#TheNewSuperheroes – Amelia Telford

The 2015 Young Conservationist of the Year, has created an environmental network that has given a voice to Aboriginal youth.

Amelia Telford, a young Aboriginal and South Sea Islander woman from Bundjalung country is the National Co-Director of the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network. Amelia is passionate about supporting a national grassroots network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to protect our land, culture and communities from the impacts of climate change and fossil fuel extraction

and be a part of creating positive change for our people. Amelia was awarded National NAIDOC Youth of Year in 2014, Bob Brown’s Young Environmentalist for the Year 2015 and Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year 2015 for her commitment to building a more just and sustainable future for all young people.

“My story stems from where I grew up,” Telford says. “When I joined AYCC I started learning more about the impacts of climate change, and in particular the injustice—that those most vulnerable to the impacts have often done the least to cause the issue.”

“In Australia, that’s often Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and low socio-economic communities—and these are the people I know and care about and feel connected to.”I couldn’t look past the fact that the climate movement was being led by non-Indigenous people and people who weren’t on the front line in terms of impacts,” she says.

It is amazing to see this young lady making a huge impact within society. For more check out Seed or Amelia’s Twitter.

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