WA peninsula famed for its rock art nominated for world heritage listing
A remote peninsula close to a controversial gas processing facility has been nominated by the federal government for world heritage status.
A hundred thousand acres on the Burrup Peninsula, known to traditional custodians as Murujuga, would be the second site in Australia listed because of its First Nations heritage.
Murujuga is home to more than a million petroglyphs, ancient rock art considered sacred to local Indigenous people.
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There are more than a million examples of this rock art in Murujuga. Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
But the presence of a gas plant owned by Woodside puts this art at risk, traditional custodian Raelene Cooper said.
"We strongly support the World Heritage nomination - it should have happened years ago - but we are under no illusions that this will protect Murujuga from industrial damage due to Woodside's expanding Burrup Hub," she said.
"Support for this nomination from Woodside, Perdaman and the WA government is deeply hypocritical while they are at the same time pushing ahead with projects that will destroy the very cultural values the listing is supposed to protect."
Traditional custodians in the area believe pollution from the plant will cause acid rain that will damage the rock art.
Woodside operates a controversial gas facility near the proposed heritage site. AFR
Whether the art would be damaged by pollutants from the plant is a matter for debate.
Nevertheless, the listing has been celebrated by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
"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," she said in a statement.
"Murujuga is a natural wonder of the world – a place for all Australians to reflect on years of continuous living culture."
UNESCO will take 18 months to consider the application, among many others, and will make a decision next year.
The peninsula, formerly known as Dampier Island, is in the Pilbara north of Karratha.
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