Southern Plan of Management Report

The Southern Great Barrier Reef Traditional Owners and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (the Reef Authority) are developing a Southern Great Barrier Reef Plan of Management (POM) to better address threats, conflicts and identify opportunities for the future. The Southern POM includes Woppaburra, PCCC, Yuwi and Darumbal traditional owners.  

This Plan of Management complements the existing Zoning Plan and offers a finer scale of management, well suited to identifying and implementing localised solutions in the southern region. 

The Plan of Management is co-designed considering all aspects of Country. It includes tangible and intangible expressions of Traditional Owners’ relationships with country, people, beliefs, knowledge, law, lore, language, symbols, ways of living, sea, land and objects, all arising from Indigenous spirituality.

The Plan of Management is being developed with an understanding of the link between a Healthy Reef and Healthy People.

The four TO groups are building upon our past traditions including Lore, Trading Routes, Song Lines, Language Lines and Creation Stories. The Plan looks towards the future where Strong People and Strong Country depend upon each other and include multiple components including Country’s Health, People’s Health, Heritage and Knowledge, Empowerment and Economics, Education, Culture and Community.

The Reef Authority, Southern Great Barrier Reef Traditional Owners and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service are working collaboratively to include coastal communities, stakeholders, government and non-government organisations who all care about the future of our Reef.

Workshops were held in Brisbane and Hervey Bay to give Woppaburra people the opportunity to share their cultural perspectives and priorities for inclusion in the plan.

The Reef authority believes that “the Southern Plan of Management process has the potential to become a transformative cultural blueprint— Imbedding Traditional Owners values in management strategies uniting Traditional Owners, regenerating ecosystems, and strengthening identity for future generations, when led by Traditional Owners and grounded in cultural law, presents a powerful platform for healing Country and people together.”

For more information contact SPOM Coordinator Robert Muir E: Robert.Muir@woppaburra.com.au