Stewardship of our lands started with our First Nations Peoples, and they are its future. Certification is an important pathway for ensuring authenticity in products and services provided by First Nation Peoples when working on and caring for Country.

We are thrilled to be co-presenting this half day workshop in partnership with Environs Kimberley, and UNSW, at the commencement of a 2-day schedule which also includes breakout conversations and field trip options.

It is designed to provide an understanding and knowledge around the advancement of Kimberley Aboriginal bush plant resources - specifically in the areas of protecting authenticity in terms of certification, as well as protecting traditional knowledge.

We will cover the following topics:
-Current protections, support, incentives and opportunities in the local industry
-Visioning for the future of a Kimberley aboriginal led bush resources industry
-Land rights
-Sustainable harvest
-Access and Benefit Sharing, Intellectual Property
-Certification as a mechanism for protection and promotion – what’s the national and regional vision, what is the local vision?
-Exploring governance structures

Beyond this public event, there will be afternoon breakout sessions, followed by a field trip/on country tour/bush walk the following day.

Registrations for the breakout sessions and field trip will be taken separately closer to the event.

BOOK NOW. PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED AND WILL SELL OUT.

Light lunch will be provided. Concessions are available on a needs basis. Please enquire if you need support.

Speakers:

Ayesha Moss, Project Officer, Kimberley Nature Project

Ayesha Moss has worked and lived in the Kimberley for 10 years. The last 5 have been as an ecologist and project officer at Environs Kimberley within their Kimberley Nature Project team. The Kimberley Nature Project collaborates with Aboriginal and community groups across the region to protect, manage and document ecologically and culturally important species and ecosystems.

Ayesha has worked with Indigenous ranger groups on the vulnerable and endangered monsoon vine thickets of the Dampier Peninsula, on sustainable seed collection and harvest of native flora for revegetation and culturally appropriate product development, setting up the Kimberley Community Seedbank and most recently on enhancing ecosystems through enrichment planting and landscape mapping.

Environs Kimberley is the Kimberley’s peak environmental NGO. It was set up in 1996, to support Traditional Owners in protecting the Kimberley from the damming of the Fitzroy River and large-scale land clearing to grow cotton. It continues to work for the strong protection and better management of Kimberley lands and waters.

Professor Daniel F. Robinson, UNSW

Daniel Robinson is a Professor in the Environment and Society Group at UNSW. He is also an Academic Lead for the Pacific, for the UNSW Institute for Global Development (IGD). Daniel is currently the Pacific Regional Manager of the Access and Benefit-Sharing Capacity Development Initiative, which has a 5-year project implementing the Nagoya Protocol in the Pacific from 2017 to 2021. See: http://www.abs-initiative.info/. Daniel is also Chief Investigator with Dr Margaret Raven on the 5-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP180100507): Indigenous knowledge futures: protecting and promoting indigenous knowledge (2018-2022).

Daniel has a background in human geography, environmental science and environmental law. Daniel's research focuses on the regulation of nature and knowledge. His papers and books cover themes including 'biopiracy', access and benefit-sharing relating to biological resources, appropriation and regulation of Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous/customary laws and biocultural protocols, ethical biotrade, political ecology, environmental policy and management. He has worked as a researcher and expert policy advisor for UNDP-GEF, ICTSD-UNCTAD, AusAID, and on projects for Natural Justice and UNESCO, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) and others.

Daniel Mackey - Director, Sustainability & Certification, Impact Seed

Daniel is a leader in the sustainability and social impact sector with over 10 years experience specialising in sustainability accreditation, certification and measurement practices in food and fibre supply chains nationally and internationally.

His focus has been on building and facilitating collaborations between businesses, producers, and not for profits to deliver better outcomes for business, people and the environment.

Daniel has led national business development and advocacy activities to grow the market for Fairtrade products along with leading the policy and standards negotiations to develop Australia’s first Forest Stewardship Standard for the Forest Stewardship Council. He has a particular interest in integrating the multiple social, environmental, cultural and economic needs of regional producers, Indigenous communities and their landscape.

Dr Margaret Raven, UNSW

Dr Margaret Raven is a UNSW Scientia Fellow. She is also a Chief Investigator with Daniel Robinson on the 5-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP180100507): Indigenous knowledge futures: protecting and promoting indigenous knowledge (2018-2022).

Margaret is a geographer with research interests related to protocols, biodiversity conservation and Indigenous knowledge, organisational forms and practices, food security/justice, and Indigenous and human rights. She has 20 years’ experience working on Indigenous knowledge related to biological resources and biodiversity conservation, Indigenous research (rights, health care and ageing), and food policy and food security.