Kamaljit K Sangha

Associate Professor Kamaljit K Sangha is based at Charles Darwin University’s Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods. Her work focuses on transdisciplinary ecological economics, emphasizing Indigenous perspectives in ecosystem valuation, sustainable resource management, and policy development. She has collaborated extensively with Indigenous communities in northern Australia, developing frameworks that integrate ecological, economic, and social dimensions of well-being. Her research highlights the importance of Indigenous knowledge systems in conservation and disaster risk management.

Key research areas include ecosystem service valuation, Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) mechanisms, and the socio-ecological impacts of mining and climate change. Sangha has authored books such as Ways to Live in Harmony with Nature and co-edited Sustainable Land Sector Development in Northern Australia, advocating for local and sustainable economies. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to policy submissions on natural disaster resilience and Indigenous land management.

Her recent work explores Indigenous fire management’s role in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals and the challenges of environmental liability assessments in mining regions. Sangha’s methodologies emphasize two-way relationships between land and people, applying the capability approach to evaluate intangible cultural benefits of nature.

Her research also addresses global issues like conservation policy inequities in Tanzania and biodiversity hotspots in India. She advocates for Indigenous-led solutions to environmental challenges, emphasizing the need for policies that recognize Indigenous stewardship as central to sustainability.