Australian Aboriginals handling turtle eggs, 1920s

This image shows Australian Aboriginal people harvesting turtle eggs from a nest, a practice that continues today among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live along the coastal areas of northern Australia. As well as providing a source of protein among these communities, hunting marine turtles, as well as harvesting their eggs, has traditionally played an important role in maintaining family relations and social structure, and has also served ceremonial and community purposes. Australia’s Native Title Act 1993 recognises the right of ‘traditional owners’ to take marine resources ‘for personal, domestic or non-commercial communal needs’. However, all six of Australia’s species of marine turtle are protected by its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, having recently experienced threats to their survival, especially from pollution and changes to their habitat. As a result, the government is engaging with indigenous communities to develop sustainable methods for hunting turtles and harvesting their eggs.

The Royal Geographical Society Picture Library is an unrivalled resource, containing more than half a million images of peoples and landscapes from all over the world. The collection holds photographs and works of art from the 1830s onwards and includes images of exploration, indigenous peoples and remote locations. For further information on image licensing and limited-edition prints, or to search our online collection of more than 7,000 images, visit www.rgs.org/images. Rolex kindly supports public access to the Society’s collection of photographs, books, documents and maps.

08 | August 2013