Indigenous Protected Areas Program

The Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) Program has been supporting First Nations communities to voluntarily dedicate and manage their land as protected areas since 1997. IPAs provide a framework for First Nations communities to combine traditional and contemporary knowledge to collaboratively manage their land and sea Country, leverage partnerships with conservation and commercial organisations and provide employment, education and training opportunities for First Nations people.

Ninti One Limited (with project partners CSIRO and James Cook University) was commissioned by the Australian Government to undertake an independent evaluation of the IPA Program. This evaluation assessed the extent to which IPA Program objectives and associated environmental, cultural, social and economic outcomes are being achieved.