Core Project 1: Livelihoods inLand™

The DKCRC’s Livelihoods inLand™ research project has been underway since 2006, building on earlier DKCRC projects such as Desert Fire, DustWatch, Anmatyerr Cultural Values of Waterand biodiversity management incentives on Aboriginal lands. The research focuses on ways in which natural and cultural resource management can improve sustainable livelihoods for desert people. ‘Sustainable livelihoods’ are those that provide a living and support the health and wellbeing of people and communities.

Desert people want recognition for the role they play in looking after country, and more effective, longer-term allocations of resources for this work. They want livelihoods that motivate young people, provide income, recognise local and cultural priorities and build on their existing skills and aptitudes. Desert people’s engagement in natural and cultural resource management offers these local benefits and is an important pathway for sustaining ecosystem and cultural services that are critical to the resilience of Australia’s remotest regions.

Livelihoods inLand™ examines the opportunities for Aboriginal people living in remote locations to manage natural and cultural assets on behalf of Australians and create a livelihood around this activity.

Project outcomes

• Systems for the engagement of people to deliver management of desert natural and cultural resources.
• Develop guidelines for implementing these systems in local places with a focus on planning and evaluation.
• Aboriginal people paid for their management activity based on appropriate valuation of the service they deliver to Australia.
• Better natural and cultural resource management because of more appropriately skilled workers.

Project components

The project’s research activities include:

• An economic analysis of the relationship between the activity of land management and the health of Aboriginal people who undertake these activities. Project title: Joint supply of environmental and health services to remote Australia 
• Developing a planning and evaluation framework that accounts for the multifaceted relationships between Aboriginal motivation and engagement in land management and the social and ecological conditions in remote regions. Project title: Planning and evaluating Livelihoods inLand 
• Understanding management effectiveness in the Northern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area. (Senior Aboriginal women, staff of government and Central Land Council worked with a DKCRC PhD researcher to build understanding of conservation outcomes from Aboriginal management of a protected area.) Project title: Understanding conservation outcomes – Northern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area 
• Engaging with Aboriginal youth, knowledge holders, schools and multimedia producers to understand the role of language and culture and communication networks in contemporary land management and community well being Project title: Bush schools and livelihoods in land 
• Understanding how Aboriginal Livelihoods through Land Management are created and sustained. Project title: Generating Aboriginal Livelihoods through Land Management –Yuendumu case study.
• Exploring the success of the Alice Springs Desert Park in employing Aboriginal people. Project title: Cultural and natural resource management and links to livelihoods.
• A study into the role of CDEP in funding Aboriginal natural and cultural resource management work in desert Australia. Project title: Funding Aboriginal land management in central Australia: the role of CDEP and other factors

Project leader and partners

Jocelyn Davies is a project leader for the DKCRC. Jocelyn manages a team of researchers, many of them based in Alice Springs, who are working on varied project activities to improve livelihoods inland.

Partners engaged in the project are:

• Alice Springs Desert Park
• Australian Government’s Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
• Australian National University
• Central Land Council
• Charles Darwin University
• Centre for Remote Health (Flinders and Charles Darwin universities)
• CSIRO
• Griffith University
• Lajamanu Community
• Northern Territory Government
• Warlpiri Media Association