The park covers almost 20, square kilometres, making it the largest national park in the entire country. The majority of the park on traditional lands, the local Indigenous people, or traditional owners.
They continue to manage the park in partnership with Parks Australia, and have a huge say in what happens with the future of the park. These people have lived in Kakadu for more than 50, years, making them the oldest living culture on earth.
Some Indigenous people still live traditionally on the land. With extensive and relatively unmodified natural vegetation and largely intact faunal composition, the park provides a unique opportunity to investigate large-scale evolutionary processes in a relatively intact landscape.
Criterion x : The park is unique in protecting almost the entire catchment of a large tropical river and has one of the widest ranges of habitats and greatest number of species documented of any comparable area in tropical northern Australia.
The property encompasses all the natural and cultural attributes necessary to convey its outstanding universal value. The rock art and archaeological sites are not under threat. The natural attributes of the property are in good condition, with pressures from adjacent land uses, invasive species and tourism needing ongoing attention. Some past land degradation from small-scale mining and over-stocking that occurred in the area that was included in the property in has been addressed through restoration measures.
As is the case for many protected areas, the straight-line boundaries of Kakadu are artificial ones. They relate to a long history of administrative land use decisions with the Northern Territory Government and the Arnhem Land aboriginal reservation. Although the South Alligator River drainage basin is contained within the park, headwaters of other rivers lie outside. There are also important natural values in the Cobourg Peninsula and in some of the coastal wetlands to the west of the park. There are mining interests adjacent to the property, and the long-term aspects of waste disposal and eventual recovery required ongoing attention and scrutiny.
In addition to the uranium mine at Ranger, which is excised from the property, there is one other excised lease at Jabiluka which is located close to an important floodplain inside the park. A third previously excised area at Koongarra was incorporated into the property in , at the request of the State Party and the Traditional Owner.
Large areas of Kakadu are virtually inaccessible to people other than the Indigenous traditional owners, and the Indigenous and non-Indigenous national park managers. Cultural sites are therefore subject to little interference. The property is well protected by legislation and is co-managed with the Aboriginal traditional owners, which is an essential aspect of the management system. These arrangements ensure that the park has effective legal protection, a sound planning framework and that management issues are addressed.
It aims to protect the values of the World Heritage properties, including from impacts originating outside the property. By law, any action that has, will have, or is likely to have, a significant impact on the values of the World Heritage property, must be referred to the responsible Minister for consideration.
Penalties apply for taking such an action without approval, and the Act has been tested in court in relation to protection of the values of World Heritage properties. Once a heritage place is listed, the Act provides for the preparation of management plans which set out the significant heritage aspects of the place and how the values of the site will be managed. In , Kakadu was added to the National Heritage List, in recognition of its national heritage significance under the Act.
For over a decade, discussions continued with Aboriginal communities from the area and traditional owners about the declaration. It was during this time that the name Kakadu was first suggested as recognition of Gaagudju a local Aboriginal language. It is one of only four places in Australia with a mixed listing.
It made the list in In , and additional areas of the park were also recognised. The park describes itself as a culturally living landscape. Look out for them along the Maguk Road and in the southern part of the park in general. By the end of each tropical summer, the speargrass lining our roads has grown over three metres high.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. For schools. Things to do. Shops and facilities. Plan your trip. Ranger tips. When to come.
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