The North Kimberley’s Uunguu Rangers are combining science and traditional knowledge to monitor and look after their saltwater country, with a recent survey recording coral hotspots rivalling Ningaloo Reef and the Rowley Shoals.

According to a new report by Country Needs People alliance member, Pew Charitable Trusts, our Outback needs people living on and managing it to keep it healthy, and more Indigenous rangers and Indigenous Protected Areas are key to making that happen. 

Buffel grass, an invasive weed spreading across Central Australia, is one of the worst threats to biodiversity in the Outback, but the work of the Spinifex Rangers is demonstrating how intensive management can stop its spread. 

Rangers and representatives from Indigenous organisations around Australia met with the Indigenous Affairs Minister and other politicians in Parliament House to launch a landmark report into the environmental benefits of Indigenous rangers and Indigenous Protected Areas on 30 March.