Natural Hazards Research Scholarship : Developing ecosystem services based economic opportunities for Indigenous communities in northern Australia

This project support the wider aim of developing culturally-appropriate Ecosystem Services (ES) economies with and for Indigenous communities across northern Australia. Current northern economies focused on pastoralism, mining and petroleum provide scarce economic multipliers or opportunities benefiting Indigenous people or local communities. An ES approach reinternalises economic externalities in valuations, building capability and an economy through, with and for people, culture and Country supported by an integrated set of indicators, measures and assessment tools. This project is significant for contributing a catchment-scale case study of ES benefits related to water for the Martuwarra/Fitzroy River catchment in the southern Kimberley, developed in partnership with the Martuwarra/Fitzroy River Council (MFRC). Culturally-appropriate ES economies provide more attractive opportunities that aligned to Indigenous aspirations for themselves and Country, benefiting local and Indigenous communities and environment and climate at all scales.