Monday, July 27, 2026

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Overview

Chaired by Dale Chapman

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Details

‘A Deadly Solution: Towards an Indigenous-led Bushfood Industry’ is a collaborative, interdisciplinary, research project of Indigenous leaders, Traditional Custodians in three Aboriginal communities and university researchers. Together, we identify native plants on custodial lands to explore their potential for food, beverages, and horticulture. The project responds to the urgent need for economic opportunities for Indigenous Australians, while supporting community aspirations such as food security, protecting native plants, and looking after Country and culture. Our collective expertise spans Traditional Biocultural Knowledge, ethnobotany, health and food sciences, horticulture, bushfood industry development, e-technologies, agribusiness, and social science. Australia is home to thousands of endemic native plants with rich nutritional, medicinal, and cultural values. Yet only a small fraction has been commercially explored. Despite growing interest in bushfoods and botanicals, Aboriginal participation in these industries remains minimal. This project aims to increase Aboriginal involvement on Aboriginal terms - ensuring protection of Cultural and Intellectual Property, caring for Country, fostering cultural revitalisation and intergenerational learning, improving health and wellbeing, and creating skills and employment. Traditional Custodians retain ownership and management of the commercial intellectual property developed through this collaboration. A Deadly Solution aligns with Indigenous rights to self-determination, free prior and informed consent, mutually agreed terms, and benefit sharing. In this themed session, each community will share their journey, highlight how bushfoods and botanicals support cultural, social, land management, and business goals, and offer reflections for others pursuing similar collaborations. We will also outline governance structures that uphold the ISE Code of Ethics and support respectful, empowering research in line with the conference theme: Indigenous and Local Knowledge Connections.