A man walks through a smoky woodlands with someone standing in the background in firefighting gear.

Indigenous people & the environment

The Fenner School is home to a number of researchers who are making important scholarly contributions to understanding the relationship between Indigenous Australians and the environment. Our research focuses on the historical and contemporary involvement of Indigenous peoples in environmental management, Indigenous peoples’ worldviews of sustainability and the challenge of water scarcity for Indigenous communities in Australia.

About

The Fenner School is home to a number of researchers who are making important scholarly contributions to understanding the relationship between Indigenous Australians and the environment. Our research focuses on the historical and contemporary involvement of Indigenous peoples in environmental management, Indigenous peoples’ worldviews of sustainability and the challenge of water scarcity for Indigenous communities in Australia.

Groups

A mosaic image of agricultural scenes and a young woman looking through a microscope.

Activating the Indigenous Estate – Baseline Study of Agricultural Capacity

First Nations people have legal interests to greater than 57% of Australia’s land mass yet their participation in primary industries is minimal. The baseline study addresses several aspects and issues associated with growing First Nations primary production across Australia.

View the group

Two farmers setup irrigation hoses in a crop of plants in Africa.

Circular Food Systems (CFS) in Africa

This project aims to demonstrate that circular food systems can decouple growth in social and economic benefits from consumption of natural resources (particularly water and land) and production of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, as well as reducing urbanisation by creating local opportunities for women and youth.

View the group

Researchers and collaborators stand in front of a pond at the ANU Campus.

Mapping for Mob

The Mapping for Mob team works with Indigenous organisations to deliver Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software training to over 30 Indigenous professionals around Australia.

View the group

Supporting the re-emergence of cultural burning in box-gum grassy woodlands

ANU Fenner School ecologists and a cohort of New South Wales Local Aboriginal Land Councils are joining together on a project to re-introduce cultural burning in box-gum grassy woodlands and to monitor the environmental outcomes of the burns.

View the group