‘A river is our life force’: why Indigenous cultural values must be visible in conservation

Ripple100/Getty In the Kimberley, Martuwarra – also called the Fitzroy River – is far more than a waterway. It is one of Australia’s largest and most intact river systems. It flows about 730 kilometres from the central Kimberley to King Sound in the north of Western Australia. Martuwarra supports plants, animals, wetlands, floodplains and communities across a catchment of about 94,000 square kilometres. For Traditional Custodians, Martuwarra is living water. It is Cultural identity connected…