For the last three years Wardaman Rangers and Traditional Owners have been undertaking water monitoring as part of a broader program to document cultural water needs of the Giwinning-Flora River system. This has included monitoring and assessment of water quality and flow.
In 2022, the Wiyan Project expanded to include environmental DNA sampling. Wardaman Rangers and Traditional Owners were trained in eDNA sampling techniques, and have since been collecting reference material and undertaking water assessments.
Wardaman country lies within the Victoria River and Upper Daly catchments, west of Katherine in the Northern Territory. The Wardaman Indigenous Protected Area covers approximately 224,718ha of country rich in cultural heritage.
Having healthy water places is critical for Wardaman country and its people. The Wiyan Project links with other Ranger activities being delivered across the IPA and provides Wardaman Rangers and Traditional Owners the opportunity to direct water monitoring assessment activities at locations selected by us, on our country. The information collected through the project is ours.
Environmental DNA is an exciting technology for our work – it means we can monitor the presence of species and health of water places without having to interfere with animals; we now have tools so we can safely monitor large water bodies where risks including crocodiles are present; and importantly we are able to do this work ourselves, on our country and at places that are important to us. Being certified in eDNA sampling will assist with other projects for us in the future.
This eDNA work is a partnership between Wardaman Rangers, Northern Land Council, NT Government, and supported by EnviroDNA.