What detoxes CO2 out of the air, regenerates the soil, needs little pesticide or water and helps prevent deforestation?Hemp is a strain of Cannabis Sativa that contains only a trace of the psychoactive THC. Numerous products come from hemp including paper, cloth, medicines, food, building materials and animal feed. Yet in Australia we grown little hemp and import these hemp products.Regeneration boffin and soil scientist Walter Jehne with Nimbin Hemp Embassy and Hemp Party campaigners: Caroline Todd and Michael Balderstone outline some of the benefits of growing this age old multi-use plant and how the war against recreational Cannabis has stopped and held back Australian farmers from growing it in Australia to the detriment of the forests, soils and the climate.This weeks show No. 1270 was produced by Bec HorridgeLinks:Regenerate Earth Nimbin Hemp Embassy Hemp PartyAgrifutures Hemp growers surveyMusic:NAIDOC 2019 Redfern March video by Peter Boyle from Green Left.  This weeks show No. 1270 was produced by Bec Horridge

Indigenous Environment Network: Soil not OilThe Indigenous Environmental Network presents at the Soil not Oil conference 2020 on Indigenous traditional farming, loss of biodiversity and disease, and changing paradigms away from a fossil fuel economy.Moderator: Tom Goldtooth (Dine'-Dakota & Indigenous Environment Network Director)Guests:Ed Mendoza (Xikano-Nahuatl Indigenous market farmer/permaculturalist, teacher & activist); Linda Black Elk (Dukha-Catawba ethnobotanist & food sovereignty activist) Dallas Goldtooth (Isanti Dakota-Dine’ and & Indigenous Environment Network Campaign Organiser)Earth Matters #1273 was produced by Nicky Stott*webinar audio sourced with thanks from the Soil not Oil Conference

Against Eco-fascism: an environmentalism without nature [encore]    We often think of environmental politics as inherently progressive and humane.  But from more mainstream far right parties with a presence in national parliaments to marginal but equally dangerous lone actors and dispersed groups organising on the internet, environmental questions are growing in importance  and are becoming central to their political platforms.  The environmental movement  with a liberatory outlook needs to be vigilant against the increased use of ecological concerns by rightwing governments and fascist groups alike.  This week on Earth Matters, we speak to Nic Beuret. An academic and activist, based in the UK, who has written on the issue of the far right and ecological politics in the era of climate change.   Earth Matters #1268 (#1209) was produced by Teishan and Alex.

The Martuwarra or Fitzroy River in the Kimberely, WA, is one of the last pristine rivers on Earth, but farming magnates are seeking to open up this unique ecosystem to irrigation and undermine decades of community action to protect this river system.  Guests: Dr Anne Poelina, Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner and Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River CouncilMartin Pritchard, Director of Environs KimberleyMonique Barker, Campaign Coordinator of Kimberley - Like Nowhere Else Sign the petition to protect the Martuwarra - Fitzroy Riverhttps://www.environskimberley.org.au/protect_fitzroy This week's show is #1267 and was produced by Megan Williams

12 months on from the start of last year's horror bushfire season, four experts discuss what we can learn from last summer's fires to better protect not just property and assets, but Australia's biodiversity and threatened species in future fire seasons.'The impacts (of the fires) on biodiversity is greater than any other single event in our lifetime... They've set back years of work by individuals, community groups and governments on the recovery of nature in Australia...These bushfires were a dreadful event, but they were also an opportunity. They show us the future, a dystopia we need to try to prevent.'- Professor John Woinarski, Deputy Director of the Threatened Species Research Hub Original webinar hosted by: Threatened Species Recovery Hub Guests: John Woinarski, deputy director, Threatened Species Recovery HubOliver Costello, Bunjalung man and CEO, Firesticks AllianceVanessa Westcott, ecologist, Bush Heritage AustraliaDavid Karoly, leader, Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub

Guardians of the Forest: Indigenous youth global call outThis week on Earth Matters four young indigenous rights activists from around the world discuss impacts of COVID on their communities, and on their environmental campaigns and struggles. They put the call out for young people around the world to unite now in solidarity and fight the global establishment in the face of climate crisis. (recorded webinar)Moderaters: Xiye Bastida (Mexican/Chilean climate activist) & Isaias Hernandez (Queer Brown Vegan)Guests: Maria Jose Bejarano de Oliveira (Chiquitano Nation & Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia & COICA—Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin)Walela Txai Surui (Paiter Suruí lawyer & Indignoeus rights activist)Jakob Siringoringo (Batak Toba & Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago)Militza Flaco (Emberá Nation & Embera Wounaan Youth Organization of Panama) Earth Matters #1265 was produced by Nicky Stott*audio sourced with thanks from a webinar by Guardians of the Forest & Youth 4 Nature to amplify and promote the “Roots that heal” fundraiser to support the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities

