For First Nation people around the world, water and land are life. It is not just a source of livelihood, but it tells their story and holds their cultural identity. Large extractive projects such as mining can pose significant environmental threats to their living environment. In particular, tailings waste can cause massive environmental damage in areas of high rainfall and seismic activity or on small islands where options to store the tailings are limited. Many mines proposed in the Pacific region fall into one of these two categories, meaning that the negative impacts often outweigh the economic benefits, which are in any case, usually exaggerated.

Australia has the second-largest overseas mining impact globally and Australian mining companies are at the forefront of pushing projects with grave risks and questionable benefits. Local communities often object, but companies can use various methods by which to force or manufacture community consent. We work together with local communities to defend their lands and support their right to determine what happens on it.