Indigenous Rangers Finalists for $1.9M Climate Prize

Indigenous rangers using 60,000 years of traditional knowledge to fight bushfires are competing for a $1.9 million prize that could transform their work across Australia's vast desert.

The Indigenous Desert Alliance (IDA), a network of 70 ranger teams across Central Australia, has been named a finalist for Prince William's Earthshot Prize. CEO Samantha Murray said she's "slightly nervous, but really excited" about their chances when winners are announced in Mumbai this November.

The alliance stood out among 7,000 nominations from 169 countries. In just four years, they've trained 885 rangers and managed 145 million hectares of land, an area larger than France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined.

Their secret weapon is the Right Way Fire program, which blends Indigenous cultural burning with modern science. Rangers conduct targeted burns to create a patchwork of vegetation that reduces fuel loads, protects native animals, and prevents devastating bushfires.

"Those ways of reading country are when to burn, who to burn by the right people, what times, what weather, what country," Murray explained. The Yilka, Wongutha and Nyoongar woman said these practices have been passed down through tens of thousands of years.

Earthshot Prize CEO Jason Knauf said Prince William was "absolutely amazed" by the scale of their work. "We haven't seen anything like that in the previous six years," he said, noting the alliance protects 2.7 million square kilometers of land.

The Ripple Effect

Indigenous communities worldwide protect a disproportionate share of Earth's land, often with the least resources. If the IDA wins, the prize money would expand their fire protection work and fund intergenerational knowledge transfers, where elders take young rangers onto country to share ancient wisdom.

Murray wants desert communities to have a "visible presence" in global climate conversations. The recognition alone has already put Indigenous fire management on the world stage, showing how ancient practices offer modern solutions to climate change.

The IDA competes against Bhutan's constitutional environmental protections and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. Australia has proven strong at Earthshot before, with Queensland's Indigenous Women Rangers Network winning in 2022 for their Great Barrier Reef protection work.

The alliance's success shows what happens when traditional knowledge meets global support, creating a model other countries are watching closely.