The Australian government has nominated a remote peninsula that is home to one of the world’s largest collections of rock art for heritage listing.
Tanya Plibersek, minister for the environment and water, said on Friday that the government has formally put Murujuga Cultural Landscape in northern Western Australia (WA) forward for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.
Known as Murujuga in the local Indigenous language, the peninsula has been used continuously by Aboriginal people for 50,000 years and is home to more than 1 million rock art paintings.
If accepted, the 100,000-hectare area across land and sea would become the second site in Australia granted World Heritage status for its Indigenous cultural heritage.
“Murujuga is a natural wonder of the world — a place for all Australians to reflect on years of continuous living culture,” Plibersek said in a statement.
“This deeply storied landscape contains a rich assemblage of tangible and intangible cultural attributes, including one of the densest and most diverse collections of petroglyphs in the world.”
It comes amid fears of the impact nearby industrial development could have on the peninsula.
The nomination was prepared by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) in collaboration with the federal and state governments.
“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,” MAC chief executive Peter Jeffries said.
UNESCO’s assessment will take at least 18 months, meaning the nomination will be considered by the World Heritage Committee in mid-2024 at the earliest.
