The Benefits Associated with Caring for Country: Literature Review

Caring for country' can be understood generally as Indigenous peoples' approaches to land and water management, although with some central distinctions. 'Country' is a term Indigenous people use that can be described as the lands with which Indigenous people have a traditional attachment or relationship. Care for this country is based in the laws, customs and ways of life that Indigenous people have inherited from their ancestors and ancestral beings. The description of caring for country as 'Indigenous people's land and sea management' logically draws attention to the environmental and landscape management outcomes of this activity, but caring for country also has benefits for the social-political, cultural, economic, and physical and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous people. For Indigenous people, it is increasingly documented that caring for country is intricately linked to maintaining cultural life, identity, autonomy and health. These benefits are shared with members of the wider community, who live together with Indigenous people, and facilitate a better community and environment for all Australians.