Return the Land
Embracing the knowledge and wisdom of Traditional Owners to Care for Country is vital in protecting the natural world.
As outlined in Australia’s recent state of the environment report, Indigenous knowledge and sustainable cultural practices are vital to managing this country’s environment. First Nations peoples’ stewardship of Country is a deep connection, handed down through generations, and developed over tens of thousands of years. This includes songlines, totems, cultural principles, knowledge of the animals and plants, and land and sea management practices.
The struggle for climate justice, and the protection of wildlife, is intimately linked to the pursuit of Indigenous land rights and cannot be achieved in isolation from it. The protection of our wild places and faces depends on showing meaningful solidarity to Indigenous communities, and supporting their inherit right to care for Country.
Indigenous communities lived sustainably on the Australian landscape for more than 65,000 years prior to European occupation.
Prior to European arrival, Indigenous communities relied heavily on the cultivation of native fruits and vegetables. According to Wild Food Plants of Australia, plant foods provided up to 80% of First Nations peoples’ diet in desert regions and as little as 40% in coastal areas where communities relied on traditional fishing practices.
Defend the Wild advocates for a treaty to be established between government and First Nations people, one which empowers First Nations people to make sovereign decisions about the management of their traditional homelands.
As recognised by a recent IPCC report, “Indigenous communities can advance effective adaptation through the passing down of knowledge about climate change and planning that promotes collective action and mutual support across the region”. As such, Defend the Wild aims to support community led projects driving the development of these systems.
Learn more about Defend the Wild’s collaborative work with Traditional Owners
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Support the Minyumai rangers to protect the Ngugum (Dingo)
The Minyumai Rangers, supported by Upper House Greens MP Sue Higginson and other experts, are calling for an inquiry into Dingo management across the state of New South Wales.
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The Skin Deep Documentary
Skin Deep dives into the experience of Donny Imberlong, a Jaru man living on the traditional lands of the Miriwoong Gajerrong people, while working on a Darwin crocodile farm in 2017.
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Dingo Culture
Dingo Culture is a digital advocacy initative led by Defend the Wild board Director Sonya Takau. Dingo Culture exists to elevate the cultural significance of the dingo to Traditional Owners.