Photo (credit MAC): MAC Chairperson Peter Hicks and Vice Chairperson Belinda Churnside, with other members of the MAC delegation, shortly before flying out of Karratha Airport to Paris.
A delegation from the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) is on its way to Paris to await the final decision on its bid to secure World Heritage Listing for the Murujuga Cultural Landscape on theBurrup Peninsula and the islands of the Dampier Archipelago in North West Australia.
The trip to France is the culmination of an Indigenous-led process conducted over many years to meet the rigorous standards required to be awarded such immensely significant international recognition.
With the decision scheduled to be made by the UNESCO World Heritage committee during its annual meeting between 6-16 July, MAC, which represents the collective voice of Ngarda-Ngarli (Traditional Owners and Custodians for Murujuga), is very hopeful of receiving immediate inscription.
This will then commence the highest level of heritage protection and management available under Australian Law and ensure the landscape is protected for future generations.
“This is a long-awaited and immensely significant moment,” said MAC Chairperson, Mr Peter Hicks.
“This extraordinary landscape has been managed and cared for by our ancestors for more than 50,000 years and is a sacred, spiritual and deeply storied place.
“Its importance to the world cannot be understated with one of the most extensive and ancient collections of petroglyphs in the world and it provides a visual record of how our ancestors have lived, practiced their culture and interacted with this landscape over thousands of generations.”
The nomination for World Heritage listing has been assessed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) to be one of great quality and sensitivity, and has met every criteria and threshold for inscription, including a clear demonstration of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), integrity, authenticity and state of conservation, with adequate monitoring, protection and management systems.
It is also fully supported by the Australian and West Australian governments.
“We remain confident the World Heritage Committee will agree that the area’s physical heritage and intangible cultural values deserve to be acknowledged and protected through immediate inscription onto the World Heritage List,” said Mr Hicks.
For more information or media inquiries, please contact: communications@murujuga.org.au.