eCite Digital Repository
Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs) enhance the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians
Citation
Larson, S and Stoeckl, N and Jarvis, D and Addison, J and Grainger, D and Watkin Lui, F, Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation, Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Yanunijarra Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs) enhance the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, (125) pp. 1-15. ISSN 1661-7827 (2020) [Refereed Article]
 | PDF 2Mb |
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.3390/ijerph17010125
Abstract
Conservation and environmental management have been reported as offering opportunities
to substantially improve the wellbeing of Indigenous people. Using the holistic wellbeing impact
evaluation (W-IE) approach—well suited for use in Indigenous communities—we interviewed
190 Indigenous Australians across four communities. All communities were involved in the
Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs). Our study explored the conceptualisation
of ‘wellbeing’ by participants. In particular, we were interested in the aspects of wellbeing perceived
to be affected by ILSMPs. Out of the 26 wellbeing factors explored, ‘Health centres’; ‘Language’;
‘Schools’; and ‘Safe community’ emerged as being of highest importance to the largest percentage of
the respondents. When grouped using principle components analysis (PCA), the ‘Community and
society’ domain emerged as the most important; accounting for 52% of the overall importance of all
wellbeing factors. The second most important domain was the ‘Country and culture’, contributing
31%. Lastly, ‘Economic aspects’ contributed only 17%. Respondents believed that ILSMPs have played
a considerable causal role in improving wellbeing, by positively changing factors most important to
them. Specifically, 73% of perceived causal links were related to improvements in the ‘Country and
Culture’ and 23% to ‘Community and Society’ domain. We thus conclude that land management
for Indigenous people is much more than ecological or environmental management with ILSMPs,
perceived to cause a wide range of cultural and social benefits. We also propose ways in which the
future design of such programs could be improved to further increase benefits.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Indigenous land and sea management programs, wellbeing, impact evaluation, environment, country |
| Research Division: | Economics |
| Research Group: | Other economics |
| Research Field: | Other economics not elsewhere classified |
| Objective Division: | Plant Production and Plant Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Other plant production and plant primary products |
| Objective Field: | Other plant production and plant primary products not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Stoeckl, N (Professor Natalie Stoeckl) |
| ID Code: | 141329 |
| Year Published: | 2020 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 13 |
| Deposited By: | TSBE |
| Deposited On: | 2020-10-15 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-08-29 |
| Downloads: | 14 View Download Statistics |
Repository Staff Only: item control page