Lake Eyre Basin Rivers vi It would be understandable for some to look at a map of the Lake Eyre Basin – see it so far removed from the east coast cities, occupying some of the harshest land on our harsh continent, of few roads, even fewer major population centres – and assume it to be of little consequence. Yet such short-sightedness neglects the Lake Eyre Basin’s value to the Northern Territory as the life-blood of rare, native wildlife remote communities and pastoralist enterprises and as a sacred source of stories for some of the oldest living cultures on earth. And this is to say nothing of its importance to the environmental wellbeing of the agricultural lands of our neighbours in South Australia and Queensland. The Lake Eyre Basin, covering about one-seventh of Australia’s land mass, matters, and that is why I am proud, in some small way, to add my name, encouragement and endorsement to this important work. This compilation seeks out those who rely on the Basin and those who understand its wider importance, blending the ‘human’ with the ‘strategic’, and in so doing presenting a much-needed and compelling case for continued vigilance and cooperation across state and federal lines to maintain the Basin’s vitality. Michael Gunner Chief Minister of the Northern Territory