The Bawinanga Rangers are considered the early leaders of Australia’s Indigenous land management movement. Formed by traditional owners in the early 1990s in response to growing environmental concerns over feral animals, invasive weeds and wildfire, the rangers have worked to keep their land and sea country in western Arnhem Land healthy ever since.

For more than 20 years, the Bawinanga Rangers, traditional landowners and djungkay (managers) have worked together to keep their land and sea country in Western Arnhem Land healthy and their culture and communities strong. Along with their success at delivering positive land and sea management outcomes, across this time the Bawinanga Rangers have also gained widespread recognition for their application of Indigenous knowledge to understandings of contemporary land and sea management issues.

The Bawinanga Rangers service an area of over 10,000 square kilometers that includes more than 30 family-based outstation communities. They’re based in the community of Maningrida and operate as part of the Bawinanga Homelands Aboriginal Corporation.

Bawinanga is part of two projects registered under ALFA NT:

• West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) 
• Central Arnhem Land Fire Abatement