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Local Pastoralists and Traditional Owners celebrate decision to protect the Lake Eyre Basin’s Rivers and Floodplains
Traditional Owners and local pastoralists from Queensland’s Lake Eyre Basin have today won their eight-year-long battle to protect the Basin’s rivers and Channel Country floodplains from gas fracking. Today, the Queensland Government announced they will strengthen river protections in the region, ruling out any future oil and gas on rivers and floodplains and prohibiting existing…
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Read our full submission to the government on Lake Eyre Basin protection
Submissions to the long-awaited public consultation closed on 24 August. More than 20,000 people sent submissions to the government calling for the strongest possible protections for the Channel Country’s precious rivers and floodplains. The Western Rivers Alliance made a detailed submission, presenting the evidence and values that show a clear mandate for the government to…
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Last chance to stand with the Channel Country – submissions close today!
My name is Riley Rocco, and for years I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with local community members in the fight to protect what we all love – the incredible Channel Country within the Lake Eyre Basin. One memory that never fails to inspire me is the breathtaking transformation that occurs in the Channel Country when…
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Pastoralists, conservationists, Traditional Owners, and over 22,000 Australians align to back no new oil and gas on the floodplains of the Lake Eyre Basin
Lake Eyre Basin-based beef company OBE Organic, the Lake Eyre Basin Traditional Owner Alliance, and key conservation groups have all supported an option proposed by the Queensland Government to ban future oil and gas developments on the rivers and floodplains of the Lake Eyre Basin. Over 22,000 submissions from the public in support of banning…
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A tale of two pelicans in the Lake Eyre Basin
Picture two pelicans, finding water across the vast desert landscapes of Australia, in the middle of a relentless drought. They zero in on the arid centre of the continent where there is a rich green floodplain hundreds of kilometres wide – an oasis that springs to life, feeding a complex web of life, from tiny…
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When the rains come, the sky fills with birds
Don Rowlands, a Wangkangurru Yarluyandi elder and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger, discusses what it’s like when the rains come to his traditional lands in the dynamic landscape of Channel Country. Words by Don Rowlands, interviewed by Dan Down. First published in The Wilderness Society Journal. I live up in Birdsville, Queensland, the capital…
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Don Rowlands
Don Rowlands is a Wangkangurru Yarluyandi Elder who lives and works in the Channel Country as a Ranger. He’s concerned about the future health of the Channel Country’s rivers if oil and gas exploration is allowed to go ahead in the region. As Don says: “now is the time for communities right across Queensland to…
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Channel Country to the City
Traditional Owners of the Lake Eyre Basin are working hard to protect Country and culture from the threats posed by inappropriate gas developments. Join us in Brisbane to celebrate the rich and living connections between First Nations cultural heritage and nature conservation – and why both are so important. Join us to on Monday August…
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Once stark desert landscape awash with kaleidoscope of colours
At first there’s just a hint. Pools of water sparkle like diamonds into the distance. They shine more brightly as a newly emerged sun peeps out from the east, its rays hitting at exactly the right spot to make these little patches glitter all the way to the horizon. But it’s still red gibber rock…
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Public consultation finally open for Channel Country protection
Pastoralists, Traditional Owners, scientists, and conservation groups align to support stronger Lake Eyre Basin River protection as Queensland Government releases long-awaited draft options for consultation OBE Organic, Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation, and the Western Rivers Alliance has welcomed the Palaszczuk Government’s release of a consultation paper which outlines options for meeting their election commitment to strengthen…
