Innovation across the nation

Indigenous knowledge is fuelling success stories right across Australia.

1

At Cape York in far north Queensland the Kuuku I’yu

Northern Kaanju people are working with the University of South Australia to find plants with medicinal uses. They have a patent for a psoriasis medicine.

2

James Cook University set up the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre on the Cape York Peninsula, and is working with traditional owners to document and research traditional plant use.

3

Groote Eylandt and other communities are looking to re-establish the sea cucumber industry with help from a Tasmanian seafood company.

4

The Yolngu of Arnhem Land are collaborating with the CSIRO to establish a biodiversity-monitoring program and support fire management in the Dhimurru IPA.

5

The Yirralka Miyalk Rangers of East Arnhem are using traditional Yolngu knowledge of harvest seasons and native plants to make cosmetics and essential oils.

6

The Wudjuli Horticulture Project is using water management knowledge of the people of the NT’s Ngukurr region, and will create 97ha of irrigated horticulture in the Gulf Country.

7

Savannah burning in Arnhem Land is generating income from greenhouse gas abatement (the Adjumarlarl rangers of Kunbarlanja, Djelk rangers of Maningrida, Warddeken rangers of the plateau, Jawoyn rangers of Katherine and Mimal rangers of Bulman).

8

Near Kakadu in the NT, Gavin Bedford is working with traditional owners of the East Alligator River region to capture and breed Oenpelli pythons.

9

In Kakadu, the Bushfire CRC is working with local traditional owners to apply Aboriginal fire management on the floodplains of the South Alligator River.

10

Tiwi Islanders and the CSIRO are exploring fire management to protect the environment/create income from greenhouse gas abatement.

11

The CSIRO is working with people in the NT (the Gulumoerrgin/Larrakia, near Darwin; Ngan’gi,

Malak Malak and Wagiman at the Daly River; Tiwi Islanders; and the Kunwinjku in Arnhem Land) and WA (the Gooniyandi and Walmajarri of the Fitzroy River and Ngadju people from the southwest’s Great Western Woodlands) to compile calendars based on ecological knowledge, to use as baseline data to measure the impact of climate change.

12

Around the Daly River, NT, and the Fitzroy River, WA, the CSIRO is working with traditional owners to gather knowledge of aquatic resources of these tropical catchments.

13

Indigenous women at Wadeye, 400km southwest of Darwin, have registered a patent to process mi marrarl, or Kakadu plum.

14

The Balanggarra and Wunambal-Gaambera people of the northern Kimberley are using traditional knowledge to build a plan for sustainably managing the environment and growing tourism industry in the region, including the Mitchell Plateau and falls.

15

The Bidyadanga community, south of Broome, is harvesting Kakadu plums.

16

On the edge of the Gibson Desert, WA, the Kutkububba community is harvesting sandalwood for its oil, used in perfumes and cosmetic products. They are collaborating with companies including Aveda and Estée Lauder.

17

People at Anmatyerr near Ti Tree, NT, are harvesting and selling bush tucker, such as desert raisins, or tomatoes, ( Solanum centrale) to mass manufacturers.

18

A project called Plant Business is working with Central Australian traditional owners to collect samples and stories associated with desert raisins to cultivate horticultural varieties.

19

In the Musgrave and Tomkinson ranges of north-western SA, traditional owners have teamed with conservation scientists to protect the vulnerable warru, or black-footed rock-wallaby.

20

Traditional owners at Camooweal, north-west of Mount Isa, are working with the University of Queensland to develop thinner, stronger condoms using spinifex resin.

21

In Kyogle, NSW, the Githabul people have joined Native Extracts in their project to extract commercially useful compounds from plants.

22

Yaru is a partnership between a Bundjalung Aboriginal family and Mount Warning Spring Water Company. This indigenous business sells bottled spring water collected on Wollumbin (Mt Warning) in northern NSW.

23

Macquarie University is working with the Yaegl community in NSW to produce a bush medicine handbook that documents traditional remedies with biomedical potential.

24

The peoples of the Murray-Darling River Basin are making maps based on traditional activities in the area to improve management of the rivers’ forests, wetlands and lakes.

25

The Muru Mittigar Provenance Nursery in western Sydney is growing and selling native trees, shrubs, climbers and grasses of Aboriginal significance.