25 – Threatened species monitoring on Aboriginal land^327sets and connection with species and country. For Indigenous groups, partnerships
with scientists can help introduce Ranger teams to scientific methods that increase
the information that can be collected about country. Monitoring programs may
provide employment opportunities, enhance understanding of broad-scale trends
and patterns, and help to fine-tune land management programs.
Opportunities and challenges
A key to successful monitoring partnerships is appreciating that different scientists
and Indigenous peoples vary in their motivations and capacities for monitoring,
but shared ground can be found if sufficient time is taken to adopt respectful,
participatory approaches. In some instances, Indigenous people may find more
value in projects that target species of cultural significance such as the bilby.
Culturally important, charismatic fauna can become f lagship species for
Indigenous Rangers that raise the profile of the group’s work within the local and
wider community, and engender support for broader conservation initiatives that
benefit multiple species. For example, strong local interest in the malleefowl Leipoa
ocellata as a food and Jukurrpa species was the main vehicle to engage people in
land management programs in the Great Victoria Desert (Pennington et al. 2014)
and the black-footed rock-wallaby Petrogale lateralis is a f lagship species in the
APY Lands, used to deliver significant employment and broader biodiversity
benefits (Muhic et al. 2012). There are further opportunities for leveraging off
strong cultural connections to stimulate effective monitoring; for example, the
strong Jukurrpa and food value of the nationally threatened great desert skink
Liopholis kintorei could be harnessed to develop a collaborative monitoring
Outcomes from two-way threatened species monitoring
Indigenous priorities Conservation prioritiesFig. 25.1. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: schematic representation of how Indigenous and
western conservation priorities can combine to enhance outcomes for threatened species.