The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has announced the first round of speakers for its much-anticipated 2023 conference.
The 2023 CCWA Conference, Uplift: Supporting the work of youth and Aboriginal people in the conservation sector, will take place at the University Club of Western Australia on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 September.
Prominent Aboriginal leaders Tyronne Garstone (Kimberley Land Council) and Chontarle Bellottie (Bush Heritage Australia) will be two of the three keynote speakers across the two-day conference, with a third key-note speaker to be announced in the coming weeks.
Tyronne Garstone is a Bardi man and CEO of the Kimberley Land Council (KLC). He has spent the majority of his working life in the Indigenous sector and is committed to providing leadership and opportunities for the next generation of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley – and beyond.
He is a forthright advocate for the rights of Indigenous people and their advancement, both locally and at a national and international level. In 2019, Tyronne was part of a delegation of National Native Title Council representatives who travelled to New York to attend the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
He is committed to fostering genuine relationships and partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people through mutual understanding, knowledge sharing and respect for one another.
Chontarle Bellottie is a Wardandi Bibbulmun woman and WA Aboriginal Partnership Manager at Bush Heritage Australia. She has extensive experience in working in conservation, alongside Traditional Owner groups – deepening working relationships to achieve the vision of a healthy Country.
With more than 20 years experience in natural and cultural resource management, heritage and tourism and environmental sciences, Chontarle is also a director at the Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation and one of two WA representatives on the Commonwealth Committee on Aboriginal Water Interests and the state’s Aboriginal Water and Environment Advisory Committee.
Other speakers will include Oral McGuire from Noongar Land Enterprise, Christian Miller Sabbioni from ARC Centre Healing Country, Tjaltjraak Rangers and Jess Beckerling from WA Forest Alliance.
The 2023 CCWA Conference will build on last year’s sold-out event by focusing on the importance of Indigenous people and youth in the work to protect Western Australia’s precious biodiversity and natural places.
The conference aims to increase the capacity and effectiveness of WA’s community conservation sector in order to achieve lasting positive outcomes for the environment. This includes developing and sustaining proactive partnerships with young people and Traditional Owners, the key theme of this year’s event.
As well as sector updates and insight from CCWA – Western Australia’s peak conservation and environment body – the conference will feature panel discussions and forums on the topics of Healing Country – Fusing Indigenous knowledge with Western science and the future of work, green jobs and opportunities for youth and Indigenous Australians, as well as the ever-popular member group expo and sundowner social.
For more information and tickets, please visit ccwa.org.au/2023_conference
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MEDIA INFORMATION: The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost non-profit, non-government conservation organisation representing nearly 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia.
For more information, visit: ccwa.org.au.
CONTACT: For any enquiries relating to this release, please contact Robert Davies
08 9420 7291 / 0412 272 570 or by email, [email protected]