Joint Management for Booderee
Booderee National Park and Booderee Botanic Gardens are jointly managed by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council and the Department of the Environment and Water Resources . A memorandum of lease between the Director of National Parks and Wildlife and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council was signed in December 1995. The park and Botanic Gardens are managed in accordance with relevant legislation, a management plan and the decisions of the Board of Management which was established in 1996.
The Booderee Board of Management includes a majority of Aboriginal traditional owners. The board oversees the management of the park and Botanic Gardens and for preparation of plans of management.
The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community's interest in Booderee is legally reflected in the lease agreement, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986. The lease agreement requires that the park is managed with the interests of the traditional owners in mind. The lease sets out the terms and conditions governing joint management for a period of 99 years with provision to review the lease every five years.
The Act allows traditional use of the area for hunting, food gathering and ceremonial purposes in areas of the park determined by the Director and the Aboriginal traditional owners. The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community is working with the Department of the Environment and Water Resources to promote traditional skills and knowledge among park staff and visitors.
Booderee National Park is an example of joint management for parks and Botanic Gardens across Australia.
"Tootawah created the Yilarm, Murrawaddi, Dulamar and Gurragama winds.
In our western culture these represent the points of the compass
(north, east, south and west). For the traditional owners,
they are the winds of changing moods. Now at Booderee
we are all riding the wind of change as we enter
the time of joint management."
Julie Freeman
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