TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Word bank:
nomads species rituals seasonal
connected grass native territory
custodians spiritual hunted individuals
burning stewardship tolerant resources
Many traditional cultures use management strategies based on ………………………... These cultures see themselves as the ………………………... of the land, its plants and animals. They belong to the land, rather than the land belonging to them. These indigenous peoples have a profound ………………………... attachment to the land that is central to their culture and their identity. This worldview is an ecocentric worldview.
Indigenous Australians
Traditional Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherer ………………………... and their ecosystem management centred on the conservation of food and material resources. Resources were generally used according to their ………………………... availability and groups generally moved on regularly, allowing the area and species to replenish. This conservation of ………………………... was one of their main management strategies. Some other strategies included:
- sacred group and individual animal totems that were not ………………………... by that group or individual; each group or smaller clan had responsibility for looking after specific plants, animals and natural features that were spiritually ………………………... to them.
- Closed seasons
- Specific hunting areas for ………………………... and groups
- Taboo areas and species
- Stories, ceremonies and ………………………... passed on environmental knowledge to the younger generation
- Sustainable hunting methods were used and ………………………... were not wasted.
Indigenous Australians did modify the environment. The use of fire-stick farming or patch ………………………... resulted in plants that could withstand regular burning being selectively favoured. Plants that were not ………………………... could not survive in the areas that were regularly burnt. Over time, the Australian environment was drastically modified to suit the Indigenous Australians. Other long-term modification practices included:
- planting parts of yams in holes
- planting selected ………………………... and fruit seeds in favoured areas
- diverting the flow of rivers and streams to capture fish in stone traps
- relocating ………………………... bee hives
- digging small waterholes to encourage frogs, fish and eels.
The environment was managed in a way that provided sustainable resources for the people. Each group had a defined ………………………... that they were responsible for.
Sustainable ecosystem management in non-Indigenous areas has benefited from the knowledge of Indigenous Australians. An equal partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous management systems would provide a new vision for the conservation of Australian ecosystems.
Draw a line to match the term to its meaning
Totemspeople who move around following the availability of food and water
Taboofor Indigenous Australians, symbols of relationships within clans, between a person and their birthplace, between a person and the ancestral spirits
Fire-stick farmingforbidden
Nomads the practice of regularly burning off patches of bush