Healthy Approach to Country

Next year Wintawari Guruma Healthy Country Project will be launched. A partnership with Conservation Management has been established to produce a healthy country plan that creates a shared Guruma vision and supports people getting onto and looking after country. This project will help to decide future jobs on-country. Typical skilled ranger jobs involve field-based activities such as fire management, weed control, feral animal controls, bush tucker, cultural heritage protection, surveys, monitoring and working in partnerships. Keeping alive the Guruma elders knowledge and supporting the community access country and create jobs with training opportunities will be major focus of this partnership project. A Guruma Working Group has been formed to work with Conservation Management. It held its first meeting in Karratha recently to discuss how we can develop the healthy country plan together. Community meetings and return-to-country field trips are being planned for 2016 to give the community a chance to get involved. Please get involved and have your say in future developments, future investments and future capacity for Guruma people to support healthy country. The Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation has approved the initial project phase to complete the plan in 2016. The Wintawari Guruma Healthy Country Project will run for several years as Guruma partners with organisations, agencies and others who will support healthy country outcomes. Establishing a future Guruma organisation that provides ranger jobs will take time, but with a healthy country plan now being developed this is an exciting time for the Guruma people to help shape the future.