NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and history and an opportunity to recognise the contributions Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society and that is the focus of NAIDOC Week. 

The theme for this year's NAIDOC Week is 'We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate'.  

So while nationally we recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s strong spiritual and cultural connection to land and sea, what an opportune moment to announce the recipients of the  Terrain NRM Traditional Owner Water Quality Grants www.terrain.org.au/News-Resources/Latest-News/Traditional-Owner-Water-Quality-Grants-Announced

*Four Far North Queensland traditional land owner groups are helping to protect the Great Barrier Reef with responsible water management projects and have successfully gained a total of $60,000 grants.  

Of the four recipients was Daintree’s Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC.  Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC’s project is stock exclusion and revegetation along the Daintree River.

The grants are from Terrain’s Traditional Owner Water Quality Grants Program, which recognises the critical role of Traditional Owners in managing water resources in the region.

Terrain’s CEO Carole Sweatman announced that grants such as these were just one of the many ways in which Terrain was working with people in the community to help improve the quality of water running from our rivers to the Great Barrier Reef.
Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said  “Locally-based water management projects like these all contribute to protecting the Reef and precious water resources,” .

So, as we celebrate NAIDOC Week and projects such as these at a local level,  let us keep in mind the theme for 2015 as the nation comes together to celebrate and recognise ‘We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate’.

Port Douglas State School will also be paying tribute and celebrating NAIDOC week.

https://portdougss.eq.edu.au/Calendarandnews/Eventscalendar

See Douglas Shire Council Events Calendar for full details of NAIDOC Week celebrations. http://douglas.qld.gov.au/events-calendar/