Activities undertaken by Indigenous Australians as "caring for Country": A systematic review

Senior Aboriginal leaders have stated that all decent Australians should be encouraged to take on the responsibility of caring for Country. There is much to be learned from caring for Country, particularly about the form of sustainability that it encompasses, but this requires deeper understanding of what exactly is done to care for Country. This study reports on the results of a systematic review of activities that the literature states are undertaken when caring for Country. Using PRISMA, 467 articles were identified, and data were extracted from 266. Thirty-seven highly inter-related activities were identified in the articles and are presented in a cloud diagram. Caring for Country goes well beyond land (or sea) management: cultural activities are integral, as are contemporary expressions that address globally-established sustainability issues. The data provide a benchmark for exploring whether non-indigenous land managers are caring for Country and what more might be done for sustainability.