Response and adaptation to the impacts of climate change is a vital and increasing requirement for protected area management. On the ground managers of cultural and natural values in protected places ...have requested practical guidance on how to undertake climate change impact analysis, vulnerability assessment, and adaptation planning together with enhanced capacity for planning with partners, rightsholders and stakeholders. In this paper we explore how co-development and subsequent testing among World Heritage site managers, Indigenous experts and researchers, produced guidance for assessing, responding to and planning for the impacts of climate change on the diverse values of World Heritage sites in Australia. We draw on the diversity of cultural and natural heritage values associated with the terrestrial, coastal and marine environments in Australian World Heritage sites, and the broad range of institutional contexts in these sites, to highlight considerations of relevance to other protected areas (including other World Heritage sites around the world, Ramsar wetlands and marine protected areas). Our paper highlights that, for climate adaptation planning to become a normal part of management, there is a need for ongoing capacity building, including around the use of climate information to inform adaptation planning and implementation, as well as integrating Indigenous perspectives. Building capacity may involve trial and error, negotiation, sharing, sourcing and interpreting new information, and changes in expectations. It will require novel and more dynamic relationships between partners and stakeholders. Managers should include capacity building for climate adaptation planning and implementation as a specific climate adaptation task in their planning.
•We present co-developed and tested climate change guidance for World Heritage.•This guidance is co-authored with Indigenous experts.•There is an ongoing need for capacity building in adaptation planning.•Co-development processes can build capacity and bring together diverse knowledge.•World Heritage is a useful context for understanding climate adaptation planning needs.
Ecological restoration is a key part of the global solution to help repair damaged ecosystems and moderate climate change. However, there are enormous challenges to contemporary restoration. ...Solutions that integrate western science and traditional ecological knowledge offer great opportunities to overcome these challenges. Partnerships with Indigenous Ranger programs can assist with solutions to some of the age-old restoration challenges. Managing and caring for a living and dynamic Country is at the heart of wellbeing for all Indigenous Peoples. The act of participating in restoration activities On Country assists with connecting to Country, healing people and Country. We describe the development of a successful partnership between western science and Indigenous traditional knowledge via a collaborative Malgana Aboriginal Corporation Ranger program that included On Country workshop-based knowledge sharing in north-west Western Australia, with a focus on seagrass restoration. Field-based restoration workshops helped people reconnect with Country through two-way knowledge sharing. Additional benefits of the partnership included education and preservation of Malgana language, educating western scientists and general public about Malgana culture, and adapting and field trialling seagrass restoration methods for Gathaagudu. Restoration can be successfully implemented through partnerships that share western science and traditional ecological knowledge.
•Ecological restoration is a key global solution to help moderate climate change and conserve biodiversity.•Partnerships between western scientists and Aboriginal Traditional Custodians can lead to improved restoration outcomes.•Field-based restoration-focused workshops helped people reconnect with Country through two-way knowledge sharing.
