Ancient know-how meets a modern challenge

Contemporary marine park management is infused with traditional knowledge to tackle new threats on the Great Barrier Reef.

- LINCOLN BERTOLI

ALMOST 25 YEARS ago, the lure of playing professional football took Jason Ramsamy from northern Queensland to the Northern Hemisphere. But it was the call of Country, and an inherent connection to Australia's greatest natural wonder, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), that brought him home.

A leading sports commentator once described Jason as "incredibly versatile". A professional career that started in a Cairns welding workshop and culminated in the upper echelons of Australian sport, spanning three continents and twice as many job titles, suggests this may be something of an understatement.

Tradesman. Athlete. Coach. Counsellor. Manager. Director. Jason's jack-of-all-trades resumé is testament not only to mercurial talent, but opportunities taken and a professional life lived well.

He's long since laid down the tools, and despite being a selfconfessed late bloomer, his rugby days are also behind him. Today, Jason's professional passion is irrevocably tied to his Indigenous cultural heritage, as he helps the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) work to further integrate modern marine park management with traditional knowledge borne from the world's oldest continuous living culture.