A court battle is unfolding between native title holders and a cattle station in Katherine region.
Legal proceedings commenced on February 10 in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, challenging a decision made in November by a delegate of the Pastoral Land Board to grant a permit to clear native vegetation over 923 hectares of land at Auvergne Station.
The plaintiffs are three senior members of the Ngarinyman-Wulayi group, who hold native title over the country that is to be cleared west of Timber Creek in the Victoria River District of the Top End.
They were joined by the Northern Land Council (NLC) and the native title holders' prescribed body corporate.
The legal action has been joined by Environment Centre NT which has kickstarted a fundraising campaign to support their case.
The NLC said the challenge was made on the grounds that the rights and interests of the native title holders and sacred site custodians - including their traditional rights to use the land, which are reserved under the terms of the pastoral lease - had not been properly considered.
The native title holders also claim that the decision-making process was "procedurally unfair", and that a purpose of the land clearing is to grow cotton, which is not a permitted pastoral activity.
The NLC said it was concerned that sacred sites were "regularly" put at risk by land clearing on cattle stations because the Pastoral Land Board did not require the holders of land clearing permits to obtain a sacred site clearance as part of the application process.
This legal challenge follows the NLC's repeated expressions of concern to the NT Government and the Pastoral Land Board about deficiencies in the decision-making processes for pastoral land clearing activities across the Northern Territory.
NLC chief executive officer Joe Martin-Jard said the land council was not opposed to development but "it must be done in a sustainable and respectful way".
"It's not good enough that Aboriginal Territorians with legal rights on country subject to pastoral leases have no opportunity to have their voices heard before land clearing is permitted," he said.
MORE READING: Another cyclone is forming in the north
"Native title holders are now having to turn to the courts to try to have their rights and interests acknowledged and respected."
Mr Martin-Jard said the Pastoral Land Board appeared "to be treating cotton growing as a pastoral activity".
"Growing cotton requires different regulation than pastoral activities.
"Growing cotton should be regulated by the Northern Territory Government as a non-pastoral use of land."
Mr Martin-Jard said the land that is being cleared across the Northern Territory was "not forgotten land that no one cares about" rather it "belonged to Aboriginal people".
"There are legal rights over that land that must be respected.
"All Territorians should be concerned about how pastoral lands are managed on their behalf by leaseholders and the NT Government.
"Enough is enough.
"We need to ensure that the pastoral estate is properly managed for future generations."