This฀study฀investigated฀the฀role฀of฀ecosystem฀serv- ices฀in฀the฀well-being฀of฀Aboriginal฀Australians,฀in฀ the฀tropical฀savanna฀region฀of฀northern฀Australia.฀ There฀is฀signifcant฀literature฀available฀to฀suggest฀ that฀ Aboriginal฀ communities฀ depend฀ upon฀ the฀ natural฀system฀(Williams฀1986฀and฀1998;฀Altman฀ 1987฀ and฀ 2004;฀ Edwards฀ 1988;฀ Gray฀ 2005).฀ However,฀ there฀ are฀ few฀ reports฀ that฀ link฀ the฀ goods฀and฀services฀available฀from฀various฀ecosys- tems฀ to฀ the฀ well-being฀ of฀ Aboriginal฀ communi- ties.฀Moreover,฀worldwide,฀the฀linkages฀between฀ natural฀ systems฀ and฀ well-being฀ of฀ indigenous฀ peoples฀ generally฀ are฀ poorly฀ understood฀ (MEA฀ 2003).฀ It฀ is฀ important฀ to฀ note฀ that฀ such฀ linkag- es฀are฀complex,฀diverse,฀and฀may฀vary฀according฀ to฀spatial฀and฀temporal฀scales.฀However,฀research฀ for฀understanding฀these฀connections฀can฀help฀to฀ develop฀land-use฀policies฀that฀aim฀to฀achieve฀the฀ sustainable฀ use฀ of฀ resources฀ while฀ assessing฀ the฀ non-monetary฀values฀of฀natural฀landscapes. The฀ general฀ approaches฀ to฀ measuring฀ well- being฀ applied฀ by฀ socioeconomic฀ institutions,฀ such฀ as฀ by฀ the฀ Australian฀ Bureau฀ of฀ Statistics฀ (ABS),฀ consider฀ only฀ the฀ socioeconomic฀ indica- tors฀(such฀as฀income฀and฀housing),฀and฀ignore฀the฀ role฀ of฀ ecosystem฀ services.฀ These฀ socioeconomic฀ approaches฀lead฀to฀under-estimates฀of฀the฀value฀of฀ ecosystem฀services฀because฀additional฀and฀impor- tant฀ elements฀ of฀ well-being฀ are฀ not฀ considered.฀ My฀research฀lists฀these฀additional฀elements฀relat- ed฀ to฀ ecosystem฀ services,฀ and฀ adopts฀ the฀ MEA฀ (Millennium฀ Ecosystem฀ Assessment)฀ framework฀ (with฀some฀modifcations)฀at฀a฀local฀scale,฀for฀the฀ following฀main฀objectives: •฀ To฀ explore฀ the฀ linkages฀ between฀ ecosystem฀ services฀and฀well-being฀of฀Aboriginal฀peoples. •฀ To฀suggest฀the฀importance฀of฀ecological฀meas- ures฀in฀well-being฀of฀Aboriginal฀peoples,฀that฀ could฀help฀to฀expand฀the฀ABS฀list฀of฀well-being฀ measures. What well-being attributes are being ignored? ABS฀ (2001:6)฀ defnes฀ well-being฀ as฀ ‘a฀ state฀ of฀ health฀ or฀ suf fciency฀ in฀ all฀ aspects฀ of฀ life’,฀ and฀ adopts฀ a฀ pragmatic฀ view฀ that฀ refects฀ well-being฀ from฀socioeconomic฀characteristics.฀It฀uses฀vari- ous฀ social฀ and฀ economic฀ indicators:฀ economic฀ resources,฀ work,฀ education฀ and฀ training,฀ health฀ (including฀life฀expectancy,฀infant฀mortality฀etc.),฀ housing,฀family฀and฀community,฀crime฀and฀justice,฀ and฀culture฀and฀leisure฀(including฀types฀of฀busi- nesses/industries฀providing฀goods฀and฀services฀for฀ cultural฀and฀leisure฀activities฀etc.).฀These฀mostly฀ relate฀to฀either฀utilities฀or฀capabilities฀of฀commu- nities,฀and฀ignore฀the฀role฀of฀natural฀environment฀ in฀providing฀human฀services. The฀ well-being฀ of฀ an฀ individual฀ or฀ a฀ society฀ depends฀ upon฀ many฀ factors฀ including฀ culture,฀ geography฀and฀ecological฀conditions฀(MEA฀2003;฀ Dasgupta฀2004);฀the฀ABS฀measures฀fail฀to฀account฀ for฀ diversity฀ in฀ each฀ of฀ these฀ three฀ categories.฀ Majority฀non-Aboriginal฀(mainly฀European)฀and฀ minority฀ Aboriginal฀ peoples฀ have฀ very฀ different฀ cultural,฀ identity฀ and฀ spiritual฀ values฀ (Edwards฀ RESEARCH REPORT Linking ecosystem services to well-being: A case study of Aboriginal communities in northern Australia Kamaljit Kaur School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University Australian Aboriginal Studies 2007/2 145