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It created real job opportunities out of complex
challenges and could be taken seriously by investors.
Today, CYC is an Indigenous organisation attracting
government and philanthropic investment to
partnerships with traditional owners, and using
enterprise and innovation to generate sustainable
environmental solutions.
CSIRO money has been secured for pig tracking and
research, of which half will go to traditional owners
through a science industry development program set
to deliver over $500,000 in service and data collection
contracts. CYC recently hosted its first philanthropist
visit to Cape York, resulting in funding to establish
a science laboratory for the Yuku Baja Muliku junior
rangers in Cooktown, and a partnership to build two
remote accommodation facilities to accommodate
tourists, and scientists and rangers doing field work.
CYC is researching whether this could support reef
restoration initiatives following severe coral bleaching
on the northern Great Barrier Reef—potentially
creating dozens of jobs as well as reseeding some of
the most remote coral reefs in the world.
Larissa Hale, traditional owner and director of the Yuku
Baja Muliku Land Trust, is excited by the opportunities:
We are thrilled to receive support to establish a
science centre for our junior rangers, and hope
one day some of them will return to their country
as lead scientists. Cape York Conservation is
about putting traditional owners in the driver’s
seat of conservation design, and using expert
help such as Jawun secondees to drive our
initiatives. We want to diversify income for land
and sea management, and create real jobs in
conservation-based enterprise.
Cape York wetlands.
Photo: Frederic Courbet
3. ACCELERATING INDIGENOUS-LED ENTERPRISE 43