Document Actions
The Wilderness Society’s Cape York Outreach Tour - 17/07/07
The Wilderness Society continues to engage with the community on Cape York Peninsula and, as a part of our outreach program, our representatives have recently completed a three week tour of Cape York Peninsula.
Chris Dean and Vincent Temple of the Angkum Aboriginal Corporation discussing their Indigenous Protected Area proposal with Simon and Di
Photo: Glenn Walker
Our team on the trip was Glenn Walker - Wild Rivers Campaigner; Di Horsburgh - Community Campaigner; and Simon Kennedy - Far North Queensland WildCountry Campaigner (Cape York Peninsula).
We met a mix of interested people from the central, western and northern areas of the Peninsula, including Traditional Owners, Community Council representatives, pastoralists, tourism operators, Land and Sea Management Coordinators, and other landholders.
We spoke to people about our support for the Cape York Peninsula Heritage Bill 2007, a cooperative approach to the issue of wild river protection, the benefits of a World Heritage listing, and initiatives to promote a ‘conservation economy’ approach to development.
There was a particular focus on meeting Indigenous Traditional Owners who are interested in conservation and in protecting and managing rivers in their area, and in building homeland enterprises based on conservation and ecologically compatible and sustainable use.
The trip also included a visit to our cooperative partner, Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation, at Chuula outstation on the Wenlock River to view progress on the northern Kaanju homeland development plans.
The Wilderness Society is confident that more common ground can be found with Cape residents regarding long-term conservation and community development aspirations, particularly through public investment in landholder environmental protection measures, natural resource management, and environmental services and nature-based enterprises.