Moving on from Joint Management Policy Regimes in Australian National Parks

Abstract

Joint management regimes in Australia are seeing an increasing focus on cross-cultural approaches to management of national parks. This has brought under scrutiny the eurocentric approaches to park management that exclude the rights and perspectives of indigenous Australians. The history of our parks appears to have been built on policy that is not only exclusionary but stems from a hegemonic approach to management. With an increasing focus on natural resource and cultural tourism (often referred to as ecotourism) within Australia, it is time to address the issues that are fundamental to the provision of policy for this area of park management. Pressure from tourism can have significant impacts upon the natural and cultural resources of national parks, and thus on the local aboriginal community itself. Policies formulated within the framework of ecotourism principles, supported with social science research in the community studies area, are ideally suited to application within the joint management framework. These policies facilitate a cross-cultural flow of information and thus promote a development of the cross-cultural understanding that is vital to the resolution and progress of joint management. It would seem that policy directions founded on the principles of ecotourism and the facilitationof community ownership and control of tourism and the associated resource are being overlooked or treated in politically expedient ways as a means of appeasing legal requirements at both a management and political level.

Indigenous tourism research, past and present: where to from here?

“…The results confirmed low levels of demand and low levels of interest in Australia's Indigenous tourism product, and thus the study's recommendations echoed the sentiments of Altman (1989), warning that tourism should not be viewed as a panacea for disadvantaged Indigenous communities and/or individuals. Certainly, the issue of demand for Indigenous tourism in Australia has been a focus of the academic research undertaken in Australia (Beck & Somerville, 2002;James, 2007;Galliford, 2010;Ruhanen et al, 2015aRuhanen et al, , 2015bRyan & Huyton, 2000a, 2000b, while other researchers have sought to explore supply-side explanations for the issues confronting the sector (Buultjens, Brereton, et al, 2010;Clark, 2002a;Kirkpatrick, 2001;Leader-Elliott, 2002;Mulvaney & Jones, 2002;Nursey-Bray & Rist, 2009;Richards, 2004;Waitt, Figueroa, & McGee, 2007;Wearing & Huyskens, 2001).…”

Understanding local power and interactional processes in sustainable tourism: exploring village–tour operator relations on the Kokoda Track, Papua New Guinea

“…As with issues of mining rights and mining on Aboriginal land in central and northern Australia (e.g. Wearing & Huskins, 2001), questions of how ownership is exercised in political and economic terms are being raised.…”

Participation et gestion dans les parcs nationaux de montagne : approches anglo-saxonnes

“…Certains auteurs, travaillant sur les questions touristiques et l'écotourisme en Australie, proposent d'ailleurs de dépasser cette conception, et défendent l'idée d'une « gestion hybridée » (hybridized management) (Wearing & Huyskens, 2001), articulant la gestion conjointe (joint management) entre les parcs et les groupes autochtones avec les principes de l'écotourisme, autorisant leur implication réelle 18 dans l'élaboration des modes de gestion.…”