studies Centre. His PhD thesis, “The use of turbidity to Assess Catchment Condition”, was completed in 2004.

Rod has a keen interest in Natural resource management with an emphasis on water quality and management issues. He has been with Desert Channels Queensland since November 2005, and has also worked as a Senior lecturer, as a Major Projects Officer for the Australian Customs Service, and as an NRM & Water Quality Officer for Murray-Goulburn Water in Victoria.

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THE RANGELANDS NRM GROUPS NETWORK

S. Wilson and R. Ferdinands

Desert Channels Queensland, PO Box 601 Longreach QLD 4730

Email: steve.wilson@dcq.org.au When the state-based approach to management of Australia’s natural resources under the second round of the Natural Heritage Trust came into being in 2003, it was recognised that the rangelands NRM groups were divided in their influence. They operated in the backblocks of four states and the NT, small in voice and far from the centres of power. Most of the groups were also in non NAP regions which meant that they were modestly funded -particularly given the large areas and scattered population they had to deal with. Overcoming this problem was raised in cross border discussions between Desert Channels Queensland and the South Australian Rangelands INRM Group. To this end it was resolved to hold a meeting in mid 2004 in Alice Springs, to discuss the potential of organising a Rangelands NRM Groups Network. Key points covered at that meeting included:

• Improving information exchange between groups; • Assisting each other with planning issues; • Developing the potential for collaborative projects; • Improving research linkages; • Avoiding duplication of issues; • Collectively using a voice to raise issues

At the time most NRM groups were heavily engaged in planning and while the concept was well received the focus was for everyone to get their investments plans approved and underway. Two years on, the groups have operational NRM plans and investment strategies in place and are busy implementing on-ground works, so the time is ripe to activate a network. Desert Channels Queensland and the South Australian Arid Lands Board are keen to reactivate the idea of a network. There are around a dozen rangelands NRM groups in QLD, NSW, SA, NT and WA that could be involved. Currently we have a website space to host a network. The idea could be to include links to all interested groups as well as information on the network. To this end it is proposed to host a discussion at the ARS/LEB Conference in Renmark to refine the idea and move forward.

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RANGELANDS NRM GROUPS NETWORK

T.R. FerdinandsA, S.G. WilsonA

ADesert Channels Queensland, 62 Galah Street, Longreach, QLD 4730 Correspondance: Rod Ferdinands; Email rod.ferdinands@dcq.org.au

ABSTRACT Australian rangelands are characterized by low population densities and large areas. When taken together with the fact that they lie outside NAP regions and their distance from the main governmental machinery, their influence in attracting funds for natural resources projects is limited. Representatives at a meeting held in mid-2004 between Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ) and the SA Rangelands NRM Group agreed to set up an extended network of contacts within Australian Rangelands to be able to better represent the bodies and their resident communities.

ADVANTAGES IN SETTING UP A RANGELANDS NRM GROUPS NETWORK The Rangelands contain at least a dozen groups spread out over Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia. Improvements in information exchange, cross-assistance with planning, development of collaborative ties and improved research liaisons (without duplicating work) have been put forward as making such a body worthwhile. In addition, the ability to speak collectively when approaching higher authorities makes a powerful case for its creation.

RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Call for expressions of interest from regional bodies in the Rangelands. 2. Target communities and local shire councils for support in the LEB. 3. Make available web space that is now free at the DCQ website for further exposure. 4. Agree for representatives to meet again soon and formulate an action plan.

RANGELANDS NRM GROUPS NETWORK

STEVE WILSON ROD FERDINANDS

DESERT CHANNELS QUEENSLAND INC.

INFLUENCE OF RANGELANDS NRM GROUPS

• LOW DUE TO – SMALL POPULATION DENSITY

– NON NAP REGIONS• FAR FROM MAIN GOVERNMENTAL

MACHINERY

AT A MEETING IN 2004 BETWEEN DCQ AND SA RANGELANDS NRM GROUP

• IMPROVE INFORMATION EXCHANGE• CROSS-ASSIST WITH PLANNING • DEVELOP COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS• IMPROVE RESEARCH TIES• AVOID DUPLICATION• SPEAK COLLECTIVELY

ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A RANGELANDS NRM GROUPS NETWORK

• DOZEN NRM GROUPS IN QLD, NSW, SA, NT & WA• PERSONNEL SPREAD TOO THINLY OVER LARGE

AREAS - REDUCED FUNDS• EXCHANGE OF INFO KEEPS ALL ABREAST OF

CURRENT EVENTS AND TECHNIQUES• SPEAKING TOGETHER IMPROVES CHANCES OF

BEING HEARD – COLLECTIVE POWER • WEBSITE SPACE AVAILABLE

DCQ HAS INITIATED A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT – FUNDING A PhD

