Indigenous Engagement

One of ESA's strategic goals is to better link Indigenous people working in ecology and land management.

Over the last few years we have helped deliver a better connection through hosting Indigenous symposia at our annual conference, producing a special issue in our Ecological Management & Restoration journal, and seeking sponsorship for Indigenous ecologists to participate in our conference. See more on these below.

We are working towards several initiatives to support Indigenous ecologists, including:

  • Reconciliation Action Plan
  • Indigenous Ecologist Network
  • Indigenous Research Engagement Principles and Best Practice
  • Indigenous Intellectual Property Protocol

Find out more about our Indigenous Engagement Working Group here.

As part of the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) conference, the ESA annual Indigenous Symposium will showcase Indigenous peoples biocultural knowledge research and projects. This initiative is part of the ESAs ongoing commitment to increase Indigenous participation in ESA activities.

The ESA is inviting Australian Indigenous people to present in this symposium. This provides an opportunity for Indigenous peoples to share and hear stories to build: relationships with each other and with non-Indigenous ecologists; recognition of our diverse knowledge and shared interests, values and practices in caring for and understanding country.

Decisions on presentations for the Indigenous Symposia will be based on:

  • Strength of application (i.e. why you should be chosen)
  • Your ability to tell a good story about your ideas and/work
  • Your ability to demonstrate why your work is important
  • Meeting the word count and format requirements

A limited number of Travel Grants of up to $1500 are available to assist with travel and accommodation for Indigenous presenters in the IEK Symposium.

The Ecological Society of Australia is able to offer some eligible applicants who would like to contribute to the Indigenous Ecological Knowledge symposium or to speak in other symposia or themed sessions of the conference, a Grant to assist with the costs of attending the ESA conference.

Applications are particularly encouraged from people who have limited or no institutional support to enable them to attend conferences. The grant will cover the full conference registration plus $1000 which can be used towards travel or accommodation.  Joint papers involving two or more Indigenous speakers may apply for funding for up to two people.

To be eligible for the Indigenous Travel Grant you must:

1.  Be an Indigenous Australian living in Australia
2.  Present in the “Indigenous Ecological Knowledge” symposium OR in another symposium or open sessions of the conference.
3.  Submit the Indigenous Travel Grant application form and a presentation abstract.

If you need assistance with your application or would like more information please contact Gail Spina ().

Please note:
As there are limited funds available for the Travel Grants, applications will be assessed on the quality of applications and abstracts. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application.

‘Right-way’ science is recognised at the ESA Conference each year, with presenters speaking on ‘right-way’ science eligible for a $5,000 prize, supported by Bush Heritage Australia.

‘Right-way’ science is an approach to the practice of science that is based on respect, sharing knowledge, listening and learning. It brings together different frameworks for thinking for the benefit of people and country. ‘Right-way’ science recognises the sovereignty, connection and knowledge of Traditional Owners across the country.

The award will consist of a certificate and cheque for $5000. The money needs to go towards further ‘right-way’ science project support for example travel, training, field equipment and a report of how the money was spent provided to ESA (and Bush Heritage Australia).

To be considered for the award you need to tick the box when you register for the ESA Conference (or log in and update your details if you’ve already registered).

Find out more.

Identifying and Acknowledging Indigenous Country and People

Authors submitting to Ecological Management & Restoration and Austral Ecology are strongly encouraged to identify the Aboriginal, Torres Strait, and Maori peoples who historically occupied the land, sea and freshwater systems on which their work was conducted. Ideally, this would comprise consulting with Indigenous communities ahead of undertaking the work presented. Indigenous communities should be identified even in cases where a piece of work did not directly or indirectly involve Indigenous people. More information can be found under 'Recognition of Indigenous Country' here.

Special editions of Ecological Management & Restoration journal

Indigenous land and sea management in remote Australia (Guest Edited by Dr Emilie Ens). An outcome from the 2010 conference symposium ‘Combining Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge for land management solutions’.

Indigenous and cross-cultural ecology (Guest edited by Dr Emilie Ens). Watch a summary video for this Special Issue.

The role of First Nations people in leading the management of Country and its abundance of natural resources has been firmly recognised in recent times. In fact, First Nations peoples represent less than five per cent of the global population but manage about 40 percent of intact tropical primary forests. These lands cover some of the most remote and biodiverse regions on Earth.

Many initiatives are expanding in number and extent, including jointly managed protected areas, Indigenous Ranger Programs and biocultural mapping to inform land management decision-making. To showcase these initiatives, the ESA curated an online gallery of images from Indigenous ecological practitioners around Australia. Images in this collection tell the stories of programs continuing, reviving and protecting the ecological practices and knowledge held by First Nations people for millennia.

Among them, Dr Nathan Wong and the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation are using fire as a critical element for restoring resilience of transformed landscapes and managing country the right way. Dr Georgia Ward-Fear and Balanggara Elders are working on taste aversion programs to protect wildlife from toxic introduced species. The Djaara Women’s Knowledge Group has been collaborating with ecology post-grad student Nina Roberts to explore pathways for unfolding of knowledge about what is needed to return traditional food plants to Country. Territory Natural Resource Management ecologists have been working with Indigenous Ranger groups across the Arnhem Land Stone Country, combining First Nations knowledge and western science to survey for the white-throated grasswren. A collaboration between the Yirralka Rangers and researchers from three universities is developing a cross-cultural fauna strategy for the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area.

If you would like to read more about First Nations ecological science in Australia, our journal Ecological Management & Restoration has produced two special issues: Indigenous and cross-cultural ecology – perspectives from Australia and Indigenous land and sea management in remote Australia.

Finally, to continue to support programs such as these, the ESA’s Indigenous Engagement Working Group is developing a number of important resources, including a Reconciliation Action Plan, an Indigenous Ecologist Network, a set of Indigenous Research Engagement Principles and Best Practice, and an Indigenous Intellectual Property Protocol. We look forward to keeping you updated as these progress.

– Professor Stephen van Leeuwen, chair of the ESA Indigenous Engagement Working Group and Indigenous Chair of Biodiversity and Environmental Science at Curtin University.

See the gallery