12 November 2018

Aak Puul Ngantam (APN) invited Hub researchers from CSIRO to run scientific activities alongside cultural activities run by senior Traditional Owners at a five-day camp on remote Wik traditional lands south of Aurukun. The APN Returning Generation Camp enabled 28 school students to spend time in the hard-to-access homelands and helped them learn to view the world through multiple lenses.

Hub researchers showed the students how to do fauna surveys, track animals with technology and use iPads for data collection. These activities were designed to make science relevant to the work that is being done by the children’s parents, cousins, uncles and aunties on their traditional lands.

APN land management has progressively integrated Indigenous ecological knowledge with science and the future generations of Wik rangers and decision-makers will draw on both domains to best manage their country. The activities are also being used in a Hub project that is working with APN and Kalan to investigate the impact of feral pigs on wetlands and improve feral animal management. See the latest project update or contact project lead Dr Justin Perry for more info.

Setting up the fauna surveys requires everyone to chip in, photo Justin Perry.

Kids checking motion-sensor cameras and learning about fauna surveys, photo Justin Perry.

APN rangers setting up the camera traps, photo Justin Perry.