Ecological Conversion and the Murray River - Towards a Changed Relation with a Great River System

There is a long-standing exigence for a changed relationship with the Earth and its community of life. In the Australian context, neglect of the Murray River manifests in the alteration of its natural flow regimes and the over extraction of its waters, creating an unhealthy, unsustainable, dying river. The last 150 years of water resource development and river regulation and control has completely changed the condition of the river system. Those who feel a deep sense of connection to the river, especially the local indigenous peoples, cry for change in the way the river is treated. They call to abandon our habitual attitude of neglect and to embrace, instead, the practice of care, respect, solidarity and responsibility.