The Mandingalbay Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation is playing a key role in the push to recognise the Great Barrier Reef with one of the United Nations' highest environmental honours.
The Corporation manages an Indigenous Protected Area on Mandingalbay Yidinji Country, east of Cairns, covering land and sea that has been cared for by Traditional Owners for tens of thousands of years.
Their work includes cultural heritage management, reef and coastal monitoring, and education programs that centre First Nations knowledge systems.
Now, they are lending their voice to the Lifetime of Greatness campaign, which is calling on the global community to support the nomination of the Great Barrier Reef for the United Nations Environment Programme's Champions of the Earth 'Lifetime Achievement Award'.
Mandingalbay Yidinji man, Victor Bulma and Indigenous Protected Area Manager with the Corporation, said the project is about recognising the reef as more than a natural wonder.
"Our knowledge of the country – our Storyland, our Songline, our Danceland – it all connects to the Great Barrier Reef," Mr Bulma said.
"It was a teacher, a healer, a provider for First Nations culture for millennia."
Mr Bulma has been working in cultural heritage and land management since 2010.
He said being able to use traditional knowledge in his day-to-day work is a deep honour.
"It's a privilege having that knowledge passed down. You get to a point in life where you have to show leadership and pass that knowledge on to future generations."
Mr Bulma said cultural knowledge is essential in healing and protecting the reef, especially when used alongside Western science.
"We know the reefs, we know how we connect with our Storyline and Danceline," he said.
"We work with biologists and marine park staff to share that knowledge."
He called on governments to provide more support for reef care initiatives driven by Traditional Owners.
"There needs to be more resources put in to support the reef - bleaching, coral regrowth, global warming - all those things impact it," he said.
"Government backing needs to increase if we're going to heal it."
The nomination, he said, is long overdue recognition for generations of connection and stewardship.
"This was a long wait. To be nominated for such an award - for a place we're connected to through our Song and Storyline and Danceline - that's a big reward in itself."
The biggest call to action for this project is to get everyone to sign their support at on the life time greatness website and to share their support with friends and family across socials.
