https://www.wettropics.gov.au/

The Return to Country project is a landmark partnership between the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA) and the Eastern Kuku Yalanji Bama (Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples) through Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.

The partnership is turning long-recognised rights and cultural aspirations into practical pathways for Bama to live on, reconnect with and care for Bubu (Country) across Cook and Douglas shire council areas.

Traditional Owners conducting a cultural burn along a track through eucalypt forest, smoke rising.
© Jabalbina
Jabalbina rangers conducting a cultural burn on Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country

Approximately 92% of Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country lies within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The project is a complex synthesis of cultural leadership, careful planning and protection of World Heritage values.

The project is a Bama-led planning initiative that addresses the complexity of delivering housing on native title land by aligning cultural aspirations, legal planning requirements and climate resilience. It is pioneering a planning scheme variation across Cook and Douglas shires attempting to translate native title recognition into the modern statutory planning system.

WTMA has delivered a community development plan that provides a clear, practical roadmap for Eastern Kuku Yalanji community members to return to, live on, work on and care for Country. WTMA will continue to support Eastern Kuku Yalanji as they navigate through the complexities of development approvals to realise their aspiration for Bama on Bubu.

Key achievements include:

  • establishing a culturally led planning framework that integrates land use, environmental protection, hazard management and cultural authority
  • reducing duplication across agencies while improving planning certainty and governance coordination
  • development of innovative mapping and modelling that optimises in-depth land use impact assessments
  • securing $860,000 through the Scheme Supply Fund during 2025–26 to progress planning reform within Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council
  • advancing large-scale cultural stewardship and Strategic Fire Management planning to restore traditional fire knowledge and improve bushfire resilience.

The Return to Country proposition is simple

Small, carefully located footprints for living that restore cultural connection, strengthen Bama stewardship systems and support the long-term care of the Wet Tropics World Heritage landscape. Eastern Kuku Yalanji Elders describe the initiative as “doing the right work, the right way.”

Two children playing in shallow sea water, one holding a long spear-fishing stick.
© Jabalbina
Traditional Owners spear fishing on Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country

Last updated: 13 Oct 2026