Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Agriculture and land
    Agriculture and land Building stronger and more sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land care.
    • Animal health
    • Climate change and agriculture
    • Drought, disaster and rural support
    • Farming, food and drought
    • Fisheries
    • Forestry
    • Levies and charges on agricultural products
    • Mouse infestation advice
    • Plant health
    Xylella

    Protect against unwanted plant pests

    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

    Find out more

  • Biosecurity and trade
    Biosecurity and trade
    • Aircraft, vessels and military
    • Biosecurity policy
    • Cats and dogs
    • Exporting
    • Importing
    • Pests, diseases and weeds
    • Public awareness and education
    • Trade and market access
    • Travelling or sending goods to Australia
    • Report a concern
    Brown marmorated stink bug

    BMSB Seasonal Measures

    Australia has strengthened seasonal measures to manage the risk of BMSB.

    View our seasonal measures

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)
    • Plant Innovation Centre
    Abares

    ABARES Insights

    Get 'snapshots’ of agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, or analysis of key issues.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We enhance our agricultural industries and trade, and manage the threat of biosecurity risks to Australia.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Contact us
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • Payments
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Budget 2025-26

    Budget 2025-26

    The 2025–26 Portfolio Budget Statements were released on 25 March 2025.

    Find out more

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. About us
  3. News and media
  4. New short film shares First Nations perspectives on environmental biosecurity

Back to news - AWE

  • Back to news

New short film shares First Nations perspectives on environmental biosecurity

  • Newsletter
  • First Nations
  • Biosecurity
9 May 2024

Filmed amidst the stunning native forests of Queensland and New South Wales, ‘Roots of Resilience’ tells the story of the deep connection between forests and First Nations culture, and the threat posed by the devastating plant disease – myrtle rust.

Interviews with Australia’s Indigenous rangers, biosecurity officers and New Zealand’s Māori rangers have been intercut with breathtaking scenery to create an immersive viewing experience.

Audiences are asked to consider the direct link between healthy forests and healthy people and the critical importance of protecting our environmental and cultural heritage.

‘Roots of Resilience’ was developed through the Indigenous forest health project which focused on improving the capacity of Indigenous rangers and natural resource management agencies to protect culturally significant species and places threatened by exotic pests and diseases such as myrtle rust.

As part of this project a training program was also developed, and a series of workshops were held for landholders and traditional owners to assist in educating the community about myrtle rust.

Still from ‘Roots of Resilience’ - Gumbaynggirr Country (left to right) AJ Perkins, Department of Planning and Environment (NSW). Corey Williams, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Tilly Davis, Department of Planning and Environment (NSW).
Still from ‘Roots of Resilience’ - Gumbaynggirr Country (left to right) AJ Perkins, Department of Planning and Environment (NSW). Corey Williams, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Tilly Davis, Department of Planning and Environment (NSW).

Myrtle rust, first detected in New South Wales in 2010, has now spread as far south as Victoria and Tasmania, and north to Queensland and the Tiwi Islands. In 2022, it was detected in northern Western Australia. It has irrevocably altered the forest ecosystems it has infected.

Dr Bertie Hennecke, Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Office said, “the department is working with First Nations Rangers and communities, to raise awareness of this environmental biosecurity threat and build capacity to detect and report strains of myrtle rust on Country.

“One of the most effective strategies to manage the spread of myrtle rust and other invasive plant diseases is to find new ways of collaborating. We need to respectfully share knowledge with traditional owners and integrate new scientific-based approaches with cultural land management practices.”

The department participates in the National Myrtle Rust Working Group to support best practice myrtle rust control and management across Australia and continues to work to achieving the actions outlined in the National Myrtle Rust Action Plan.

‘Roots of Resilience’ was produced with funding from the department’s Environmental Biosecurity Project Fund, and in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, Aboriginal Communities and partners in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

To watch the film and find out more about myrtle rust visit: www.agriculture.gov.au/first-nations-environmental-biosecurity

Still from ‘Roots of ‘Resilience’ - cultural burning practices for forest management
Still from ‘Roots of ‘Resilience’ - cultural burning practices for forest management

Read more articles from the Three-Chiefs Newsletter

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Copy link

Related

Image of five people standing in front of a large map of the top half of Australia

Exciting new chapter for Indigenous Biosecurity Trainees

  • Newsletter
  • Biosecurity
05 December 2024
Image of a hand on a dog's head

Cherbourg dog management

  • Case study
  • First Nations
02 December 2024
First Nations artwork

Protecting our Country, Growing our Future

  • Digital story
  • First Nations
14 November 2024
Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip
Page last updated: 15 November 2024

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram