Project Contributors: Helen Verran, David Turnbull Several groups of Australian Aboriginal Peoples are seeking ways to use digital technology (computers, digital cameras, sound recordings), in particular contexts, to keep their own languages and ecological knowledge systems strong. The project “Biocultural Diversity: Elaborating Theoretical Issues for Communities and Policy Makers” is one of several related projects

Project Contributor: Sarah Edwards Dramatic changes to Aboriginal societies in Australia, which started with European colonization over 200 years ago and led to severe cultural erosion and the extinction of many Aboriginal languages, continue today with globalization. Environmental degradation, as a result of ranching, mining, and the influx of feral animals and invasive species, is

Project Contributor: Bruce White The project “Mapping Aboriginal Cultural Values in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area” was originally supported by the Aboriginal Rainforest Council Inc. (ARC), and is now supported by The Aboriginal Rainforest Advisory Committee, which comes under the Wet Tropics Management Authority, as well as the Queensland Natural Resource Management Ltd. The

Project Contributors: Martha Macintyre, Simon Foale Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a site for gold mining by a large multinational company — Lihir Gold Limited (LGL), which is projected to be operating for thirty-five years. The mining involves open pit extraction with deep-sea tailings disposal — a system that has been strongly criticized

Project Contributors: Martha Macintyre, Simon Foale Fish stocks around Lihir Island in PNG are threatened by over-harvesting, as determined by research conducted by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. There is a real need to understand current and projected use of near-shore fishery resources in the context of rapid social and economic changes driven