The school strikers for climate action are back!   Rosie and Jimmy will tell you clearly what  they want.  Into the lawns of Parliament House Canberran,  they plant hundreds of  placards made by school students  protesting against Morrisons gas led recovery and for renewable energy.  " I have had to miss out on my school and learning  so that I can do the job the adults are  meant to be doing."  Jimmy,School Striker                     When the challenges we face seem huge, it is reassuring to talk to some who has been campaigning  longer than most.  Margaret Blakers advises  on why legal responsibility for  the environment  must  ultimately remain with the  federal government   and not  be handed over to the state governments.          "It has to be on the desk of the prime minister  of the country if koalas are going to be sent extinct."   Margaret Blakers                                 She calls for a referendum on the environment and stares down the gas led recovery outing it as expensive  and  "stupid". Guests: Margaret Blakers              School Strikers: Jimmy and Rosie:  Music: The Formidable Vegetables: The Climate Movement Links:Womens Environmental Leadership Australia  School Strike for Climate Australia Earth Matters    #1264 was produced by Bec Horridge

Not-so-golden rice: Agro-imperialism in a time of COVID-19 (Part 3—Final)The Gates Foundation funded project ‘Golden Rice’ is an unnecessary and unwanted GMO technology driven by big agriculture corporations purely for profit. It endangers agrobiodiversity, self-determination and community health in the global south. Agroecologists & small-medium/peasant farmer networks have been campaigning against the propagation and commercialisation of Golden Rice since the mid-2000s via protest and direct action resistance.But in the looming COVID-19 recession—as the UN predicts the worst global food crisis in more than 50 years—corporate agri-imperialists are shamelessly taking advantage by amping up Golden Rice hype as a “solution” to the worsening hunger and malnutrition associated with the pandemic.This is the final episode of a three part series featuring concerned activists from the Stop Golden Rice Network speaking at an urgent online forum to commemorate the International Day of Action Against Golden Rice. Speakers:Sarojeni Rengam (Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific) on anti GMO & Stop Golden Rice resistance movement.Neth Daño (ETC Group) how big tech philanthro-capitalists like the Gates Foundation are commandeering global food systems.  Earth Matters #1263 was produced by Nicky StottLISTEN to Not-so-golden rice Part 1 hereLISTEN to Not-so-golden rice Part 2 here

At the beginning of the pandemic the Morrison Federal government announced the creation of the COVID commission. Stacked with mining and fossil fuel interests, it’s little surprise that now in September the government is pushing what it calls a ‘gas led recovery.’ But could a different COVID recovery be possible - or maybe even necessary?  On this week's show we talk with Dylan Goldsworthy from Workers for Climate Action Melbourne, about why we need to be organising in our workplaces and across our unions to fight for a just and sustainable future.  And then later in the show, it’s been 20 years since the protests against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, known as s11. We dig into the archives and listen back to 3CR’s coverage of the movements that came together with the message that another world is possible.  Earth Matters #1262 was produced by Teishan Ahearne.  Links:  Globalisation Unplugged  The NT Fight Against Fracking  School Strike for Climate  Materials for unionists for September 25  Workers for Climate Action Melbourne

NSW Upper House inquiry underway into impacts of dams in Murray Darling fast tracked by NSW Gov.The Murray-Darling supports RAMSAR wetlands and critical ecosystems for endangered fish & migratory birds and supplies food for millions. So whether you live near a project, downstream or elsewhere in Australia these projects effect you! This week on Earth Matters we hear from community members opposing the Wyangala Dam and Macquarie Re-regulating Weir as well and the NSW State Upper House Greens MP chairing the inquiry.Make a Submission by Sept 22ndhttps://www.melbournefoe.org.au/no_new_damsLearn more about Wiradjuri Culturehttps://burambabili.org/ GuestsMel Gray - Healthy Rivers DubboRaymond Woods - Wiradjuri ElderCate Faehrmenn - NSW Greens MPShow #1261 was produced by Megan Williams