Ocean Harmonies International Interdisciplinary Research Project funded by the British Academy
Newcastle University Professor Gina Heathcote joins Lloyd Pigram, University of Notre Dame Australia, to commence a two-year period of work that examines the role of Indigenous Peoples in the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).
17 April 2026
Professor Gina Heathcote, Newcastle Law School, is the Principle Investigator on a new British Academy International Interdisciplinary Research Project titled: Ocean Harmonies for Global Governance: Indigenous Marine Expertise and the Protection of the Ocean. The Ocean Harmonies research project links community researcher Lloyd Pigram, at the Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia, with ocean governance research at Newcastle University through an innovative two-way methodology for legal research that examines the values, protocols and processes that inform Indigenous saltwater governance in the Kimberley region in the North West of the Australian continent.
The two year research project examines the role of Indigenous Peoples under the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). The final preparatory committee meeting for the BBNJ Agreement was hosted in March 2026, with the first Conference of Parties to be hosted in New York in January 2027. The BBNJ Agreement was agreed by states in June 2023 and entered into force in January 2026. Sometimes referred to as the High Seas Treaty, the Agreement establishes governance structures for the creation of Marine Protected Areas in the High Seas, Environmental Impact Assessments, the sharing of Marine Genetic Materials and capacity building /transfer of marine technology.
Indigenous saltwater governance in the Kimberley is lead by Traditional Owners across eleven member groups and overseeing care of 6 million hectares of sea country, under the leadership of the Indigenous Saltwater Advisory Group. Reflecting thousands of years of land and sea country governance and care, Indigenous-led coastal practice offer a unique and important model of ocean stewardship. This research project draws on that knowledge to develop and reframe ocean governance under the conditions of the climate emergency.
Photo (right) taken by Jenna Hounslow.
This project is supported by the British Academy's International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2026 Programme.