CANDIDATE OVER 4 YEARSPARTNERS:• UNI OF QLD DEPT GEOGRAPHY• NRM&W• CSIRO/DESERT KNOWLEDGE• DCQ

REMOTE SENSING AS A TOOL FOR MEASURING VEGETATION COVER

(SPECIFICALLY FOR WEEDS) • WIDE VARIETY OF REMOTE SENSING DATA

AVAILABLE – SATELLITE, AERIAL IMAGES• DIFFERENT RESOLUTIONS OF IMAGES

AVAILABLE• WIDE VARIETY OF CHOICE AND COSTS OF

IMAGES

PRINCIPLE INVOLVED

GROUND-TRUTHING

CORRELATION

BUILD MATHEMATICAL MODEL

ESTIMATE

=248 ha thick infestation

= WEEDS

IMAGE

PLEASE CONTACT STEVE WILSON* OR ROD FERDINANDS*

DESERT CHANNELS QUEENSLANDPO BOX 601 LONGREACH QLD 4730

*SEE ROD FOR BUSINESS CARDS

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Sharon Hocking* Sharon Hocking commenced her career as a bank clerk, as banks were not affiliated with the local unions and that meant she could work after she was married. That rule didn’t change for women in Broken Hill until 1982.

Whilst raising her only child, Sharon became involved in many community organisations. In1991 Sharon became personal assistant to the proprietor of Radio Taxis and the Hilltop Motel. In that time Sharon also became the President of the YWCA of Broken Hill for four years and held the position of NSW State Treasurer of YWCA for three years.

With an understanding of computers, software and payroll, and her employer being the Chamber President, Sharon became very familiar with the Town Agreement. After the Taxi business was sold, she moved into the Shell Memorial office as assistant to the Managers, Colin and Trevor, for 6 months. From this experience Sharon decided to go into business for herself in 1995. Today, that business, Competent Appointment Services Pty Ltd has been trading for 10 years. Sharon and her husband purchased a florist shop for their daughter to manage and Sharon does the bookkeeping for that business.

Sharon joined the executive of the Broken Hill Chamber of Commerce and after 4 years as Vice President was the first female to become the President of the Chamber in Broken Hill, which had a 109-year history. She has been the President for 5 terms.

Sharon serves on a number of local committees and boards, is an active member of her community and is currently a member of the Board of Desert Knowledge Australia.

* Joint paper/presentation with Joy Taylor

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Margaret House Margaret was born and raised in the Wandoan district where her father was a Soldier Settler. After she completed her schooling, her father accepted a position with the Food and Agriculture Organisation in South America, where Margaret ended up back in high school in Uruguay where all the lessons were in Spanish.

After Uruguay, Margaret worked for 3 years in London where she met and married Ashley. They then lived in Western Australia before moving to Queensland.

In 1985 they moved to ‘Fortuna’, a cattle station in the Desert Uplands near Aramac, where life once again changed to telephone party lines, power generators for power, a "donkey" hot water system, and distance education for the girls.

Ashley and Margaret have 3 daughters, all of whom are very handy ringers and horse-riders.

The formation of the Aramac Landcare Group, and the Desert Uplands Build Up and Development Strategy Committee, led to Margaret’s interest in regional NRM issues. She has been keenly involved with these issues ever since.

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UNDERSTANDING NATURAL RESOURCE DECISION MAKING IN QUEENSLAND’S DESERT UPLANDS

Gerry Roberts, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Longreach, Qld (presented by Margaret House, Fortuna Station, Aramac, Qld)

Desert Uplands Buildup and Development Strategy Committee (DUBDSC) recognised a gap between knowledge of good management practices for natural resources in the Desert Uplands (DU) region and the use of that knowledge when decisions are made. In their work on this situation the committee first set out to understand the apparent gap between recognition and use. Stage one started in late 2005 and sought to understand the situation from a DU landholder perspective. Lengthy oral-history-based interviews were conducted with 11 landholder families. Stage two used the information from stage one to contact a further 56 Desert Uplands landholders in telephone interviews. Interviews explored landholders’ worldviews about natural resources and experiences in managing natural resources; perceptions of their level of control over their own land and level of income; how and where information for decisions is obtained and the weighting of each information source; levels of record keeping past and present; and, decision making paths for general and natural resource situations including decision making paths for choosing not to act or delaying action. Stage two included interviews with bankers, extension officers, government policy writers and stock and station agents, as groups identified as influential in stage 1. The research is a joint venture between DUBDSC and BDT through the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (Social and Economic State-level Investment project SE03), Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ) and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F). Outputs from this project will contribute to DUBDSC planning and management through support for landholders to make positive decisions for natural resource use. Options for action include attention to loss avoidance strategies, landholders’ in-use sources of information, testing local NRM ideas and connecting landholders and policy writers, amongst others.

