Indigenous peoples are less than five percent of the world’s population but protect around 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Australia has one of the highest rates of biodiversity loss in the world, wild places are suffering from changes in land use, invasion of weeds and feral animals as well as climate change.

Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory is one of the most culturally rich and biodiverse regions of Australia. In the second half of the 20^th century, a disruption to Indigenous land management led to plummeting numbers of native mammals, including species of great cultural importance – and the shrinking of rainforest patches.

Thankfully, a homelands movement began to encourage Indigenous people to return to their lands.  Today, Indigenous rangers living and working on Country are best placed to curb biodiversity loss and improve habitats for future generations.

The Female Indigenous Rangers of Arnhem land care for country using both precise Indigenous ecological knowledge and cutting-edge modern technology. The involvement of women leads to better outcomes in land management conservation in Arnhem land. Indigenous women have exclusive access to certain areas and are the holders of very specific ecological knowledge about animal behaviour, habitat characteristics and traditional management techniques.

Female Indigenous Rangers are responsible for:

• Protecting native biodiversity and reducing the frequency and intensity of wildfire
• Tracking and removing feral animals
• Removing invasive weeds
• Tracking and monitoring threatened species to inform species management plans.

Due to the size and remoteness of the areas they work, NUII has sponsored the purchase of a new 4×4 vehicle to support their work.