'My hopes and dreams (for my people) would be
look after your culture and stay living on your land.'
- Margaret Katherine
The Jawoyn Rangers work on Jawoyn country which covers an extensive area of around 5 million hectares in the central Top End. It includes the regional centre of Katherine, the southern part of Kakadu National Park, Nitmiluk National Park and south-west Arnhem Land.
The Jawoyn estate contains national and international sites of conservation significance, thousands of rock art sites and other sites of cultural significance. In line with Jawoyn Traditional Owners' aspirations to look after natural and cultural values of their country, the Jawoyn Ranger Programme was started in 1997 and reinvigorated in 2002.
The Jawoyn Rangers actively manage weeds, feral animals, fire, cultural heritage sites and visitor impacts on Jawoyn lands. They are also involved in measures to manage the impacts of pastoralism, agriculture, mining and urban development.
The rangers work with a range of stakeholders and partners in the Katherine region, including collaboration with Kakadu National Park and Nitmiluk National Park on fire management activities and with other ranger groups as part of a greenhouse gas abatement project in western Arnhem Land. Furthermore, they assist and host return to country programmes including school camps and multi-day walks.
