Garma Festival, 13-17 August 2002
Forum: Indigenous People and the Environment

In August 2002 the Yothu Yindi Foundation in conjunction with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Australia), will be holding a forum entitled ‘Indigenous people and the environment’ at the YYF Garma Cultural Festival held annually in Arnhemland, Northern Territory. It is expected participants from around the world will attend including indigenous people from PNG, Canada and the Arctic Circle.

At the present time indigenous people internationally are rethinking their engagement with western society as they demand and reassert their rights to both manage their own lands and culture, and map their own futures. 2002 has been designated the United Nations International Year of Ecotourism. WWF and YYF believe that tourism, travel and ‘ecotourism’ is but a subset of a broader suite of issues.

In true Aboriginal style, the forum themes are emergent. They may include governance and natural resource management; caring for country—sustainable occupation; intellectual and cultural property rights; and eco-tourism.

The ‘Indigenous people and the Environment’ forum will bring together indigenous peoples, scientists, conservationists, venture capitalists, social scientists and ecotourism experts to find new linkages, synergies and directions in equitable cultural exchange, sustainable indigenous and non-indigenous economies and the wise use of natural resources.