Sandy Greenwood and Susie Russell shared the Dunphy Award, given to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to the conservation of the NSW Environment, and courageously challenged government and non-government decision-makers.

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The award is in honour of Myles and Milo Dunphy.

Myles Dunphy (1891-1985) campaigned for national parks and wilderness in NSW and Myles’ son, Milo (1928-1996), led the fight to preserve the Colong Caves and the Kanangra-Boyd wilderness.

Ms Greenwood is a First Nations actor, voice artist, writer, director and cultural consultant.

In 2020, she became the first Aboriginal woman in history to take Forestry Corporation NSW to the Land and Environment Court, where she won, protecting significant Gumbaynggirr cultural heritage.

Ms Greenwood was instrumental in two successful campaigns to halt logging in both Nambucca and Newry State Forest on NSW’s Mid North Coast.

She made her directing debut with a film, ‘Murruy’, about campaigns to protect the Nambucca and Newry State Forests.

Raised on Bowraville Mission and the eldest child of a Stolen Generations survivor, Ms Greenwood is the first person in her family to go to university, graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in Theatre from Queensland University of Technology in 2002.

She has worked for Australia’s leading theatre companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Belvoir Theatre and has tread the boards internationally for the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City and the Seattle Children’s Theatre Company in Washington.

As a Gumbaynggirr custodian and native title holder, she was raised on her traditional homelands, speaking her language, practising her culture and advocating for the protection of her land.

“All those nominated and selected as winners demonstrate the heart and drive that goes into fighting the good fight,” Ms Greenwood said.

“It’s not always an easy path to take and so it’s vital that we honour the determination needed to keep showing up to protect country.”

Susie Russell’s passion for forest protection was sparked in 1992 when she first visited an old growth forest.

She was awed by its magnificence and shocked that living beings hundreds of years old could be destroyed.

Since then she has volunteered for the North East Forest Alliance and has represented conservation interests on numerous committees, including as Chair of the Board of the Forest Stewardship Council (Australia) as well as important roles in the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA), North Coast Environment Council and more recently the Rainforest Information Centre.

Ms Russell has devoted her considerable expertise and networking skills to keeping these organisations functioning, while also being an active and effective campaigner and lobbyist.

Her roles have varied from organising forest actions and community surveys, to catering for the Coffs Harbour koala conference and assisting the Trees Not Bombs cafe after the disastrous 2002 Lismore floods.

She has supported NEFA’s recent court challenges and been instrumental in organising advertising as a third party campaigner in the last two state elections.

“There have been some successes along the way but there is much to do,” Ms Russell said.

“So, there is no retiring in the foreseeable future, because the future facing our forests at the moment is dire.”

By Andrew VIVIAN