At a recent meeting with Friends of the Earth, Taungurung Nira-Balluck Elder, Uncle Larry Walsh highlighted concerns over clearfelling of his traditional country by VicForests. Several coupes have already been cut in the Snobs Creek catchment with another 20 or so planned to be logged over the next few years.  "Its no good. The logging has to stop" Uncle Larry said.

This message is directly from the Djab Wurrung Embassy:

At the start of August, Susan Ley federal minister for environment, gave the go ahead yet again to Vic Roads / MRPV starting a countdown for the state to remove us and clear the embassy camps.

We have time to prepare and we need your help to do that.

Friends of the Earth podcast history series made in collaboration with 3CR 855 AM community radio show Acting Up!Monday 2:00pm-2.30pm.  Ratbags, peaceniks and agents of change, resistance radio that explores the movements that made us. 

45 Years of Acting Up!! Indigenous Solidarity gatherings 1997 and 1998

Presenters: Em Gayfer & Megan Williams.  Guests: Anthony Amis, Jim Green

FOE Australia meet and work on stolen lands of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people and respect that sovereignty of those lands was never ceded.  We pay respect to Elders, past and present, and acknowledge the pivotal role that Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the Australian community.

Warning: this page contains images and voices of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people who have passed away.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Victorian State Government to stop works immediately on the Western Highway expansion project, that if progressed will cause irreparable damage to aboriginal cultural sites.

Traditional Custodians have been camped at the Djap Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy for many, many months; calling on the Victorian State Government to reconsider the proposed route. 

Discussions between traditional owners and government stakeholders have left cracks in dry soil. 

Last week, River Country facilitated a long awaited discussion between traditional owners, concerned community members and government representatives from Mallee CMA, DELWP and Parks Victoria in Nyah-Vinifera on Wadi Wadi Country. 

The four-hour long meeting saw tensions arise as took community shared their concerns for park management after changes in the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are lands owned by Indigenous people and voluntarily managed for conservation. There are currently 60 declared IPAs, covering land three times the size of Victoria! IPAs are recognised as providing real social, cultural and environmental benefits through providing employment, protection of country and cultural connection to land. But IPA's are under threat.

The Barmah-Millewa Collective has been working closely with Indigenous and environmental organisations to push for a fundamental reform in water management: recognition of the water rights of Australia's First Nations. Read on for an article by campaigner Will Mooney that appeared in the most recent Chain Reaction magazine. 

Support Muckaty Traditional Owners on World Environment Day

For the past seven years there has been sustained community opposition to a federal government plan to dump Australia's radioactive waste on Aboriginal land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory.

Now Traditional Owners opposed to the dump plan are taking their case to the Federal Court with a trial starting on June 2 in Melbourne.

Last December the Victorian government released the Water Bill Exposure draft, outlining a new water act for the state. This was an important opportunity to update Victoria's legislation to include greater recognition of Indigenous water rights.As Traditional Owners and long-term custodians of natural ecosystems, Indigenous people have a right and a responsibility to use water resources in their Country. The Victorian Government has a responsibility to improve Indigenous participation in water planning and provide access to water resources.