Here’s a story that hits on both the major tenets of sustainable travel — cultural preservation and environmental stewardship.
The Sydney Morning Herald ran a story last month about Jeffery Lee, the sole remaining member of the Djok Clan and senior custodian of his ancestral lands at Koongarra, adjacent to Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory. Jeffery was recently approached by a French energy company who offered him $5 billion (AUD) to extract 14,000 tons of uranium from his land.
His response? “I’m not interested in white people offering me this or that … it doesn’t mean a thing. I’m not interested in money. I’ve got a job; I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That’s all that matters to me.”
Jeffery, described as a shy 36 year old, is a park ranger at Australia’s famed Kakadu Park, which his ancestral lands are very close to. He plans to have Koongarra become part of the park, which is listed as a World Heritage Site under UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).
From an environmental standpoint, Jeffery is saving his ancestral home from a hugely destructive process which would have rendered it inhabitable for generations to come. Culturally speaking, Jeffery hopes to make a statement that will ring true for many indigenous communities. “I want to talk about what I have decided to do because I fear for my country,” he said, “I was taken all through here on the shoulder of my grandmother … I heard all the stories and learnt everything about this land, and I want to pass it all on to my kids.”
Jeffery is unmarried and has no children to pass his legacy on to, but says, “I’ll have to see what I can do about that.”