Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

of campaign support that continues to
grow today. In 2003 FoEM successfully
nominated the Kungkas for the prestigious
Goldman Environmental Award, commonly
referred to as the ‘green Nobel prize’.
When FoEM participated in a Yorta Yorta
occupation of the Dharnya Cultural Centre
in Barmah State Park in 1999, elders
formally requested that FoEM assist
them further in their main objective of
regaining management of traditional lands.
The FoEM representatives immediately
grasped the significance of a request
that might open the way for FoEM to
support Indigenous justice in an area with
strong ecological values. The Barmah-
Millewa campaign was born, largely
through the work of Peter Barker, who
was a driving force in the development
of the Barmah-Millewa collective from its
formation through until the end of 2001.
The Barmah-Millewa campaign had three
explicit goals:
1. To achieve a joint management
system over Barmah-Millewa as a
means to achieving control over land
that has been denied the Yorta Yorta
through the courts;
2. To sustainably manage the whole
forest (both sides of the Murray/
Dhungalla) for the protection and
conservation of its ecological and
cultural values; and
3. To gain real and diverse employment
opportunities for the Yorta Yorta people.
This campaign continued over the
years and in 2004, the Victorian
government launched a Co-operative
Management Agreement with Yorta
Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation
to increase involvement of traditional
owners in managing the Barmah forest.
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Monica Morgan and Henry Atkinson, Yorta Yorta
Nation.
Indira Narayan and Lindy Orthia, Barmah Millewa
collective, FoE.
Jono La Nauze (FoE) and Phil Ingamells, Victorian
National Parks Association.
FoE 30 Years 63