In “the land down under” our focus was on capturing on camera the thoughts of some of the world’s experts who spend their lives working on bettering the health of rivers.

In Australia, the RiverBlue team focus was to capture interviews with some of the world’s water experts who spend their lives working on bettering the health of rivers. Their trip began at the World River’s Conference in Melbourne. Here, great insights were offered and all were concerned that we are on path to lose one of the world’s most valuable resources, water, and if we don’t make considerable changes then it could be too late. Properly caring for the limited amount of fresh water has to become our planet’s most pressing environmental goal.

In Melbourne, the team also met with Stuart Bunn, the Director for the Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University. He is an international expert in riverine and wetland ecology and had valuable insight into the pollution of the global rivers from the fashion industry. Stuart is also a consultant to China on the health and state of their rivers.

Each year Australians use as much fresh water as it would take to fill Sydney Harbour approximately 48 times.”

From Melbourne, the RiverBlue team travelled North to Cooktown to get an aboriginal perspective on the state of the waters. The team met with aboriginal elder, Chief Willie, who explained how water shortage is one of the most pressing concerns for Australians and there is a finite amount of water on Earth, yet an ever growing demand for it. He went on to explain that indigenous tribes understand that water is a precious resource and that you should only take what you need to survive, however today, urban sprawl as well as large agricultural demands are leading to the destruction of the wetlands. Chief Willie’s hope is that the global community can all play their part in helping to heal our land.

From Cooktown, the team travelled to Adelaide where they met with another aboriginal elder, Uncle Moogie, from the Ngarrindjeri Nation. Uncle Moogie, along with a group of his aboriginal dancers, were able to dance a water song on the Murray Darling River. The team was very appreciative of this experience. They shot this dance sequence in a sand storm with 30 mile per hour winds, it was a moment they will not forget. This interview that can be found on the Encounters With Series.