Key commitments for Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands (Denham group) National Park (CYPAL) under the Indigenous Management Agreement
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Natural and Cultural Values
Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands (Denham Group) National Park (CYPAL) is part of an extensive living cultural landscape that is rich in traditional and contemporary cultural significance for Traditional Owners. For thousands of years, the northern Cape York Peninsula has been home to Aboriginal people. These groups have been variously connected through language, marriage ties, and trade; and as warriors. They included seafarers who spent their lives in and out of outrigger canoes, gathering food and other resources from the seas, islands, mangroves, and lands of the northern Cape York Peninsula.
Stories of events and everyday life about this land have been passed down by Traditional Owners through the generations. Traditional Owners hold these stories sacred – they are important for connecting people to the Country. The present Traditional Owners of the area are descendants of great warriors and have survived enormous change yet retain a strong cultural identity and connection to their Sea and Country.
The off-shore islands of Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands (Denham Group) National Park (CYPAL) are remote, relatively undisturbed, and highly significant for bird and turtle nesting. Green turtles and hawksbill turtles nest on several of the islands, with Milman Islet being the largest hawksbill turtle breeding site within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Hundreds of nesting seabirds gather on the islands during the breeding season. The islands also provide important roosting and breeding areas for migratory birds, including pied imperial-pigeons. The surrounding marine habitat provides food and shelter to many marine animals including turtles, dolphins, dugongs, and estuarine crocodiles.
Joint Management Framework
Indigenous Management Agreement (IMA) for the Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands (Denham Group) National Park (CYPAL)
Protocols
Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) & Regulations
Apudthama Ikaya Land Transfer Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Future Management Instruments e.g. Management statements and plans etc.
State funding commitments under the IMA
Under the Indigenous Management Agreement (clause 16 IMA)
Parks Activity Agreement (PAA):$25,000 per annum for Park Works and Services
An additional $5,000 for Parks Works and Services for the first five years of the IMA
$2,000 per annum for on-country learning programs.
An additional $10,000 for turtle and sea bird monitoring surveys for the first three years of the IMA
Jointly determine Park Works and Services to be undertaken as per schedule 8 of the IMA
Insurance Obligations
Each party must have a Public Liability Policy of Insurance for an amount not less than $20 million (clause 22 IMA).
Park Management and Operations
Chief Executive’s commitments (Clause 4.4 (c) IMA)
Work with the IIAC to increase tourism opportunities in the NPs (CYPAL) and to encourage business and commercial opportunities for the IIAC.
Cross-cultural and Traditional Land Management Training (clause 4.4(e) IMA)
Ensure Department of Environment and Science staff represented by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) involved in the management of the NPs (CYPAL) undertake training.
Park Management Activities (clause 6 and schedules 4, 5 & 6 IMA)
Routine Activities (QPWS can do routinely).
Procedural Activities (IIAC - opportunity to comment).
Significant Activities (IIAC written consent required).
Protocols (clauses 6.15 , and 12.6 IMA and clause 5 of the Permit to Take, Use, Keep or Interfere (PTUKI) Protocol)
PTUKI Protocol
Pest Management Protocol (need to develop).
Other Protocols when required.
Notifying – New Permits (clauses 6.12 – 6.13 IMA)
20 business days' notice for most types of permits.
Protocol for island biosecurity (clause 6.16 IMA)
QPWS&P and IIAC acknowledge the high significance and vulnerability of the natural and cultural values of the islands, particularly Milman Islet, and the potential threat of new incursions of pest plants, animals and pathogens to these values.
The parties will work co-operatively to jointly develop a Protocol for island biosecurity with the purpose of developing best practice quarantine, surveillance and control procedures to minimise the risk of new pests and pathogens arriving and establishing on the islands.
Endangered, Vulnerable and Near Threatened Wildlife, Threatened Wildlife Notice and Wildlife at risk locally (clause 7 IMA)
QWS&P and IIAC to are develop processes to protect Wildlife that is Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened
If required, issue voluntary ban on hunting or Threatened Wildlife Notices for an agreed period
Develop management arrangements for the exercise of the right to take, use or interfere with the Wildlife.
Living Areas (clause 8 and Schedule 3 IMA)
There are two proposed Living Areas, one on Boydong Island and one on Cairncross Island.
Restricted Access Areas (clause 8 and Schedule 7 IMA)
There are two existing Restricted Access Areas (RAA), one on Alpin islet and one on Milman islet
QPWS&P and IIAC to develop and agree on, as well as produce and install updated RAA signage and web-based information referring to the RAAs and published on the QPWS&P website.
Employment and Training (clause 10 IMA)
Consultation about and participation by Beneficiaries in some recruitment processes for QPWS&P positions (clause 10.6).
Training opportunities for IIAC Rangers.
Develop and deliver cross-cultural and traditional land management training for QPWS staff
Management Instrument (clause 11 IMA)
Identify natural and cultural values of Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands (Denham Group) National Park (CYPAL) and threats to those values and to park visitors, and strategies to mitigate those threats.
May prepare a Protocol for Interim Management.
Prepare a Project Plan outlining process to prepare a Management Statement or a Management Plan.
Tourism Opportunities (clause 13 IMA)
First option to IIAC for tourism opportunities.
Operations (clause 15 IMA)
QPWS and IIAC to meet no later than 30 September each year to share data and discuss the management of the Yamarrinh Wachangan Islands (Denham Group) National Park (CYPAL) and future expenditure.
Joint Management Meetings (clause 15 IMA)
Two meetings each year held at Bamaga or Cairns, or another agreed location, or by teleconference, as agreed by the parties.
Tenure Outcome:
A total of 70 hectares consisting of national park CYPAL.
This includes nine offshore islands and islets
