The State Government has announced a plan to create five million hectares of new national and marine parks and reserves across Western Australia.
The Plan for Our Parks will see new and expanded parks from the Kimberley in the north, across WA’s Rangelands, through population centres in Perth and Bunbury, to our south-west forests and along our southern coastline. This will create more opportunities for nature-based and cultural tourism, provide enhanced biodiversity conservation and build on Aboriginal joint management throughout Western Australia.
The bid to progress the Murujuga World Heritage nomination is advancing, with the first meeting of a newly formed Murujuga World Heritage Committee in Karratha today.
The committee includes representatives from the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) and traditional owner groups, State and Federal governments and The University of Western Australia's Centre for Rock Art Research and Management.
The heritage committee will work to capture the unique cultural, spiritual and archaeological values of Murujuga, which is home to one of the world's highest concentration of rock art engravings, or petroglyphs.
It will provide ongoing advice and direction on the World Heritage nomination to ensure that the area's values are clearly articulated and embodied in the World Heritage nomination.
Public comment is being sought on the draft joint management plan for the proposed conservation and recreation reserves along the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Coast.The Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) coastal reserves draft joint management plan 2019 covers 70,400 hectares of coast, including the terrestrial portion of Ningaloo Marine Park and adjacent unallocated Crown land from Red Bluff to Winderabandi.
The creation of the proposed reserves will enable conservation of the significant natural and cultural values along the coast, and importantly provide ongoing access and recreational opportunities for all Western Australians and other visitors.
The area will be jointly managed by the Gnulli native title claimants and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, with an Indigenous Land Use Agreement expected to be finalised this year.
The draft management plan is available at https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au and open for comment until May 14, 2019.
