Since 2016, Yandaarra has risen from of Gumbaynggirr Country, its stories, songlines and relationships. It brings together Gumbaynggirr Custodians, NRM practitioners, the Jaliigirr Biodiversity Alliance and Bellinger Landcare, and the University of Newcastle, to better understand and practice the learning from this, and other stories, songs and songlines of Gumbaynggirr Country, mid-north coast NSW.

The research collective has written 2 children’s books and several academic articles together. The stories and songs of this Country, such as the story of the Dunggirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale, and Yildaan: Our Dreaming Track, are more than a moral fable, they are Law/Lore, statements of more-than-human sovereignty, of legal orders and agreements, and of belonging with place. 

The Dunggirr Brothers and the Caring Song of the Whale was the 2022 Winner of the NSW Premier's History Awards, Young People's History Prize; short-listed for the 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Children's Literature, and short-listed for the 2023 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Indigenous Writers' Prize.

Yandaarra has previously held several immersive workshops with NRM practitioners, the Jaliigirr Biodiversity Alliance and Bellinger Landcare, on Gumbaynggirr Country to support practicing Caring for Country within natural resource management.

The Collective also participates in supporting the annual Buluunggul Festival at Nambucca Heads. Led by Uncle Bud Marshall, the Buluunggul (Mullet) Festival celebrated its fourth year Saturday 7 May, 2025. The festival aims to be a welcoming day where Gumbaynggirr custodians can share connections with Country and nourish relations with Buluunggul. The Festival celebrates the sculpture of Gumbaynggirr custodian Uncle Benji unveiled at the inaugural Buluunggul Festival in 2022. The Buluunggul Festival