In September 2024, Dhimurru Rangers travelled from northeast Arnhem Land to Canberra, calling on the Australian Government to take more urgent action to stop plastic pollution. Dhimurru Rangers are part of an incorporated Aboriginal organisation established on Yolngu land to care for the Country.
For over 60,000 years, Yolngu have sustainably managed the land and sea Country in the northeast of Arnhem Land. AMCS is working with Dhimurru to support the rangers in advocating for the health of their sea Country which has been under threat from plastic pollution. South-easterly winds and tides are causing an accumulation of plastic fishing gear and plastic fragments along the northeast Arnhem Land coast.
Dhimurru Rangers team with Senator Dorinda Cox.
We cannot change the world by working in isolation. The trip to Canberra was an opportunity for AMCS and Dhimurru to work together, harnessing the strengths of our organisations to deliver a united call for stronger and more urgent action to end plastic pollution.
“Plastic pollution harms the health of land and sea Country, and requires urgent action. We came to Parliament House in Canberra to ask the Australian Government to support Dhimurru Rangers and all other rangers across our communities to help stop plastic pollution including ghost nets to protect Country for the next generation.”
–Wanga Mununggurritj, Senior Ranger Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation
While in Canberra, Dhimurru met with Members of Parliament, and shared stories of cleaning up plastic pollution and ghost nets from the Yolngu coastline. In early 2024, Dhimurru Rangers spent 3 weeks uncovering a 50-metre fishing net from the beach. The net was then used to build a shelter for Garma festival.
There is an urgent need to reduce the impact of ghost nets and marine debris in our oceans and on our coasts through prevention, collection and management. Dhimurru Rangers have found turtles and other marine species tangled in fishing nets.
“We’ve seen turtles wrapped up in nets, but they are also eating plastic. It’s impacting all the marine animals.”
–Shanita Yunupingu, Ranger Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation.
AMCS joins Dhimurru Rangers in calling on the Australian Government to recognise that collaborative solutions are required to tackle ghost nets across the region, and to become a member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative. By becoming a member of the initiative, Australia will be recognising the urgent need for action to be taken on ghost gear, and that solutions must be collaborative and coordinated.
Dhimurru Rangers team talking with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
It’s with great thanks to AMCS supporters that we were able to support Dhimurru Rangers in travelling to Canberra and advocating for stronger action that will help heal sea Country. AMCS is proud to be supporting Dhimurru Rangers in travelling to the fifth round of negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty, to be held in Busan, South Korea in November 2024.
It is only through listening to, learning from, and acting on the calls from Traditional Custodians, such as Yolngu, that we can begin to heal the damage plastic pollution is causing to our precious coasts and oceans.