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https://nit.com.au/06-08-2024/12928/nyamal-traditional-owners-celebrate-first-new-pilbara-conservation-estate-in-more-than-a-decade>
"Nyamal Traditional Owners are celebrating the creation of Purungunya
Conservation Park and Purungunya National Park — the first new conservation
estate created in the Pilbara for more than ten years.
East of Port Hedland, the park will be jointly managed by Nyamal Traditional
Owners and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions
(DBCA). Through joint-management, Nyamal people will make decisions with DBCA
about how their Country is managed. Nyamal Traditional Owners will be engaged
in a variety of positions across the new parks, including in management and as
rangers.
The Nyamal People have traditional rights in around 35,000 square kilometres of
land in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Tuesday's announcement was
described by Traditional Owners as the first step towards embedding their
perspective in the management of these areas. Their cultural views will inform
the protection of plants, animals and water as well as historic and cultural
sites, and the land itself.
The Purungunya parks are in a national biodiversity hotspot — one of 15 in
Australia — and will provide protection to 91 threatened species, including the
bilby, Pilbara olive python, Pilbara leaf-nosed bat, night parrot and northern
quoll. The parks will also protect a world-best example of fossilised
stromatolites — formations that were involved in processes that transformed
Earth's atmosphere 2.72 billion years ago, enabling complex life to evolve.
The new parks and reserves will protect more than 200,000 hectares of Nyamal
Country, contributing to a total amount of 4 million hectares added to WA's
conservation estate through the WA government's Plan for Our Parks initiative.
Nyamal people have been connected to and lived on this land from time
immemorial. They celebrated the recognition of their connections to Country in
the creation of these parks and said they look forward to collaborating with
the Department to manage this part of their Country."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/60-ready/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
