The participants of Mutitjulu and the Mala Gate, which they painted themselves.

Mutitjulu 2005

A community and environmental success

“...the Park and the Community have socially benefited as a whole due to a sense of pride of young people working, older people acknowledging that work ...learning skills that can lead to future employment prospects. We acknowledge and recognise the importance of this programme so highly that we have nominated at least eight graduates and the Co-ordinator for the Park's Inaugural Award for Excellence.” Emma Lee, Natural and Cultural Resources Manager, Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park

Communities across regional and rural Australia are looking for ways to get young people in meaningful work and training that keep them engaged at a local level. Job Futures + Green Corps provides a great focus for a community's young people while delivering real environmental outcomes.

Mutitjulu is a remote community at the foot of Uluru in the arid heart of Australia. We ran two Green Corps projects in the community in 2004 and 2005.

Right from the start, the project was about the community. Projects emerged as the Green Corps youth talked among themselves and with elders.

The Green Corps youth talked among themselves and with community Elders about what the community needed.

  • The college requested a bush tucker garden.
  • The primary school wanted some shade trees.
  • The team built a shaded Meeting Place
  • The girls decorated some telegraph poles.

But this wasn't about doing odd jobs for the community. This was about young people positively engaging with their needs and the area's environmental needs. This included:

  • Working to eradicate introduced grasses such as Buffel, Ruby Dock and cooch grass
  • Contolling feral animals
  • Rockhole maintenance, rock art restoration as well protecting these sites from any future damage as a result of vandalism, fire damage and many other environmental elements.
  • Fencing 5 HA of paddock built to reintroduce the threatened Mala species back into the region.

Thomas Konieczny, Project Manager at the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park is blunt about what Green Corps has done for this community. "Last month three kids on the community tried to commit suicide. By keeping kids occupied, Green Corps is saving lives."

The photograph shows the participants of Mutitjulu in front of the Mala gate, which they painted themselves.

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