Tayaritja Wukalina Sea Country

We are working to establish the first Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in Lutruwita/Tasmania. It aims to support the Palawa Community to connect with milaythina muka (Sea Country), and partner with others to understand, protect and manage milaythina muka. 

Other Sea Country IPAs have been established in Australia, but this is the first project in Lutruwita. 

Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas support Aboriginal communities across Australia to protect natural and cultural values. Working in partnership with others, these areas enable Aboriginal-led conservation, protection and management plans to be created for marine and coastal areas. 

They support: 

• On-going community-led management, in accordance with a Healthy Country Plan,  

• Ranger groups who can deliver on-water and coastal zone monitoring and management,  

• Communication and knowledge sharing between interested parties.  

• Partnerships between Aboriginal community-controlled organisations with scientists, governments and other interested parties which can support the conservation, protect and management of marine and coastal resources and cultural values. 

Our work to establish this proposed Sea Country IPA is funded by the Australian Government, through their Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area Program. 

Our proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA extends over our ancestral Country in northeast Lutruwita. It includes lands and seas around the Furneaux Islands, extends over the land bridge that once connected Tayaritja (Bass Strait Islands) to north-east Lutruwita. In northeast Lutruwita our proposed Sea Country IPA includes Crown lands, conservation areas and Mount William National Park lands extending from Tangamruna Paynta (Waterhouse Point) to Larapuna/Eddystone Point. 

This area is a significant cultural land and sea scape that our people have cared for thousands of years before sea levels rose to there present height at the end of the last ice age. 

Over the last 4 years our community has been working on a Healthy Country Plan for our proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA. Our work to develop this plan has involved us establishing a vision for this Country and our people, setting targets for our work, assessing threats, and identifying goals and objectives and priority projects.  

Our Healthy Country Plan is not only plan to help protected and restore the health of Country, but also a plan for healthy people and healthy culture. This because it recognises that the health of Tayaritja Wukalina Milaythina Muka is vital for the health of the Palawa Community and that health of the Palawa Community and culture are critical to the health of Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka.  

Our proposed Sea Country IPA aims to support the Palawa Community to connect with milaythina muka, and partner with others to understand, protect and manage this vital cultural land and seascape. 

Soon we will be releasing our Healthy Country Plan for the proposed IPA for comment. Through engagement on our Healthy Country Plan, we are looking for support from federal, state and local governments, stakeholders and interested members of the public. 

FAQs

Sea Country IPAs are established through voluntary agreements between Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and the Australian Government. They can only be dedicated as an IPA following the preparation of a management plan for the proposed IPA, and consultation with stakeholders.  

How might I be affected by the dedication of the Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA? 

As Sea Country IPAs are not established through legislation, they do not enable Aboriginal communities to prevent existing uses or future development. In this sense they are not equivalent to a national park or a marine protected area. 

The dedication of the proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA will not: 

• change ownership or tenure of any coastal land do not impact existing agreements or rights of any parties, for example they do not restrict fishing or tourism ventures 

• prevent recreational or commercial activities or future development. 

It will only provide a mechanism for the Palawa community to enhance the conservation and management of Sea Country in northeastern Lutruwita, by fostering dialogue and the establishment of collaborative partnerships with relevant parties, such as government agencies, research organisations and community groups. 

Why is the proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA so important for Palawa? 

The area of the proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA covers our people’s ancestral Country. Our Old People were born, lived and died on this Country, some of which is now underwater. Today we continue to care for this Country, like our Old People have done since time immemorial.  

The proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA connects returned Aboriginal lands in Tayaritja (islands in the Furneaux Group), to seas and lands which have not been returned to us but are areas that we are obligated to care for in accordance with our inherited rights and responsibilities. 

Our proposed Tayaritja Wukalina milaythina muka IPA aims to support our community to extend the work that we are doing to protect and restore returned Aboriginal lands in Tayaritja into the sea and onto coastal lands in the area that have not yet been returned.  

Through proposing this Sea Country IPA, we are seeking recognition that the entire area is a critically important cultural land and seascape for our people.