For millennia our people have cared for milaythina muka (Sea Country) and been sustained by it. The sea supports some of our most significant cultural resources and sustains some of our strongest cultural practices, such as muttonbirding, diving and our women’s shell stringing.
In the past, our Tayaritja Islands (Bass strait Islands) were connected to Lutruwita/Tasmania and mainland Australia as part of the land bridge. This gives our Tayaritja Milaythina Muka special significance for our community. Not only is it our Sea Country, but it is the ancient homelands of our Old People.
Like our Old People observed changes, we’re now witnessing changes to our Land and Sea Country due to climate change. Our Sea Country is warming, posing threats to both marine and coastal environments. We are working to establish the first Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in Lutruwita.
The Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA project commenced in 2022 and involves the preparation of a management plan for the proposed IPA and has supported the establishment of the Pakana Sea Country Rangers. A big focus of the project is helping Pakana people fulfil their cultural obligations to care for Country and maintain cultural practices. As we write this in mid-2024, we are planning to release the management plan for feedback. Our aim is to then finalise the plan and officially dedicate the IPA.
For millenia Palawa have cared for milaythina muka (Sea Country) of Tayaritja/the Bass Strait Islands and been sustained by it. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
About the Author
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Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre
We know our milaythina muka (Sea Country) is under threat from a strengthening of the East Australia Current and associated marine heatwaves. We are advocating for strong action from all marine users to reduce the impact that marine heatwaves are having on our cultural resources and people.
Working with our community to develop a plan for Tayaritja Milaythina Muka is exciting for our community. It brings our community together and empowers us to connect with and care for Sea Country. Through developing this plan and collaborating with scientists, we are reconnecting with our cultural practices and ancient homelands.
Our women have maintained the tradition of shell stringing, which is an essential Palawa cultural practice. Through our Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA project we are working with our women and kanalaritja (shell necklace-making) knowledge holders to help us care for our shells and safeguard our cultural practices.
As we watch our Sea Country change, we know we need to empower our women and look after our shells. Two of our local women have become Sea Country Rangers, which is helping to safeguard our living cultural knowledge.
Muttonbirding is another critical living cultural practice of our people. We are concerned about the impact that warming seas are having on our birds and the plastics we are finding in our yula (muttonbirds) during our annual harvest.
Muttonbirding is another critical living cultural practice of the Palawa. We are concerned about the impact of warming oceans and the amount of plastic being found in yula (muttonbirds). Here Pakana Rangers monitor muttonbirds on Tayaritja. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
The shells of Sea Country need protection. Shell stringing is an essential cultural practice maintained by Palawa women. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
Invasive long-spined sea urchins are destroying our reefs and kelp forests. Here Pakana Ranger Alice Wise monitors giant kelp. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
We are collaborating with scientists at the University of Tasmania to collect giant kelp spores and keep them in a kelp hatchery, like a seedbank, as an insurance policy for the future. Pictured are Pakana Rangers Alice Wise and Fiona Maher at the IMAS kelp hatchery. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
Our milaythina muka is in a global hotspot for ocean warming. Sea surface temperatures have increased by 1.2C since 1950, and a further 0.3-1.2C increase is expected by 2040. Marine heatwaves have become more frequent and intense, causing widespread damage to ecosystems and fish communities. Scientists think that marine heatwave conditions may be a regular occurrence for more than 300 days of the year by 2040.
Our muka (sea) is not only warming but acidifying. The acidification of our muka has increased by 26–30 percent and a further 30 percent increase in acidity is projected by 2040. Oxygen levels, which are closely linked with water temperature, have also declined. There is now 2 percent less dissolved oxygen and a further 5 percent decrease is possible by 2040.
Our warming muka has also brought invasive long-spined sea urchins, which have extended their range into our Sea Country where they are destroying our reefs and kelp forests. All these changes disheartened us before we started working on our Sea Country IPA. At first, we were unsure what we could do. But now, we see many ways we can help to protect our Sea Country, keep our culture strong, and our people healthy. Through our Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA project we are rising to the crisis facing our Sea Country.
Over the last year we have collaborated with scientists to care for our kelp forests and map our seagrass beds. We partnered with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania to collect giant kelp spores from remnant patches of giant kelp in our proposed Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA.
The giant kelp spores we collected are now stored in the IMAS kelp hatchery, where they are acting as an insurance policy, like a seed bank. We hope to be able to use the spores in the future to support Palawa led restoration efforts.
Protecting giant kelp forests is important as they are an endangered ecological community, with many culturally significant species dependent upon them. We’ve already lost over 95% of giant kelp forests around Lutruwita since mid-last century, so conserving what we have left is of great importance.
We are also proudly co-delivering a Seagrass Mapping Project funded through the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program Marine and Coastal Hub with scientists from the University of Tasmania and Deakin University. Through this project we are mapping our seagrass beds in the proposed Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA, which are the largest seagrass beds in south-eastern Australia. We know they are unique and want to ensure that they are healthy in the future. This project will help us establish a baseline for seagrass and helps us establish a Pakana-led monitoring program.
Collaborating with scientists to care for our Sea Country is important for our people and our Sea Country’s health. Delivering projects on-Country helps us to connect with and know our Country and observe holistically, seeing the indicators that tell us about how our Country is changing.
This year we have worked with our community to develop our management plan for the proposed Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA. We have brought Elders and knowledge holders together to form a Tayaritja Milaythina Muka Working Group.
After every meeting with our community, we feel proud and strong. Our community see all that we are doing for our ancestral Country. When we talk with them, we can see their excitement, love, and connection to our Sea Country, and having their backing makes us feel motivated and supported.
We have also enjoyed the opportunities our Sea Country IPA project has brought us. We have attended conferences and workshops, and we have presented our work, to our community, to scientists and people in government. While we feel nervous about public speaking, we still get up to speak for our Country and our community as we know how important it is for our voices to be heard.
The industrialisation of our waters through offshore wind farms, fish farming, and gas and oil drilling, to name a few, is very concerning. But through working on our proposed Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA we have hope. Developing the management plan for our proposed Sea Country IPA and working as Sea Country Rangers allows us to think about what’s over the horizon and what connects our islands and people. It’s allowing us to think about our Old People, who lived on land that is now sea.
We know our Sea Country needs us, and we know we need it for the health of our people, both physically and spiritually. We are still worried for our Sea Country, but now we feel supported to care for our ancestral Country.
Our proposed Tayaritja Milaythina Muka IPA is helping us to be seen and known as the custodians of our Sea Country, and we know that this will help make a real difference to the future of our community.
We are proudly co-delivering a seagrass mapping project funded through the National Environmental Science Program. Pictured here are some of the seagrass beds exposed at low tide at Truwana/Cape Barren Island. Tayaritja/the Bass Strait Islands hold the largest seagrass beds in southeastern Australia. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
We worked with community to develop our management plan for the proposed Tayaritja Milaythina Muka Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). Pakana Ranger Fiona Maher presents to a community group. Photograph by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All rights reserved.
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Released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
This story is subject to disclaimers, copyright restrictions, and cultural clearances. Copyright © Pakana Sea Country Rangers, 2024.
Further reading
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (2024), Tayaritja Sea Country, accessed 29 May 2024.
