Traditional Use Marine Resources Agreement (TUMRA)
July 28, 2021
DPAC RNTBC have submitted the development application for a Traditional Use Marine Resources Agreement (TUMRA) with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and their co-signatory the Department of Environment and Science for accreditation assessment which describes Darumbal interests in managing Darumbal sea country and their work in partnership with the Australian and Queensland governments to manage traditional use activities and related activities on Darumbal sea country.
This is a significant milestone for all Darumbal people and the broader community for generations.
Over 25 per cent of the Marine Park coastline is currently managed under these types of agreements with a range of Great Barrier Reef Traditional Custodians from the tip of Cape York to Bundaberg.
Our Darumbal TUMRA has a working group of cultural advisors and is supported by our TUMRA staff of Darumbal Enterprises and managed by the DPAC RNTBC Board. This governance structure is a culturally effective means of managing the agreement and traditional use of marine resources in our sea country, including traditional take, including important species such as dugongs and turtles. Our management of traditional use is based on both cultural lore, custom and practice and contemporary science and are also used for broader sea country planning and management. Our TUMRA will be a platform for establishing career pathways into vocational and professional fields, business ventures such as tourism, Ranger Programs etc and creating further opportunities for our mob to continue to live, study and be employed on our own sea country.
In the past 10 years, the area of sea country covered by Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements has successfully doubled with the joint partnerships building a level of trust and knowledge previously unprecedented on the Reef. The number of Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements has increased from 4 to nine — plus an Indigenous Land Use Agreement — covering eighteen Traditional Owner groups. Darumbal will be the tenth group which covers an area of ~36,530 km2 and a coastline stretching from end to end 1,603km making it possibly the largest TUMRA on the Great Barrier Reef. – Malcolm Mann (DE. Business Development Manager Update)
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