Maintaining effective and meaningful partnerships with Traditional Owners is essential in protecting cultural and heritage values, conserving biodiversity and enhancing the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef into the future. To this end Sea Country Values mapping (SCVM) is expanding and building on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Strategy key foundational activities. These projects establish more integrated Sea Country Values mapping products and management partnerships. They are built upon Traditional Lore, Customs and Cultural Authority governance systems led by saltwater Traditional Owner groups. An SCVM process can identify and map any number of cultural heritage values and identify threats, to values, landscapes and species. The benefits of this mapping extend past identification of values to Sea Country management plans, new partnerships, assessment guidelines and capacity building for Traditional owner management of their Sea Country. Additionally, these outcomes can be utilized in many ways to support Sea Country management aspirations. By establishing a culturally based decision-making framework that is supported by management SCVM provides genuine pathways for TO groups to engage in effective co-management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks, both Commonwealth and State, and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.