ABSTRACT
Responses to the continuing changes impacting on the ecosystems of the tropical north of Australia will be largely in the hands of the landholders, guided by support facilities available within a governance framework at state, territory and national level, with essential input at the local community or landscape level. A key factor in the sustainable development of the tropical north is the effective management of the region’s ample, but seasonally and spatially variable freshwater resources. The aim today is more likely to entail some form of application of Aboriginal prescriptions for tropical landscapes to suit the changed land management objectives of today. The Wild Rivers Act, declared by the Queensland Government in 2005, had as its main purpose the preservation of the natural values of certain rivers, which, at the time, had most of their natural status still intact. Domiculture is the framework within which Aboriginal groups sharing cultural beliefs and practices operate within their localised physical and biotic environment.
