The world's oldest living rainforest has been returned to its custodians in a historic handback ceremony in Far North Queensland.
The Eastern Kuku Yalanji people have taken formal ownership of 160,213 hectares of country stretching from Mossman to Cooktown, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Daintree National Park.
"This is where we belong on country, on bubu — on land," Yalanji traditional owner and Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation director Mary-Anne Port said.
"All our ancestors called us back to home.
Long fight
This is country of huge cultural, environmental and global significance, encompassing the Daintree, Ngalba-bulal, Kalkajaka and the Hope Islands National Parks.
The Daintree Rainforest, estimated to be 180 million years old, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.
Native title had already been established over much of the land, but the traditional custodians wanted more than recognition.
They wanted a say in the management of their land and their cultural heritage.
"We'd like to see all our young people step up now and [be] doing work on country, learning about cultural sites, where they come from," Jalunji and Nyungkul elder Maree Shipton said.
Ms Shipton said she went to every Traditional Owner Negotiating Committee (TONC) meeting in the lead-up to the celebration.
TONC and five elders groups were formed to negotiate with the government on behalf of the three clan groups — Yalanji, Jalunji and Nyungkul.
Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation chair and Kuku Yalanji woman Lynette Johnson said she was looking forward to the jobs and upskilling opportunities for young people the historic change would provide.
"They don't have to be rangers — we can have them working anywhere," she said.
Joint management
Under the Indigenous Management Agreement, the Eastern Kuku Yalanji People will jointly manage the four national parks with the Queensland government.
"Today is not the end — it's the beginning of the next step of the process," Kuku Nyungkul traditional owner Desmond Tayley said.
"This was the second part of the native title claim [of 2007]."
Mr Tayley said the managers would work in partnership with governments and stakeholders to make sure they received the full benefit of what they signed and ensure that promised jobs and funding would come through.
State Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the agreement was a "really important milestone in Queensland's history" that "really rights the wrongs of the past".
"There's a number of agreements put in place … to make sure that we'll continue to work in good faith with traditional owners to make sure we are working in genuine partnership," she said.
Mr Tayley said the restoration was a crucial part of the healing process.
"It's important that we get that back on country and we make sure that our spirit is kept very strong," he said.
