Madjaybana Rangers Honoured with Prestigious Cassowary Award
Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation’s, Madjaybana Ranger Team has been recognised for their outstanding contributions to cultural and environmental stewardship, receiving the People Country Culture Award at the 20th Cassowary Awards hosted by the Wet Tropics Management Authority on 6 September 2024.
This prestigious award acknowledges the Madjaybana Rangers’ tireless dedication to caring for Country, promoting the culture and livelihoods of the Madjandji people, and playing an active role in managing the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
The team’s work has been wide-ranging and deeply impactful. They have mapped cultural sites, documented sacred storylines and Majay language names, traced ancestral walking trails, and restored damaged riverine and coastal landscapes. Their efforts to collect and catalogue litter, survey native species, and monitor water quality in culturally significant creeks reflect a holistic approach to both environmental and cultural care.
Now fully qualified, the Madjaybana Ranger crew is equipped to manage complex contracts and grants, delivering services such as cultural mapping, cultural burns, threatened species monitoring, invasive species control, land restoration, and biosecurity reporting. Their work is guided by the wisdom of Madjandji Elders, who have shared generations of traditional ecological and cultural knowledge with the team.
Through this intergenerational knowledge-sharing, the Rangers are not only preserving culture and protecting biodiversity, they are also reinforcing their deep spiritual and cultural responsibilities to Country.
The Cassowary Award is a powerful recognition of the Madjaybana Rangers’ leadership, resilience, and commitment to land, people, and culture.
