Australian finalists for Prince William's Earthshot Prize 'nervous but excited'

The Indigenous Desert Alliance supports desert mob care for country. ( Supplied: IDA/ Andre Sawenko )

An alliance of 70 Indigenous ranger groups who use traditional knowledge to manage Australia's bushfire risks are finalists in Prince William's Earthshot Prize.

They have been recognised for their work to reduce fuel loads and restore biodiversity across the Australian desert.

Winners in five categories will be announced in Mumbai on November 17, each taking away a prize worth $1.9 million.

Indigenous rangers responsible for one of the largest cultural burning programs in the world have been named finalists for Prince William's Earthshot Prize.

The prize, which comes with $1.9 million to support each winner's work, aims to reward environmental projects "that will drive significant progress towards repairing the planet".

The alliance celebrated its 10th anniversary with a conference at Uluru in 2024. ( Supplied: IDA/ Salty Davenport )

Samantha Murray, CEO of the Indigenous Desert Alliance (IDA), said she was proud the network of 70 ranger teams across Central Australia had been given global recognition.

"To be recognised on such a massive scale is something that we work really hard at, to make sure that desert rangers are known, they're heard, they're seen."

More than 150 judges selected the IDA from among 7,000 nominations from 169 countries, with Ms Murray admitting she was "slightly nervous, but really excited" about the alliance's prospects.

In the past four years the alliance has engaged 1,300 Indigenous participants, trained 885 rangers and managed fuel loads and restored biodiversity across 145 million hectares of land — an area four times the size of Germany.

Sam Murray says desert rangers are integral to climate talks. ( ABC: Nicholas Martyr )

Ms Murray, a proud Yilka, Wongutha and Nyoongar woman, said the Right Way Fire program, which combines cultural and Western ways of burning, was key to their nomination for the prize.

The rangers conduct targeted burns to create a mosaic of vegetation which reduces fuel loads, improves native habitats and lessens the risk of large, destructive bushfires.

"Those ways of reading country are when to burn, who to burn by the right people, what times, what weather, what country," Ms Murray said.

She said alliance, formed more than a decade ago, relied on land management practices developed and passed down over tens of thousands of years.

"It really just helped to elevate the way my desert people have been connecting for a very, very long time across different country," she said.

"It's really big about making sure we're continuing that caring for country from our ancestors and our elders, for ourselves and our children."

Nyikina Mangala Rangers from the Kimberley region conduct burning. ( Supplied: IDA/ Ewan Noakes )

Rangers across the desert carry out culturally informed fire management. ( Supplied: IDA/ Ngurrara Rangers )

Prince William created the Earthshot Prize in 2020, saying he wanted to reward new ideas and technologies for tackling climate change .

Earthshot Prize CEO Jason Knauf said the prince would be among those who decided who would win in Mumbai in November.

"I think he was absolutely amazed by just the scale [of IDA's work]," he said.

"To have one initiative that is protecting 2.7 million square kilometres — we haven't seen anything like that in the previous six years."

The first Earthshot award ceremony was held in 2021 in London. ( Supplied: Reuters/ Henry Nicholls )

The IDA is one of three finalists in Earthshot's "protect and restore nature" category.

It is up against the Himalayan country Bhutan, which has enshrined environmental protection in its constitution, and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative which protects habitats along the Rocky Mountains on the Canada-US border.

Jason Knauf says there is strong competition for the 2026 prize. ( ABC: Scott Preston )

Mr Knauf said investing in the knowledge of Indigenous people was key to meeting the global commitment of protecting and conserving 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030.

"Indigenous communities right around the world who are protecting a disproportionate share of the land that we all rely on for our economy … have the deep knowledge about what is going to work in the face of climate change."

If the IDA won, Ms Murray said the funds would boost the alliance's fire protection work, as well as increase the grants available for projects such as trips on country for intergenerational knowledge transfer or ranger exchanges.

She would like to see more desert communities having a "visible presence" in global conversations about climate change.

"We can't ignore the impacts of climate change and how it's impacting and shaping country a little bit differently and making it much harder for desert rangers out there," she said.

The Queensland Indigenous Womens Ranger Network protects the Great Barrier Reef. ( Supplied: BBC )

Australia has been a strong contender for the prize in the past, with the Indigenous Women Rangers Network in Queensland winning the "revive our oceans" category in 2022.

Local finalists have also included the world's first fully upcycled skyscraper Quay Quarter Tower, the Sydney Institute of Marine Science's living seawalls project, and an Australian-owned cattle and sheep feed supplement which used seaweed.

The great desert skink is being protected. ( Supplied: IDA/Karenza Sunfly )

Mr Knauf said he hoped the recognition would mean the work of the Indigenous Desert Alliance would be shared worldwide.

"We get our whole global network behind them to scale, replicate their work and really champion what they're doing on a global stage," he said.

"We say that we want our finalist to be the loudest voice in any room that they walk into and we help them to achieve that."