Since 1994, our Aboriginal Landcare Education Program (ALEP) has played an integral role in empowering local communities across Northern Australia by increasing employment opportunities and healthy lifestyle options for young Aboriginal people.
Our nationally accredited ALEP training program combines classroom-based learning and practical projects to help students develop skills and gain work experience in conservation, nursery and landscaping-related industries.
ALEP has engaged almost 500 Aboriginal people and remote communities throughout the Pilbara and Darwin, enhancing environmental skills and improving employment opportunities.
In the Northern Territory, young people who were previously disengaged from the community, often with low numeracy and literacy skills, have flourished in ALEP’s team environment. In the Pilbara, ALEP has enabled local Aboriginal people to engage directly in on-ground conservation activities, enhance their skills and raise their environmental awareness. This has included training of over 110 Aboriginal participants from seven different Indigenous groups in units relevant to ranger activities undertaken on country.
The broad range of projects successfully carried out with remote Aboriginal communities include:
Our series of 30 ALEP Learning Guides sit at the forefront of our training manuals and are used by training organisations, schools and communities across Australia and in rural and remote communities internationally. The units of competency covered in the guides are frequently used within Certificates I to III in Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management courses. The guides are developed collaboratively with Indigenous communities to ensure they align with Aboriginal teaching methods.
To order a printed copy, get in touch.
Case study
Jasmine was a receptionist at the local doctor’s surgery in Daly River. She moved to Darwin to help her sister. Having always wanted to work on country, Jasmine saw the ads for the ALEP program and enrolled. Having built her confidence through undertaking the training, Jasmine is now working on her father’s country as the first female ranger at Fish River, previously a pastoral station that was purchased for conservation and now forms part of the National Strategic Reserve.