Indigenous Australians have managed, cared for, and practised continuous living culture on Sea Country for 65,000 plus years, and counting.

In contemporary Australia, Sea Country has been part of the Indigenous Protected Area program for some time, however more recently governments have begun to fund Sea Country IPAs with a greater emphasis on marine management.

In our new publication ‘Contemporary Management of Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas’, we seek to give an introductory overview of the needs, challenges and aspirations for managing Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas and the role of Indigenous Rangers. It also offers a general background and history on Sea Country, including a timeline illustrating some notable milestones of the protection of Sea Country in Australia.

Our contemporary marine environment faces many pressures from global warming to overfishing, invasive species, catchment-based pollution, industrial development impacts and more. It's not a small undertaking to establish and run a successful IPA on land or sea, but if supported properly delivers strong benefits to Traditional Owners.

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