The team behind the recently completed project Indigenous Commercial Forestry Opportunities: East Arnhem, northern Australia has published its final report (view the detailed report here).
The research project has showcased great potential for the development of sustainable native forestry activities in the Northern Territory, led by Traditional Owner communities.
FWPA facilitated this important work by providing funding to match the investment made by project partners including the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), Gumatj Corporation, Northern Territory and Queensland governments, and other regional organisations.
Together, the partners worked to boost the forestry capacity of Traditional Owner (Yolngu) communities in the East Arnhem region.
Traditional Owner training
Forestry workforce development activities initially focused on training Traditional Owners in forest resource assessment, forest harvesting operations, and value-adding processes for forestry products.
Practical and hands-on training was undertaken by 35 Traditional Owners in commercial forestry activities including inventory, sawmilling and construction, as well as forest garden design, establishment and management.
The project kick-started the creation of an effective East Arnhem Indigenous forestry workforce, with a total of 1,647 hours of paid training injecting almost $48,000 into the Homelands of East Arnhem Land.
Northern Territory Government Project Manager Dallas Anson said this introductory training emphasised boosting practical operational skills, as well as knowledge around the principles of forest management.
“We conducted additional capacity building with the local Indigenous forestry workforce to support the development of sustainable forest livelihoods amongst the Yolngu people,” Anson said.
Continued training into the future
The team went on to collaborate with regional stakeholders – including Gumatj Corporation and the Forestry Industry Association of the Northern Territory – to prepare a forestry training program proposal titled Increasing First Nations participation in northern Australia’s forestry sector.
This proposal – which reflects the team’s findings during the introductory training – will be submitted for an Australian Government forestry workforce grant.
The proposal suggests future training initiatives should incorporate culturally appropriate design and delivery conducted on Country and in local language. It should involve practical, hands-on and repetitive activities, and include support for and mentoring by ‘local champions’ with good English language, literacy, numeracy and digital (LLND) skills.
Other key suggestions include incorporating accredited skillsets, micro-credentialing, and/or flexible delivery of full certificates, while also establishing clear pathways to forestry employment.
Forestry business development activities
Throughout the project, forestry business development activities took place at a Sustainable Native Forestry Demonstration Site established in the remote community of Birany Birany, with the manufacturing of naturally durable, solid roundwood products using state-of-the-art spindleless lathe/debarking technology.
The team also focused on communicating the value proposition of sustainable native forestry among East Arnhem Traditional Owners, collaborative business partners and other regional stakeholders, as well as supporting the development of Gumatj Corporation’s new Indigenous-led forestry business strategy, plus commercial forestry business development at the remote Indigenous community/Homelands level.
UniSC Associate Professor (Adjunct) Mark Annandale said the project demonstrated the potential for multiple timber and non-timber forest products, including payment for ecosystem services that could underpin future sustainable Indigenous-led commercial forestry in East Arnhem.
“The project also successfully raised regional stakeholder awareness of sustainable native forestry, and created expanded interest in this industry, and its potential to support Indigenous livelihoods and regional development,” Annandale said.
“There has been significant momentum generated by this project to further advance Indigenous community forestry development in East Arnhem.”
Grasping the momentum
UniSC Project Manager Dr John Meadows said the commercial viability of forestry in East Arnhem’s remote Indigenous communities will depend on the integrated development and trade of timber and non-timber forest products, including ecosystem services.
“The project team is grasping the momentum and working with the Birany Birany community, Gumatj Corporation, and other collaborative partners to develop a new follow-on project to further test the commercial viability of Indigenous community forestry in East Arnhem,” Meadows said.
Replacing imported construction timbers and on-the-job training and skills building will remain core elements in the new project. Its mixed activities and income streams have the potential to create and sustain long-term forest livelihoods for all community members, while promoting culture, language, and integrational knowledge transfer.
The new project is also intended to provide a model for Indigenous community native forestry capacity building and regional development that could be refined for application in other East Arnhem communities and other areas of northern Australia.
This important project was a collaboration between FWPA and researchers at UniSC, the NT Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT), and the Queensland Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) along with regional partners Gumatj Corporation, the Northern Land Council, National Indigenous Australians Agency, Arnhem Land Progress Association and Developing East Arnhem Limited.
