Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas: Indigenous Leadership in the Protection of Australia’s Marine Environments

Australia’s diverse marine environments have been protected and managed by First Nations since time immemorial and as an inherent function of their rights and cultural responsibilities. IPAs are initiated and led by Indigenous people as a contemporary expression of their long-established cultural, economic and spiritual associations with their customary coastal and marine estates, whether or not those associations are formally recognised under Australian law. Sea Country IPAs provide a pathway for establishing MPAs that are Indigenous-driven, voluntary and collaborative rather than government-driven or top-down. Currently, the 14 Sea Country IPAs protect over 4M ha of Sea Country around Australia. This session brings together Mayala and Yanyuwa custodians to share their experiences in planning for, developing and managing traditional estates through sea country IPAs. We discuss the enabling factors that have contributed to their successes and the challenges to fully enable Traditional Owners to affirm their rights, roles and responsibilities as coastal and marine managers.