Australia Makes a Huge Investment in Indigenous-led Conservation, Canada Can Too
Australia just announced it will invest $700 million in Indigenous Rangers who manage lands across the country. That means more Indigenous Rangers will be on the ground controlling wildfires and restoring threatened animals like wallabies. More Indigenous families will benefit from good-paying jobs in local communities. And more lands will be protected for all Australians into the future.
The Australian government is extending its commitment to Indigenous-led conservation because it works. Research done for the Prime Minister and Cabinet found that every $1 invested in combined Indigenous Rangers and Indigenous Protected Area programs can generate up to $3 in social, economic and cultural benefits, including reduced income support, improved health and lower justice costs.
We can deliver the same results in Canada through Indigenous Guardians programs and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA). But as the Australian example confirms, it takes sustained support. With long-term funding, Indigenous Nations will strengthen our communities, care for lands across the country and help Canada meet international conservation commitments.
We’ve already begun—several Indigenous Guardians programs have been thriving for decades. But Australia shows the scale of what is possible going forward.
In Australia, over 120 Indigenous Ranger teams manage 75 Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA), which account for nearly half of the country’s national system of conserved lands. Indigenous Ranger groups generate transformative results, from improved public health to greater opportunities for Indigenous youth. They are helping care for the land and heal the wounds of colonialism at the same time.
Their work has global significance as well. Australia, like Canada, committed to protecting 17% of lands and freshwaters by 2020 as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Australia met the target six years early, and growth in protected lands has come predominantly from new Indigenous Protected Areas.
I had the privilege of visiting one of those places, the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area. Talking to rangers there, I was struck by the stability of their program. They have predictable federal funding that helps them to retain experienced rangers—they didn’t have to patch together grants like so many Indigenous Guardians programs do.
Young people grow up knowing they can find jobs in their communities connected to their culture. As Fred Hunter of Warddeken says, “IPAs and Indigenous Ranger programs are the manifestation of a vision of our Elders to get young people back on country. They knew that this was the way to give our youth strength and pride.”
Indigenous Guardians programs offer the same opportunities in Canada. Right now, there are about 60 Guardians programs working to restore animals and plants, monitor water quality and implement environmental protection plans for development projects.
Many Guardians programs also manage IPCAs, such as Thaidene Nëné, one of the largest protected areas in Canada. Thaidene Nëné was established in 2019 through the leadership of the Łutsël K’e Dene First Nation. Many other Indigenous Nations have proposed IPCAs, and taken together, they could conserve nature on a grand scale—the scale necessary to meet Canada’s commitment to protect 25% of lands by 2025.
With sustained support, Indigenous Nations can realize the full promise of Indigenous-led conservation for our communities and the country as a whole. The Australian model points the way and confirms that long-term investment in Indigenous stewardship is good for the land, good for the people and good for the economy.
