Sessional Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development Written Submissions Received Volume 2 Issues associated with the progressive entry into the Northern Territory of Cane Toads October 2003
Tabled Paper 1123
Tabled Papers for 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005; Tabled papers for 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2003-10-16
Tabled by Delia Lawrie
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/307061
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/346011
WWF FROGS! Program Written Submissions Cane Toad Inquiry Report Volume 2 80 The control and eradication of the cane toad in the Northern Territory will require the support and involvement of aboriginal communities throughout the region. Eradication and monitoring techniques and methodologies will need to be transferred to communities that range from settlements of high density to scattered groups of families across a large and often not easily accessible territory. The proposed educational programs will utilise state-of-the-art communications media to reach and engage these communities; thereby raising awareness about the need and value of ecological stability and sustainable management of natural resources in the area. The proposed education components will blend scientific and management information with traditional knowledge and international best practice, to develop content and techniques in the delivery of educational programs. The program will also seek to engage the communities in a continuing dialogue on environment and sustainable development through links with similar societies elsewhere in the world. The educational program will improve communication on practical issues of local relevance to the communities. It is expected that the dimensions of the cane toad problem will be significant enough to engage the attention, concern, avid support, and involvement of all stakeholders in the region, including non-aboriginal communities, policymakers, decision-makers, the student community and industry. The following activities will form part of the education program designed to raise community awareness and ensure participation in the cane toad control and eradication program, while at the same time promoting a greater understanding of the need to be vigilant about ecosystem health issues. The program will develop and trial specific model activities for integrating conservation goals with public participation. Direction for setting priorities and designing models will be derived from international best practice. Past experience in the development and implementation of conservation education programs aimed at securing public partnership in similar hunter gatherer societies elsewhere in the world suggests that organised activities that support decisionmaking and build capacity for sustainable natural resource management can form the basis for long-term and self-sustaining community involvement in conservation goals. The education program will document traditional knowledge and incorporate it with scientific and technical content developed by the research components of the program and use both traditional systems of education such as storytelling along with a variety of media. WORK PLAN Objectives/Outcomes Inform, educate and involve the community in control and eradication of cane toads Implement an innovative set of programs to engage community interest and participation in close alignment with the program of control and eradication of cane toads in the Northern Territory Develop and refine educational materials, methods and strategies Use unfolding ecological disaster as an educational opportunity for programs to demonstrate the need for sustainability in NT and possible ways to achieve this