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Making an Impact on Australia with The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust

Impact
australia The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust

Hub Australia

4th July 2018

As members of Pledge 1%, Hub Australia gives 1% of its memberships to ethical businesses and not-for-profits that are helping make a positive difference to the world.
Hub’s Impact Lead, Jan Stewart, has interviewed one of our members helping support Indigenous land preservation and management: Bjorn Everts, CEO of the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust.

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What is the background of The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust?

The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust is a unique environmental organisation that was established in 2010 to support Indigenous land management and cultural heritage work across 20,000 square kilometres of some of Australia’s iconic and biodiverse country, stretching from the eastern boundary of Kakadu National Park, to the Arafura Sea in Arnhem Land.

It does so by supporting high impact projects in the short-term and building an endowment in the long-term to enable this valuable work to continue.

Tell us about some of the programs you are working on?

One of the most exciting projects that the Trust has helped to establish recently is the Warddeken Species Recovery Project. The project is set to become one of the most important species recovery projects on Indigenous owned land in Australia.

From 1992 to 2012, there has been a 90 per cent reduction in small mammal species richness and abundance in parts of West Arnhem Land.

This figure has led traditional owners of the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area to initiate a bold long-term species recovery project in an effort to take control of the wellbeing of their country and to support the conservation of its threatened species.

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Another fantastic project that we have helped to initiate is the Nawarddeken Academy. The Nawarddeken Academy is a unique bi-cultural school in the remote indigenous outstation of Kabulwarnamyo. An average school day begins with literacy, numeracy, science and art in the mornings, consistent with the national curriculum.

After lunch, the students focus on cultural learning activities that are often guided by the community and include weekly ‘bush trips’ that take advantage of the unique natural environment and cultural context in which the school is situated.

We are also serious about gender equality and Indigenous women’s empowerment. In 2016 we helped the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area establish as Women’s Ranger Program that employs up to 66 Indigenous women to protect and restore this unique landscape.

The project resulted in 50% of all Warddeken Rangers now being women and an increase of hours worked by women from 18% to 40%.

A new project we are supporting is the Warddeken Rock Art Project that puts traditional owners in charge of documenting what is likely to be the largest undocumented body of rock art in the world with an estimated 30,000 rock art sites of world heritage quality.

 

Why do you like working out of Hub Australia?

Hub has a great energy about it – people are there to get things done but it has an egalitarian and supportive vibe which I really appreciate.

Why is Hub Australia a good partner for The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust?

We are a growing organisation and I travel a lot, particularly to Sydney and Melbourne – Hub having locations in both cities really works for us in this way.