Reconciling risk and responsibility on Indigenous country: bridging the boundaries to guide knowledge sharing for cross-cultural biosecurity risk management in northern Australia

ABSTRACT

Risks posed by new species entering local environments have instigated Indigenous peoples’ efforts to develop new knowledge and land management strategies in many regions. Working to share responsibility for the management of these risks requires new information, prompting government agencies, Indigenous organisations, industry groups, and others to advance new knowledge and different biosecurity practices. Tensions can exist between diverse interest groups advocating different versions of “biosecurity risk.” For example, which organisms should be governed as harmful, what kind of knowledge is useful to inform management practices, and what constitutes “risk”? We draw on research conducted with Indigenous organisations in northern Australia to better understand what risks they associate with “caring for [sick] country.” We argue that effective biosecurity practice in cross-cultural settings can navigate the bridge between different kinds of knowledge and capabilities to support diverse values, notions of responsibility to country, and related understandings of risk. Further, we argue that “biosecurity risk” as a boundary concept could provide the means for creating improved knowledge partnerships that value all interpretations of “biosecurity risk”. Partnerships that recognise multiple approaches for taking responsibility for the management of identified risks could support innovation for cross-cultural and collaborative approaches to biosecurity practice and management.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous Rangers
• boundary concept
• boundary work
• plant biosecurity
• risk
• Australia

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the CSIRO and Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Council (PBCRC) for funding this research. The work was supported by the CSIRO under Health and Biosecurity and Land and Water Business Units, and by the PBCRC under Project Number 4004. Importantly, we thank members of Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, certain Indigenous Rangers and Co-ordinators involved in biosecurity risk management work in northern Australia, and several staff involved with the Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy who gave their time to be interviewed for this work. We would like to thank Dr. Simon Fielke (CSIRO) and Dr. Ilisapeci (Peci) Lyons (CSIRO) who provided insightful review on an earlier version of this paper; and two anonymous reviewers whose comments resulted in a much-improved manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This was not the case at the time that the interviews were conducted for this study. There was a large increase in biosecurity surveillance funding for Indigenous Ranger groups following the Australian’ Government’s White Paper for Developing Northern Australia in 2015 (Australian Government 2015).

Additional information

Funding

The paper draws on research that was funded by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [grant number 4077] and the Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Council, Grant: PBCRC4004.

Notes on contributors

Kirsten Maclean

Kirsten Maclean, Senior Research Scientist (Human Geographer), CSIRO, Brisbane, Australia. She uses co-research practice and participatory methodologies to investigate the role of diverse people, their knowledge and values in relation to their natural and cultural resource management and planning interests and aspirations in regional and rural Australia. Much of this work is developed in partnership with relevant government agencies, industry bodies and community and Indigenous organisations to ensure it responds to relevant national, state and place-based challenges. Importantly and as appropriate, research is often conducted with Indigenous co-research partners who actively care for their traditional country via diverse governance strategies.

Cathy Robinson

Cathy Robinson, Principal Scientist and Group Leader at CSIRO, Brisbane Australia. She leads and supports several initiatives that provide practical examples of how to accelerate innovation with ideas that value and enable diversity. This includes research with Indigenous and remote rural communities and scientists to accelerate collaboration and innovation to achieve to enable a total system health approach for Northern Australian regions. These outcomes include building better knowledge systems to tackle contemporary landscape management issues, improving economic participation for Indigenous people, and enhancing positive health and well-being.

Ellie Bock

Ellie Bock, General Manager of RAIN Pty Ltd, is a specialist biocultural facilitator and planner based in north-eastern Australia. RAIN is engaged by remote, rural or regional entities, first nations’ bodies and landholders to assist with their self-determined, precedent-setting country stewardship achievements. Our professional experience to date includes multiple collaborations with the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, its affiliated Elders and the Girringun Rangers.

Phil Rist

Phil Rist is a Nywaiygi Traditional Owner from north Queensland, and he is also the EO of Girringun Aboriginal Corporation. GAC is an alliance of 9 tribal groups from far north Queensland. It is predominately focussed on land and sea management via a range of programs including the Indigenous Ranger program, the Indigenous Protected Area, the Traditional Use Marine Park Agreement, an Arts Program and a native biodiversity nursery. Mr. Rist has extensive experience representing the interest of the GAC people through partnerships with GBRMPA, QLD Parks and Wildlife, other Federal, State and Local government agencies, CSIRO and researchers from a variety of Universities in Australia and Canada, and the industry sector.