20 September 2017

Hub leader Professor Michael Douglas and project leader Associate Professor Sue Jackson have given presentations in the social and cultural dimensions of environmental flows session at the 20th International Riversymposium and Environmental Flows conference which is currently underway in Brisbane. Professor Douglas’s presentation Food for thought: water requirements and food production in northern Australia made the case that better valuing and recognising how river flows contribute to ecosystem food production, including commercial and recreational seafood production as well as Indigenous food production, will help shape a sustainable future for northern Australia’s water resources. Associate Professor Jackson’s presentation Indigenous seasonal calendars as a source of knowledge for determining sustainable flow regimes showed that Indigenous ecological knowledge of the seasonal timing of flows, resource availability and management activities is critical to inform any assessment of the flows needed to maintain healthy ecosystems and human communities in northern Australia. Also presenting in this session was Hub researcher Dr Sarah Laborde, who talked about her previous work on environmental flows in the Logone River in Africa. Dr Anne Poelina, Mardoowarra Traditional Owner and Hub collaborator gave a keynote presentation on Guardians of the Mardoowarra (Fitzroy River).