Queensland Indigenous Women Ranger Network

Australia’s Indigenous Rangers (land stewards) are vital: bringing together ancient knowledge, passed down from generation to generation, with modern tools like drones that monitor coral changes, forest fires and land degradation. Their work is highly valued as they achieve both environmental and employment outcomes, alongside wider social, cultural and economic benefits.

Indigenous Ranger Programs have created more than 2100 jobs in land and sea management around Australia since 2007 and yet in Queensland only 20% of Indigenous rangers are women. That’s where the Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network (QIWRN) comes in.

Established in 2018, QIWRN provides a forum for Indigenous women rangers to:

  • Share their experiences, ideas and information.
  • Provide support and advice to one another.
  • Make connections in remote and isolated communities.

The network has helped build the next generation of women rangers and is helping to increase the number of Indigenous women caring for and regenerating their Sea Country (the sea and coastal environment), with very limited resources. Despite the lack of funds, the programme has trained over 240 women, encouraging new conservation approaches by sharing knowledge and telling stories. Members of the network have gone on to find work as rangers in Queensland or in conservation elsewhere.

Indigenous peoples make up less than 5% of the human population. But they manage or hold tenure over 25% of the world’s land and support 80% of global biodiversity. Less than 11% of the global wildlife ranger workforce is female, and so this project believes that scaling approaches to welcoming more indigenous women rangers is more crucial than ever.

  • Community, Ecosystems, Networks, Water
  • 2025
  • Established Projects
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Photo: Queensland Indigenous Women Ranger Network

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