Yawuru Nagulagun Roebuck Bay Marine Park.
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is excited to take part in a four-year project that integrates, social, cultural and ecological research into the management of marine and coastal areas.
The Yagarrajalajalan nagula buru project will seek to tackle how equity in resource management can be achieved with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The project focuses on two streams, the ecology and conservation values associated with dugongs and marine turtles and human activities and socio-cultural values in Yawuru Nagulagun Roebuck Bay Marine Park.
Funded by the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation with additional support from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, the project is a collaboration between a number of organisations including Traditional Owner Corporation Nyamba Buru Yawuru, Murdoch University, ECU, University of Western Australia, University of Notre Dame Australia and James Cook University.
The project is co-led by Murdoch University’s Dr Adrian Gleiss and Nyamba Buru Yawuru's Dean Matthews and has been endorsed by UNESCO as a UN Ocean Decade Action, a 10-year framework to identify, generate and use critical knowledge to manage oceans sustainably.
Lecturer and Course Coordinator in Tourism and Hospitality Management from ECU's School of Business and Law, Dr Joanna Pearce will help facilitate the social science components in the project, namely the mapping of social values of the Yawuru Nagulagun Roebuck Bay Marine Park for industry, residents and visitors.
"The project hopes to create new knowledge of cross-cultural social-ecological systems to assist in the sustainable joint management of marine protected areas," Dr Pearce said.
"It also aims to educate and increase the awareness of customary values and activities within the area, in order to contribute to the shared understanding of the importance of marine protected areas for Traditional Owners, visitors and the broader community."
