By Ella Noah Bancroft

I pray that January 26 is a time that we reflect and mourn the deep grief that the land holds. A day we remember all the sentient beings who have been dispossesed to make way for the Australia we know today.

By S Web

That’s right folks, they’re here!

Green, Hawksbill and Loggerhead turtles are all locals around Lennox Head and guess what? - they’ve been here for more than 100 million years.

Kate McBride was born and brought up in far-west NSW and now lives on her partner’s property along the Baaka-Darling river after 12 months in Canberra working for the Australia Institute.

Kate has appeared on numerous radio, podcast and TV shows, including being featured on Australian Story ‘Cry me a river’ and ‘Call of the river’ and three appearances on the ABC’s Q&A panel.

By Dan Etheridge

I’m far from what you'd call an oyster expert. I've eaten them with friends, I’ve cut my feet on them scrambling over rocks, but I've not studied them in depth. But recently I found myself thinking deeply about oysters beyond their culinary merit.

If it's true that all roads lead to Rome, then it's fair to say that all water policy in eastern Australia eventually leads you to the Murray-Darling. While you have to travel west from the Northern Rivers and over the Great Dividing Range to find yourself within its incredibly vast catchment, water policy on the Murray-Darling has ramifications for the rest of new south wales & australia more generally.

We speak to Budawang Yuin woman Eliza Salvatori about the Voice to parliament referendum.

By Tom Wolff

I do not wish to tell you how to vote. I write this ten days before australia makes one of the biggest decisions in its short history, with the intention to acknowledge a much, much older story, in the hope that something might resonate with you too.

While the referendum on a First Nations Voice to parliament is a significant symbol of unity for australia, many people are understandably focused on the practical implications of how it could influence policy-making.
So we figured we’d stick to what we know and ask ourselves the question: how could a Voice to parliament benefit our river systems?

Come on down to the Wilsons River to celebrate National Tree Day and contribute to flood resilience and river health in your local catchment. We'll see ya there!

As Bundjalung man Oliver Costello says: "water always tells the truth."It's speaking its truth right now. We can choose to ignore that at our own peril.

By S Web

The other day I went to the Lake for a dawn swim. As the light stretched westward the grey melaleuca trunks lit up neon-white with the first rays of the sun.

The creation of that sanctuary zone was thanks to the tireless work of a relatively small group of people. Part of a much larger series of areas scattered up and down the coast where I live. Decisions driven by locals and made by governments not so long ago has helped to alter the course of our future and safeguarded a nursery that will keep providing fish given we’re respectful and only take what we need.

Statement and language by Uncle Rick Cook, Marcus Ferguson and Oliver Costello

History is calling.

We’ve worked with the crew at Living Lab Northern Rivers to curate a series of talks focusing on flood mitigation and how we can do things differently here in the Northern Rivers.

The ancient forests of towering Wudjeh (Red Cedar), Booyong, Cudgerie and countless other species covered an area just larger than Singapore with a canopy so thick that the sun rarely reached the forest floor.

A number of factors including weather phenomena, landscape & natural resource management led to the 2022 flood event in the Richmond River catchment. We dive into the facts, referencing various case studies from the Independent NSW flood inquiry.

Lennox Point remained in a degraded state for over a century until the Ballina Environmental Society inspired the planting of two plots above Pat Morton lookout in the 1980s. It was an effort conducted almost entirely by community members, with occasional assistance from the government sector – mostly in the way of contributing funding.

One of the most important conservation actions in the last few decades in the Northern Rivers was the creation of the Cape Byron Marine Park. It extends 37km from the Brunswick River in the north to Lennox Headland in the south and also includes the tidal waters of the Brunswick River and its tributaries.