There’s an old saying that if you find a job you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life. And it seems the Reef Authority’s TUMRA Program Manager Leon Jackson is testament to that.

A cartographer by trade, Leon joined the Reef Authority 30 years ago to work on the maps that guide how the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is managed. As momentum grew around how to manage a multiuse marine park and the agency looked to Traditional Owners on how to manage Sea Country, Leon embraced his own heritage as a First Nations man. Putting down the tools of his trade, he turned to engagement and embarked on a journey that would see an Australian-first arrangement allowing Salt Water Traditional Owners a seat at the table, to manage their Sea Country their way.

Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements (TUMRAs) - community-based plans for management of traditional resources which are accredited in legislation and have proved a successful mechanism for joint management of the Reef.

For the past 20 years, TUMRAs have facilitated Sea Country management across the Great Barrier Reef. Today more than 43 per cent of the coastline is covered under 10 unique Agreements providing opportunities for employment, on country monitoring and research, compliance, education and so much more. But how these Agreements look today is vastly different to where they were 20 years ago.

Leon has had the privilege of seeing how far an idea can go and the lives that it can change along the way when understanding, resourcing and commitment are dedicated to a common cause. Under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003, provisions were included that would see Traditional Marine Resources like turtles and dugong populations managed by the Saltwater people of the Reef - a move that would ensure the safeguarding of cultural practices for future generations.

“There were more than 200 meetings that took place with Traditional Owners throughout this process when the Marine Park was rezoned under the Representative Areas Program initiative, and the concept of TUMRAs was first discussed,” Leon recalls.

“The reception to this engagement, to being heard was incredible. We received over 350 submissions!”

After years of consultation and dedication, the first TUMRA was signed between the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation on behalf of six Saltwater Traditional Owner groups, and the Australian and Queensland Governments. A historic moment full of emotions that Leon remembers vividly, the signing of the Agreement was just the first step in a legacy that they haven’t looked back on – not just for Girringun but for the pathway set for Traditional Owner groups across the Reef.

“The room was full of excitement and emotion everywhere you looked.

“It was such a historic moment. Nothing like this had been done on the Reef before,” he said.

And soon, as word began to spread, other Traditional Owners groups from the across the entire GBR catchment area started to express their own interest. For Leon, it was imperative that through it all, that it remained Traditional Owner led.

“I wanted new groups to hear how it could apply to them, not from me a government official but from other Traditional Owners who had experienced it first-hand,” Leon said.

A pivotal moment in the program for Leon was a meeting with Port Curtis Coral Coast Aboriginal Corporation. Joined by an Elder from neighbouring Woppaburra Country, a group whose Sea Country had joined an Agreement years earlier, it was Leon’s hope that the program would be able to speak for itself.

“I left the room to allow the elders to speak in private without my influence,” he said and he’s glad he did. Although he’s not privy to the conversations that took place that day, it was clear something special had happened.

“All I know is when I walked back into the room, written in large letters across the whiteboard were the words: We the Gooreng Gooreng, Gurang, Byellee and Taribelang Bunda People want a TUMRA.”

While there were many moments leading to this that he recalls fondly, it was at that point that Leon knew this program and this work would leave a legacy.

Twenty years on, and while safeguarding resources for cultural practices is still foundational across all Agreements, they have enabled so much more for the communities living them. From education to employment, on country monitoring and compliance management, partnerships with researchers and institutes have seen Salt Water Traditional Owners at the forefront of managing their own country.

As the word continues to spread across Saltwater communities, so must the engagement. But for Leon, there is no place he’d rather be than in the thick of the conversations, helping to make positive changes for the Traditional Owners of this great region. So, what’s the secret to loving what he does so completely?

“Making a positive difference, makes a difference to me.”