Miya was the principal author of the original Land and Sea Management Strategy for Torres Strait developed in 2005.
This document was the first guiding framework for the integrated delivery of environmental management programs in Torres Strait.
The Strategy was endorsed by the TSRA Board and Federal and State Environment Ministers in 2005, and resulted in the Torres Strait region securing over $2.1 million to establish a Land and Sea Management Unit and deliver a strategic package of initiatives in line with regional and community environmental priorities.
The main elements of the Strategy were agreed to as part of a facilitated workshop process, involving a community-based natural resource management board, key experts, local, state and federal government representatives. Negotiations with Papua New Guinean (PNG) government agencies and Traditional Inhabitants also occurred under the Torres Strait Treaty requirements to ensure PNG’s shared interests in environmental management issues in the Torres Strait Protected Zone were reflected in the Strategy.
In 2015-16, Miya oversighted the development of the revised Land and Sea Management Strategy for Torres Strait 2016-2036 with support from Terry Harper of TerraFormDesign.
Miya successfully lead this participatory planning process, including consultation with TSRA staff and Board members, Rangers, Traditional Owner organisations (Gur A Baradharaw Kod Torres Strait Sea and Land Council and all Torres Strait RNTBCs), Torres Strait communities, Torres Shire Council and Torres Strait Island Regional Council, state and federal agencies and research partners.
The revised Strategy seeks to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to sustainably manage their land, sea and cultural resources into the future, in accordance with Ailan Kastom, Aboriginal Lore/Law and native title rights and interests.
It includes the first ever State of the Environment Report Card for Torres Strait, a series of management directions, guidelines for implementation, and local planning support tools. For further information, and access to these documents, visit the Torres Strait e-Atlas.
Read more about the process of developing the Strategy jointly with the region’s Traditional Owners in the article at page 10 of the Native Title Newsletter for August 2016