About Us.
We build healthier communities for Cape York by connecting our Bama (local traditional owners) with our land. We preserve cultural pathways; we build traditional and contemporary skills, and we have a direct and positive impact on the natural environment. We use modern scientific knowledge alongside our ancient cultural knowledge to look after our country
6 Ways We Are Special
Community First
We are community focused. Women and men are equally employed, and we know this builds confidence and healthy living choices. We are also proud that anecdotal evidence suggests our work has produced improvements in reducing instances of domestic violence, and suicide.
Work That Saves Lives
We build our programmes and our employment choices within the Indigenous Advancement Strategy - Suicide Prevention. We give our people a sense of pride and the knowledge to reconnect with their ancestral country, by looking after and repairing native ecosystems. Our people walk on their country.
Collaboration Means Access
We are uniquely placed to access places that need conservation work. Naturally we have access agreements to traditional lands, plus we have longstanding and trusted access to 38 farming properties and the Annan Endeavour and Normanby Producers Group.
We Overdeliver.
We are known for having a disproportionate impact to funding. We deliver on time, and we overdeliver. A lot of our work is voluntary, because of our spiritual connection to country.
Experience & Success
We have experience and success on a wide combination of courses – from conservation and rural operations to Occupational Health and Safety, and life skills –all the way to time management!
Ready to Work, Now.
We are spade ready! We have our capital equipment in place. We have a willing labour force. We have critical projects ready to launch. All we require is funding to get the wheels turning!
We build healthy communities through three approaches :
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Approach One
Education, training and employment opportunities for the local indigenous community in pest management, weed control, and revegetation
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Approach Two
We train and employ a proven blend of proven traditional, cultural, and contemporary scientific methodologies in our work.
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Approach Three
Collaborating and supporting our community widely - with private landowners, non-government groups, traditional owners and government
We build healthy country through four key strategies :
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Strategy One.
Protecting and rehabilitating Cape York Peninsula’s unique biodiversity.
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Strategy Two.
Mentoring and capacity building to residents of the Cape York Peninsula.
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Strategy Three.
Supporting landholders to develop and review pest and weed management plans.
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Strategy Four.
Advocacy and educating the community about how to protect the environment
Meet Our Team :
Our association provides employment and educational opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Cape York Peninsula. We are a non-profit 100% Indigenous Cape York Community Group funded through government environmental grants, payment for-service private projects and donations.
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Carl Doughboy
CHAIRMAN
Carl is passionate about caring for country and he wants the world to know our Cape York Community.
He is a local Indigenous man born and bred in Cape York, a Traditional Owner with experience working and looking after his country.
He has a strong connection to Cape York with family ties to Gungarde (Cooktown) and Hopevale.
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Kathleen Elmes
TREASURER
She has been our long-term financial wizard. Born and bred in Far North Queensland, She loves Cape York and wants to see our work continue many years into the future.
She says it is amazing what our small group has achieved with very little resourcing..
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Trevor Meldrum
OPERATIONS MANAGER & SECRETARY
Proud born and bred Cape York Peninsula Indigenous local.
Trevor’s family has ties with the Princess Charlotte Bay region, as well as Lakefield, and the Palmer River.
This year marks 32 years service in the Environmental Field for Trevor.