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We Are The Riverkeepers
What if every river - no matter where you traveled - was clean enough to swim in, drink from, and sustain life?
We Are The Riverkeepers is a powerful new podcast dedicated to protecting and celebrating the world’s waterways. Created with Richmond Riverkeeper Association and hosted by Presenter, Author and Storyteller Mel Bampton, this series dives into the essential role rivers play - not just in our ecosystems, but in our lives, our stories, and our survival.
Through thorough conversations with environmentalists, scientists, Indigenous leaders, artists, and activists, we explore both the beauty and the urgency of river protection. From the tributaries of the Richmond River to the great arteries of the world, we ask:
If the rivers could speak, what would they say?
This podcast goes beyond environmentalism to reveal how the health of our rivers is deeply connected to our emotional, social, physical, and cultural well-being. Clean rivers support biodiversity, secure drinking water, food supply, recreation, and climate resilience. They also offer something more intangible: a sense of place, purpose, and spiritual connection.
In a world facing ecological crisis, We Are The Riverkeepers brings hope, action, and connection. We’re amplifying the voices of those on the front lines of river protection and inviting everyone - you included - to join us in the riverkeeping revolution.
You, me, We Are The Riverkeepers.
Join us:
Listen, Rate, Review and Subscribe.
Follow @RichmondRiverkeeper
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This podcast has been made possible with support from the Australian Government through the Emergency Response Fund, administered by NSW Reconstruction Authority's Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program 2022-23. Delivered by North Coast Regional Landcare Network through the Caring for Catchments project.
Let’s work together, to make rivers swimmable, fishable and drinkable, worldwide. You, me, We Are The Riverkeepers
We Are The Riverkeepers
How Rivers Connect Us To Past, Present And Each Other with Rhoda Roberts
Rhoda Roberts is from a long-line of patient, powerful First Nations people, innovators and advocates, who have created newspapers, radio, cultural and healing hubs, spaces and services to overcome the profound and ongoing impacts of colonisation. Rhoda holds was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the performing arts, leadership, advocacy and promoting contemporary Indigenous culture. She holds too many awards to mention here.
Rhoda was the founder and Artistic Director of the Festival of the Dreaming, Sydney Dreaming Festival and the Dreaming Festival (1995-2009), co-founder and Artistic Director of the QPAC Clancestry Festival and was Garma Festival’s festival director in 2010.
In 1989, she presented the SBS Television program First In Line becoming the first Indigenous presenter on prime-time television , she produced and was broadcaster of the national weekly radio program Deadly Sounds and also worked for Network 10 and ABC Radio National. Rhoda Roberts was the first Indigenous person to present a prime time current affairs program.
In 1997 she founded the Festival of the Dreaming, and in 2000 was appointed Indigenous Cultural Advisor for the Olympic Games in Sydney and in 2012 was appointed head of Indigenous programming at the Sydney Opera House – these are just a few of Rhoda’s phenomenal contributions.
Rhoda and her family have experienced the most extreme ends of racial profiling and racial violence, resulting in the murder of her twin sister Lois, yet Rhoda continues her work to dismantle discrimination and to care for Country through arts and culture. Her most recent one-woman show is called My Cousin Frank she currently holds the position of Cultural Lead at the Koori Mail and she is a powerful voice for her region, through which some of the most significant rivers in NSW flow.
Rhoda Roberts is an Elder and one of the most important voices for the rivers of Bundjalung Country. This conversation is a privilege. It will touch on cultural knowledge, practical solutions and ways to keep enduring (and hoping) in order to find a better way forward for rivers into the future and for the generations to come.
🌱 Follow Richmond Riverkeepers
🌱 Follow host Mel Bampton
Follow, Rate and Review We Are The Riverkeepers on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts
This podcast has been made possible with support from the Australian Government through the Emergency Response Fund, administered by NSW Reconstruction Authority's Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program 2022-23. Delivered by North Coast Regional Landcare Network through the Caring for Catchments project. Let’s work together, to make rivers swimmable, fishable and drinkable, worldwide. You, me, We Are The Riverkeepers