Burrup Peninsula: Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek confirms application lodged for UNESCO heritage status

Part of the Burrup Peninsula could become world heritage listed in a bid to strengthen protections for the Murujuga cultural landscape and its extensive rock art collection.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and her WA counterpart Reece Whitby announced on Friday they applied to UNESCO in January to have the site added to the world heritage list.

The nomination was jointly prepared by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and WA Government, with support from the Commonwealth and technical experts, and covers nearly 100,000 hectares of land and sea.

Business has also welcomed the application for the listing with UNESCO to better preserve indigenous rock art and artefacts in the area.

The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation’s board said the nomination was an opportunity to take people on a journey through “the ancient, deeply storied and significant place called Murujuga”.

“This is a journey through time and across vast and changing tracts of land and sea country,” the board said in a statement.

“The story of this Ngurra is one that starts at the very dawn of creation and documents the travels of ancestral spirits from when the earth was soft, thousands of generations of Ngarda-Ngarli living and caring for this country, and the strength and survival of our law and culture during periods of remarkable change.”

The area in north-western WA contains evidence of continual culture and practice in the area for at least 50,000 years.

This includes an estimated 1-2 million images across the area – the densest known concentration of hunter-gatherer petroglyphs in the world.

The inclusion of Burrup Peninsula would see it come part of the broader UNESCO region which includes Purnululu National Park, Shark Bay, the Ningaloo Coast and Fremantle Prison.

Peter Jeffries, chief executive of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, said the Ngarda-Ngarli people have aspired to world heritage listing of the lands for more than two decades.

They want their traditional knowledge and lore to be placed at the centre of decision-making, governance and management of the region, he said.

“We see inscription on the world heritage list as a mechanism to support what we have always done – share knowledge, protect our sacred places and ensure that we are in the best position to respond to the needs of Country,” Mr Jeffries said.

Mr Whitby said the nomination was the culmination of more than four years of work and reaffirmed the joint commitment to protecting such a culturally and spiritually significant area.

Ms Plibersek said she was delighted to be able to formally support the nomination.

“Murujuga is a natural wonder of the world — a place for all Australians to reflect on years of continuous living culture. The cultural attributes attest to a long and continuing presence, and rich cultural connections between people, beliefs, and landscape,” she said.

She anticipated UNESCO would make a decision by the middle of 2024.

A number of companies including Woodside Energy, Yara Pilbara and Perdaman have confirmed support for the application.

Initial concerns were raised it could thwart expansion at Woodside’s North West Shelf project and Pluto LNG plant, and the development of Perdaman’s $4.5 billion urea plant.

However, Woodside noted it was supportive of the listing if it was on the basis of heritage and industry coexisting.

“Woodside was the first industry participant based on Murujuga to publicly endorse the World Heritage Listing, and since then we have been consistent and unwavering in our support, including support for the proposed World Heritage Property boundary which overlaps our leases,” a Woodside spokeswoman said.

Mr Whitby said the companies operating in the area “have international brands which they want to protect” and had added their names to the document as saying they wanted the area protected.

“This area is outside strategic industrial areas, it’s 100,000 hectares. There’s an area larger, much larger than that where we’ve had industrial activity for decades and decades and we’ve managed that coexistence very well in the past,” he said.

University of Western Australia Centre of Rock Art Research director Jo McDonald said it was an important step for better biodiversity and cultural protection in the region.

“Today marks an important step in the journey to inscribe the outstanding universal values of Murujuga, which will increase the recognition and protection for this important cultural land and seascape,” Professor McDonald said.