AWRE Conference in Sydney

Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo: 10-11 August 2016

The Thamarrurr Rangers were invited to present a seminar at the Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo in Sydney 10-11 August 2016. Maureen Simon and Rosaline Melpi were nominated to go to Sydney because of their work in establishing a recycling service at Wadeye. They were supported by Heidi Taylor from Tangaroa Blue Foundation, to present a seminar on ‘Waste Management Learnings from Indigenous Australia’. Maureen and Rosaline presented a movie they had made about the waste problem at Wadeye and some of the ways they are addressing this problem. In addition, they answered numerous questions from their audience who were interested to hear about waste management solutions in a remote Indigenous community.

See the ABC Report about the trip here. Read more “AWRE Conference in Sydney”

“No Rubbish on Country” – Community Arts Comp 2016

In August 2016, Thamarrurr Rangers hosted the second annual Community Arts Competition to help spread the message “No Rubbish on Country”. Community members were again invited to make a piece of art from “rubbish” or used / recycled materials. In addition, the Ghost Net Art Project was invited to Wadeye to support workshops at the School and Ranger Base, in the use of marine debris and other materials to create artistic pieces. The project culminated in a display of “rubbish art” at the Wadeye Festival. Read more ““No Rubbish on Country” – Community Arts Comp 2016”

Mogo Indigenous Rangers Out in the Field

Mogo Local Aboriginal Land Council join forces with Eurobodalla Marine Debris Working Group to tackle marine debris in Eurobodalla.

The Mogo Local Aboriginal Land Council’s Indigenous rangers participated in a training day on the Tomaga River last week with Eurobodalla’s marine debris working group.

The rangers collected eight large bags of marine debris from the mangrove nursery and saltmarsh areas east of the Tomaga Bridge. All the debris was sorted and the data loaded onto the Australian Marine Debris Database.

Photo: Mogo’s Indigenous Rangers collected eight bags of marine debris from the Tomaga River mangroves and saltmarshes last week. Pictured (l-r) at the end of a hard day are Malachy Leslie, Tristan Nye, James Nye-Potts, Adam Nye, Bernadette Davis, Adam McCarron, Stephen Stewart, Tayla Nye, Jake Chatfield and Sherrie Nye. Read more “Mogo Indigenous Rangers Out in the Field”

Sharing Knowledge Out On Country

Expanding a partnership between Tangaroa Blue, Department of Agriculture and the Yirrganydji Rangers provided an opportunity to head out to local Wangetti Beach last week for some marine debris and exotic pest training.

The group of Yirrganydji rangers met with two of our Tangaroa Blue coordinators and a representative from the Cairns Northern Australian Quarantine Service to clean Wangetti Beach north of Cairns, and learn how to collect data using the CyberTracker software on handheld digital devices. Read more “Sharing Knowledge Out On Country”

25,000 recycled items in 3 months!

Rubbish is a significant problem in the remote Indigenous community of Wadeye. Waste products from food, clothing, tools and other items have traditionally come from the land and been recycled back into the land e.g. seeds from fruits, animal bones, timber offcuts. In contemporary community life, there is a huge amount of packaging and waste products that cannot be recycled back into the land e.g. plastics and metals. This creates a new problem of managing waste in a remote area where ‘rubbish’ is unfamiliar and its impacts on the environment have not been well considered.

Waste products at Wadeye end up in landfill or become ‘rubbish’ lying around the community and are carried by wind and rain to the surrounding land and sea country. This rubbish can directly affect the health of people and wildlife, contributing to an unhygienic environment and harming/killing birds, turtle, sea life, etc. by eating the rubbish or getting tangled up in it. Waste products can also leach chemicals into our environment, indirectly affecting wildlife and food sources. Read more “25,000 recycled items in 3 months!”