For the first time the Martu people have a permanent women’s ranger team based at Parnngurr in the Western Desert region of Western Australia.

The team consists of six permanent women’s positions and several casual positions and is coordinated by the Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa Martu organisation. Women’s Ranger Program Manager Tracy Carboon said it was a great opportunity to get local women into jobs that help care for country.

“The permanent women’s ranger team has been an incredibly important development for the women at Parnngurr,” Tracy said.

“Not only has it provided them with permanent jobs looking after country but it has also enabled them to work on country that is further away from the community.”

Tracy said the casual rangers are an important part of the program because these positions provide flexibility for women with children. 

“The women are very keen to work but need to manage competing priorities of family and work,” she said. 

“Casual work offers women starting out in the workforce an opportunity to build skills and confidence before progressing into permanent positions.” 

The women work with the Elders and the men’s team to look after country and plan for the future.

The women’s program combines traditional ecological knowledge and western science to look after country, including monitoring and managing threatened fauna species. The women use traditional skills to follow animal tracks locating species such as bilbies, great desert skinks and mulgara. They also use Cybertracker software and sensor cameras to record information and images of threatened species and feral animals.

“The Martu women rangers are keen on two-way learning which allows them to use both science and traditional knowledge to respond to emerging issues on Martu country,” Tracy said.