Caring for country in North East Arnhem Land

Dean Yibarbuk has been involved with local Indigenous land management for more than 20 years. He helped set up the Djelk Rangers in Maningrida, Northern Territory, which is now one of Australia's longest-running ranger groups. Most recently he helped establish the Warddeken Rangers in the stone country of the Arnhem Land Plateau.

Indigenous ranger positions provide the opportunity for local employment, but also recognise the cultural connection of caring for country and maintaining relationships with the land.

“Rangers need to conserve the country we’ve inherited from our ancestors – this is a job that I wanted to get involved with back when I started in the 90’s and a job that I’ve pursued ever since,” Dean said.

He believes all the qualities needed for a good ranger can be taught.

“Knowledge. Pride. Leadership. Passion for country. We can take young people who may not have these qualities, and help them grow and develop them,” he said.

During the past 20 years, Dean has seen many changes in Indigenous land management, most significantly the development of the Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) programme. He said it was great to see both the Warddeken and Djelk Rangers now managing their own IPAs.

“It makes me even prouder watching these groups work together,” Dean said.

“The Djelk IPA and Warddeken IPA share an overlapping boundary that represents the deep clan and family connections between the groups.”

Another significant achievement for Dean during his career has been the West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) Project.

“This fire management program has been successful on so many levels: culturally, economically, environmentally,” he said.

“Through reinstating traditional burning practices, new generations of landowners have been trained in traditional and western fire management, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas have been abated, and the landscape is being managed in the right way.”