Our story

The Healthy Forests Foundation will be guided by the Our Knowledge, Our Way in caring for Country Best Practice Guidelines when engaging with Traditional Owners and on their Country.

The Indigenous-led development of the Guidelines was produced in partnership with the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance and the CSIRO. It provides guidance on the best practice when working with Traditional Owners and their Indigenous knowledge.

The Guidelines recognise Indigenous peoples are connected to Country and culture through their knowledge systems. It also recognises the benefits of applying Indigenous knowledge in management of Country to help solve Australia’s complex environmental challenges.

The Guidelines give a voice to Indigenous land and sea managers to strengthen and share knowledge in caring for Country. Importantly, it recognises knowledge is owned by Traditional Owners and it must not be misappropriated, misused, used without consent or commercially exported without benefits flowing to the communities.

Read the Our Knowledge, Our Way in caring for Country Best Practice

The Healthy Forests Foundation respectfully acknowledges Aboriginal people as the First Peoples and Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and water on which all Australians rely. First Nations peoples have actively cared for and managed Australian landscapes for millennia.

Our philosophy is underpinned by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration is universal framework that sets out the minimum standards for the survival, dignity, wellbeing and rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples.

It ensures Indigenous Peoples rights, amongst others, for self-determination.

In line with this framework, we are committed to resurgent Indigenous conservation which seeks to honour Indigenous knowledge and values, empower Indigenous communities as stewards of their ancestral lands, and promote conservation approaches that are inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.

Read about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists is an independent group of eminent scientists and professionals focused on solution-based policy reform relating to water, land and biodiversity.

Together with experts from academia, government and business the Wentworth Group have produced an evidence-based 30-year plan to repair Australia’s landscapes. This important piece of work provides the blueprint for practical actions and investments to achieve a healthy, productive and resilient Australia.

The Blueprint outlines a holistic approach to repairing landscapes, including forested landscapes.

It focuses on taking actions at the regional scale, drawing on Traditional Owner Knowledge as well as supporting the knowledge of regional communities.

Importantly the Blueprint recognises the deep connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have with the land and their important role in caring for Country.

We welcome the Blueprint as a sensible approach to a significant problem. Mismanagement and inaction over the last 250 have led to unhealthy forests. We need to intervene and be part of the solution.

In 2022, a report released by the Australian Government found the outlook for our environment is poor and deteriorating. The State of the Environment report (SoE 2021) said this is because of pressures such as climate change, invasive species, land clearing and resource extraction. It sent a clear message that these pressures need to be managed or the ecosystem will further deteriorate resulting in more extinctions.

Pleasingly, the 2021 report included Indigenous Knowledge to create a more holistic assessment of our environment. It recognised the importance of learning from Traditional land management practices and presents opportunities to achieve more sustainable outcomes.

We believe the management of climate change derived pressures and invasive species can only be achieved through active management and in consultation with Traditional Owners.

The recent report published by the Committee on Forestry, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) top forestry governing body, looks to evidence-based innovation and action to achieve sustainable forest outcomes.

They found they world’s forests are becoming increasingly susceptible to climate change driven stressors such as fire and pests. In their report, barriers and enablers of innovation were identified and, importantly, actions to empower people to innovate and have positive impacts in forest management activities.

Our approach and philosophy align with the recommendations arising from the report. Including engaging with Traditional Owners to develop locally led solutions for managing forests on their Country. Like the FAO, we recognise the importance of science and innovation to deliver solutions for our unhealthy forests, but also the need to be innovative in the financial sector in how a healthy forests can be valued – even beyond the carbon market.

Read about the State of the World’s Forests 2024