Sea Country
Right now, we are working on a plan to protect Sea Country, and we need your input on what matters most to you and your family when we talk about Sea Country.
Please, take just 1 minutes to click the link below and respond to this very simple question: which values are most important to you when you think about Sea Country?
This gives us a better understanding of what is important to community.
Thank you for your time and care.
Take the survey
We see no distinction between the land and the sea.
It is all a part of Country.
But our connection to the coastal and marine parts of Country is rarely recognised, so we need to be clear about how important it is to us.
Gunaikurnai people have occupied, used and managed coastal land and sea environments for many thousands of years. These include those areas that were dry land before the current sea level stabilised about 5,000 years ago.
Our relationship with these cultural landscapes continues, even where the evidence of our previous occupation now lies beneath the ocean.
Coastal areas were among the most densely populated parts of our Country. Rich in both terrestrial and marine food sources, they provided good places for our old people to live, camp and hunt, and the launching place for expeditions out to sea to gather seafood. Our ancestors would travel to islands in bark canoes and harvest fish and coastal species at levels that did not disrupt the natural balance.
Stronger involvement in the management of sea country can open up opportunities for improving economic outcomes for our mob, while better protecting our cultural heritage and improving environmental outcomes.
With a longstanding connection to managing the coast and sea, we can provide valuable perspectives to the coastal management programs.
In addition, we need stronger involvement in the protection of coastal and inundated cultural values within and beyond our Aboriginal Title areas.
Reclaiming our rights to use our sea as a resource is fundamental to recognising our ongoing connection with sea country.
Narka bundha – Sea Country Indigenous Protection Area
Narka bundha, the sea, was tired from playing with fish, rushing over rocks and rolling up and back on the sand. She searched the coast for somewhere to rest. At last she found a quiet place with tall gum trees for shade and soft earth to lie on. Narka bungha lay down to sleep. She wriggled down into the soft sand, turning her body this way and that until she was comfortable. This place became Warnangatty (Lake Tyers), a place where Narka bundha still rests among the trees.
GLaWAC has signed an agreement with the Federal Government to start the process of establishing a Sea Country Indigenous Protection Area (IPA) in recognised Gunaikurnai County – east of Wilsons Promontory to the Snowy River.
The first step in the IPA process is engagement with any families or clans who may have an interest in the draft coastal area identified.
Families and clans are encouraged to register their interest in participating in the development of a plan.
Further engagement, including with government agencies and commercial operators, will also occur.
GLaWAC is partnering with Monash University and the Arthur Rylah Institute to undertake specific research into culturally significant areas and species that occur along the coast.
What is a Sea Country IPA?
A Sea Country IPA is sea, or land and sea, managed by First Nations People in partnership with others to conserve and protect Cultural and environmental values. It is a voluntary agreement with the Australian Government.
Sea Country includes the sea and coastal environment, as well as seagrass beds, dunes, estuaries and bays, and coastal wetlands.
Why have an IPA?
With an IPA, GLaWAC can partner with stakeholders, community groups and government organisations to manage marine & coastal resources.
A Sea Country IPA will be a way for Gunaikurnai to care for and protect land and waters for present and future generations while protecting Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property.
By identifying cultural values, work can be undertaken to protect areas at risk from climate change and human interference such as tourism or industry expansion.
Why create an IPA Management Plan?
An IPA Management Plan supports First Nations People to:
1. Identify cultural and natural values;
2. Identify the condition and threats to these values; and
3. Develop a plan to manage and conserve these values.
While the plan is being developed, training opportunities will be offered that will ensure a path to future employment. In the long term, it is envisioned that this will lead to employment opportunities, such as Sea Rangers, for First Nations People.
Narka bundha Sea Country IPA Values Map
