Melbourne Rainforest Action Group (MRAG) is a dedicated local group of volunteers based in Melbourne and Tasmania, Australia.

Supported by and working alongside RIC, MRAG has taken on the main part of driving the Ecuador Endangered campaign over the past five years.

MRAG focuses on bringing attention to the Australian mining companies who have investment in Ecuador - their behaviour both overseas and within Australia. 

Check out MRAG's website for the latest updates, reports, maps and how to get involved!

IMARC protests, 2019

What MRAG has achieved 2018-2022 and ongoing 

• Pulling off direct actions in Melbourne in 2018 and 2019: at BHP's head office and IMARC (International Mining and Resources Conference) at the Crown, along with LASNET (Latin American Solidarity Network)
• Creating interactive maps of Australian mining concessions in Ecuador, including Google Earth overlays with indigenous territories and protected forest areas 
• Creating reports about each of the five major Australian mining companies who have concessions in Ecuador. These have been translated into Spanish and are being distributed far and wide by local environmental and human rights organisations as we speak. All PDFs can be found on MRAG's website (eg summary of BHP in Ecuador).
• Allocating thousands of dollars from the Ecuador Endangered crowdfund to frontline organisations in Ecuador and towards building the campaign in Australia 
• Joining the global alliance Yes to Life, No to Mining

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History of MRAG

Many of RIC's actions in the early decades were carried by Rainforest Action Groups (RAGs) all over the country.

The original Melbourne RAG was hugely active and successful between 1985-1992. Most significantly, they campaigned against the importation of tropical rainforest hardwoods from Malaysia, managing to reduce this by 80% (hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of timber).

For some great visuals of this campaign, which attracted worldwide media attention, check out MRAG's video on YouTube.

In 2018, MRAG underwent a renaissance, with old activists and fresh volunteers coming on board after a couple of kick ass fundraisers for Ecuador's rainforests.

Again - check out MRAG's website for the latest updates, reports, maps and how to get involved (:

Solidarity in Australia: Speaker at blockade of IMARC (International Mining and Resources Conference) in Melbourne, 2019 - Tjiwarl woman Vicky Abdullah. Image: MRAG