Gunditjmara community in Australia wins UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri Prize for Cultural Landscapes

The 2023 edition of the Prize was awarded to the Gunditjmara community for its long-standing efforts to safeguard and manage the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, a property inscribed on the World Heritage List since 2019. The laureate will receive US$30,000 as prize.

The jury recognized the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape as an outstanding example of human interaction with the environment spanning over 6,000 years. The complex networks of aquaculture systems alongside traditional land and water management practices bear witness to the engineering skills passed on over generations. Cultural and social practices of the Gunditjmara community, including the harvesting of kooyang (short-finned eel), storytelling, dance and basket-weaving continue to thrive, with the preservation of local heritage enhancing both the livelihoods of the local community as well as the biological, cultural and agricultural diversity of the area.