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Climate Change

Clikate Change ABC TV Message Stick

17 May 2009

Climate change must be considered as one of our greatest threats to survival. Predictions of devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels are already beginning to unfold and our shared future will depend on our ability to adapt and find new ways of living in harmony with the environment.As the world’s oldest surviving culture, Indigenous Australians offer a profound depth of knowledge, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices often struggle to be heard in debates about water scarcity, carbon trading and the protection of our natural landscapes and wildlife. Miriam Corowa discusses these issues with three people who are on the frontline of change………………………..JOE MORRISON: Indigenous people have been taken away from their traditional estates and lands and therefore, the fire frequency in northern Australia has basically gotten out of control, where up to 70% of the nations’ fires occur in northern Australia and they’re usually in the latter part of the year. That’s not a traditional fire regime, so there’s lots of damage being done through that, not to mention more greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere. So what we’re doing is using traditional knowledge to reinstate traditional fire regimes, enabling people to get back onto their traditional states, burn earlier, engaging old people and young people and by doing that, they’re able to sell an offset, which is the difference between the late fires and the early fires. This is something Indigenous people, particularly in northern and central Australia, have got an upper hand on, given their longstanding history of fire management in that part of the world. It’s something I think that the nation should celebrate and consider as part of their overall climate change strategy………………………..JOE MORRISON: Absolutely, I think that as a nation, we do have a long way to go. The dialogue only just commenced with the international community, when the Rudd Government signed up to Kyoto. That means we’re at least a few years behind the eight ball at the international scenario, but locally, there is a long way to go. Again, bringing back to that point about the education, I think it’s a two-way thing. It’s not just Indigenous people understanding what non-Indigenous people are talking about, but it’s also about non-Indigenous people understanding that Indigenous people can actually contribute something positive to the climate change agenda.

Message Stick – Talking Stick: Climate Change

May 19, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized