Defending Melanesian Land

Date published: 04 Aug 10
The Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA) was formed in Madang (PNG) in June 2009 to coordinate efforts in Melanesia to help traditional families maintain control over their own land.

The alliance was initiated by PNG’s Bismarck Ramu Group (BRG) and the Vanuatu Cultural Centre (VCC), and joined by representatives from several other PNG and Solomon Islands groups.

See below for a range of reports and resources produced by MILDA members and affiliates regarding customary land as well information on activities of Australian agencies that have their eyes on customary land. You can see more land-related resources on our Publications page by selecting “land” under “Category”.

The Mele Declaration 2010, The declaration of the second annual meeting of the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance, held at Mele village in Port Vila, Vanuatu, 14-19 June 2010

In Defence of Melanesian Customary Land edited by Tim Anderson and Gary Lee (April 2010)

The Pacific Genius - customary land presentation by Tim Anderson at Oceanic Transformations, the 3rd Conference of Australian the Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies (AAAPS), Victoria Universtiy, April 2010

DVD: Defending Melanesian Land + Sausi - village cooperation 

Our Land, Our Future: Melanesian Land Speaking Tour organised by AID/WATCH (March 2010)

The traditional economy as the source of resilience in Melanesia by Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu MP (August 2009)                              

MILDA created - The Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance by Tim Anderson (August 2009)

Understanding the relationship between people and land in PNG and the struggle to maintain these important relationships by Steven Sukot, BRG (June 2008)

 

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