Western Australia’s Ningaloo Coast has been given the highest level of international recognition with its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its striking landscapes and biological diversity.
Western Australia’s Ningaloo Coast has been given the highest level of international recognition with its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its striking landscapes and biological diversity.
It is the 19th place in Australia to be recognised on the World Heritage List, covering more than 600,000 hectares and stretching over 200 kilometres.
Premier Colin Barnett said the Ningaloo Coast was nominated for World Heritage listing by the federal government with the support of the state government, for its natural beauty and biological richness.
“Visitors to the region have the opportunity to encounter one of the world’s largest aggregations of whale sharks, as well as marine mammals, turtles and manta rays, and many rare and diverse plants and animals found within Cape Range,” Mr Barnett said.
Environment Minister Bill Marmion said research showed that each year visitors to the Ningaloo Marine Park and Cape Range National Park injected more than $140 million into the Gascoyne region’s economy.
Mr Marmion said the state government would remain principally responsible for management and decision making in the area, in consultation with local governments, pastoralists, landholders and the community.
“The ownership of land and the way lands and waters are managed will not change under the World Heritage listing,” Mr Marmion said.
Ningaloo pastoralists said they were pleased with UNESCO’s decision to maintain the existing 40-metre boundary of the Ningaloo Marine Park to allow them to continue their custodial activities.
Pastoralists and Graziers’ Association president Rob Gillam said that for more than 120 years pastoralists had been the primary guardians of the Ningaloo coastline.
“The PGA has been fighting for the exclusion zone to remain at 40 metres above the high-water mark, despite the federal government proposing a far greater terrestrial component, which would have taken in some of the prime grazing areas in the Ningaloo area,” Mr Gillam said.
While Tourism Council WA CEO Evan Hall has welcomed the UNESCO listing, he expressed concern it could harm sustainable tourism if not applied correctly.
“Tourism operators have to jump through the same legal hoops to pitch a safari tent as a mining giant goes through to do oil and gas exploration,” Mr Hall said.
“The bureaucracy and regulation can kill off the creation of new sustainable eco-tourism experiences.”
Shark Bay, Purnululu National Park and Fremantle Prison are the only other WA sites that are World Heritage listed.
