Combining aboriginal and non-aboriginal knowledge to assess and manage feral water buffalo impacts on perennial freshwater springs of the aboriginal-owned Arnhem Plateau, Australia.

Aboriginal land managers have observed that feral Asian water buffalo (Bubalis bubalis Lydekker) are threatening the ecological and cultural integrity of perennial freshwater sources in Arnhem Land, Australia. Here we present collaborative research between the Aboriginal Rangers from Warddeken Land Management Limited and Western scientists which quantified the ground-level impacts of buffalo on seven perennial freshwater springs of the Arnhem Plateau. A secondary aim was to build the capacity of Aboriginal Rangers to self-monitor and evaluate the ecological outcomes of their land management activities.

Healthy country, healthy people: the relationship between Indigenous health status and "caring for country".

Objective: To investigate associations between "caring for country" -- an activity that Indigenous peoples assert promotes good health -- and health outcomes relevant to excess Indigenous morbidity and mortality.

Design, Setting And Participants: Cross-sectional study involving 298 Indigenous adults aged 15-54 years in an Arnhem Land community, recruited from March to September 2005.

Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported involvement in caring for country, health behaviours and clinically measured body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, type 2 diabetes status, albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR), levels of glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, lipid ratio, score on the five-item version of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K5), and 5-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.