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UNDERSTANDING NATURAL RESOURCE DECISION MAKING IN QUEENSLAND’S DESERT UPLANDS

G. RobertsA and M. HouseB,C

A Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, PO Box 519, Longreach, Qld, 4730

B Fortuna Station, Aramac, Qld, 4726 CCorresponding author: Email fortunahouse@bigpond.com

The Desert Uplands Committee decided to carry out interviews in the area of Social Research in the Desert Uplands because, over time, we realised that making Natural Resource Management decisions on one’s land was very affected by people issues – land manager’s personality, their fears, their beliefs and so on. In our group we had a Clinical Psychiatrist, a Futurist, a Sociologist, a Technical Officer with Local Government who had been involved in a Project with some similarities in the Emerald area, local landholders, a Project Officer, and the group was coordinated by Dr Gerry Roberts, an Extension specialist from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in Longreach. The Project was funded by State Government Social & Economic funds SEO3, the Desert Uplands Committee, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM and Desert Channels Queensland. For the first part of our Project, the pilot study, we decided to do in-depth interviews with landholders from all different areas of the Desert Uplands. Emma, the Project Officer, went out and sometimes spent a whole day driving around the paddock opening gates etc for a property owner, or sitting around the kitchen table with the whole family to do the in-depth interviews. After 12 of these interviews, we were running out of time and money and we wanted to talk to approx 20% of landholders in the Desert Uplands if possible. The group decided to do the rest of the interviews by telephone. Additionally it was decided to interview outside parties whom it was thought might have an effect on natural resource management – stock & station agents, financiers, extension officers, & government policy writers. A consultant was hired to draw up the questions, and later to collate the interviews. Because of the time factor, and the cost of using a consultant to do the interviews, the group decided to do the interviews themselves. This appeared to work very well, especially where landholders were interviewing other landholders. Although the interviews were intended to take around 45 minutes each, some people talked for up to 3 hours, going into detail to explain what they meant by their answers. Landholder interviewees perhaps felt more comfortable with other landholders doing the interviewing. We could understand their “language”. Once they got talking they were happy to open up and give more down to earth & honest answers We recorded all their comments which proved to be very useful, and in some cases they gave an answer contrary to what would have been recorded if we had just ticked boxes. For example, one of the questions asked was: “what were the main issues relating to natural resource management on the property”. Loss of vegetation/land clearing was one listed.

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Many people immediately picked this one; however when they explained their answer they meant that, rather than too few trees, the main issue was too many trees. Their property was experiencing an increasing or “thickening” of tree seedlings at an alarming rate. If we had just ticked the box without recording the explanation we would have got a totally different result for that question. When we looked at all the interviews with outside people as well as the landholders, one thing that came out what that landholders are actually more critical of other land managers than the outside people were. Some landholders were quite blunt in their opinions of other landholders. Some of the outcomes from the interviews were:

• Like the rest of the human population, landholders are “loss-averse”. This means that they will go out of their way to avoid losses rather than put in the same risk to make a gain in the future. We are more inclined to avoid a loss than take a profit! This may explain why the main time of conflict is during a drought when stockowners agonise over when to sell livestock, how many to sell and so on. Drought is seen as the main natural resource management issue in the region.

• 84% said there are instances when they have to choose between the best decision for their financial well-being and the best outcome for their property’s natural resources. This situation primarily occurs during times of drought. Most felt they would not sacrifice natural resources for the sake of profit unless there was no other choice i.e. when environmental conditions are unfavourable or income is low, they sometimes sacrifice the resource.

• Landholders mostly use their own instincts and experiences to make NRM decisions, however talking to other graziers is also very important for gaining knowledge.

• Parents and older family members had a significant effect on their natural resource management practices, though some said that they learnt from them “what not to do”.

• Landholders draw on information from agency people if they develop a rapport and trust with them.

• Government regulatory agencies were seen as having a negative effect on natural resource and property management and there is a real mistrust of Government.

• Almost half said they would make less money if they followed all the advice about resource management.

• 66% of respondents cited times when scientific knowledge contradicted their own experience.

• 90% said they had a Duty of Care to care for their land, however overwhelmingly they said they wanted to do it without Government or outside interference.

• Over 50% said they plan to pass their property on to family members when they retire.

• When we began the Project we had assumed that all properties had been run down to a certain degree over the years and that there was a need to improve natural resource management. However this proved not to be so and in some cases quite the opposite. The longer people had been on their place the more likely they were to have improved it since taking over.

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• People saw the key resource issues for the whole region as weed infestation, and lack of control over native vegetation with its tree numbers seen as increasing significantly over time.

• However for their own property, the main issues were seen as drought followed by loss of pastures, soil & soil erosion.

• 87% said they have taken some action to address their main issue. • Almost all people in the Desert Uplands were aware of funding available for natural

resource projects and 70% have applied for this funding in the past. Negative opinions about such funding were that too much information and paperwork is required, that the forms were too difficult to complete.

• Land managers who had been in the area a long time did say they had learnt by their mistakes and made significant changes to practices. However feedback on the impact on the natural resources is not quickly or readily available. The action learning loop may take many years to happen.

The challenge now is for the Desert Uplands Committee to work out how to make the most effective use of the results of these findings.