Latest news with #MurujugaAboriginalCorporation
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- The Advertiser
The 50,000-year-old rock art and its neighbour, the gas-guzzling energy giant
The road to the main viewing area for Murujuga's 50,000-year-old art is past Woodside's giant gas mining and export hub. As you listen to the ancient stories of lore and culture carved into rocks before you, the tangle of cranes, tanks, buildings and towers typical of huge industrial facilities sit at your back. The Murujuga petroglyphs and their landscape have just been World Heritage listed, less than two months after the federal government handed Woodside a provisional licence to extend its north west gas operations by 40 years to 2070. The carvings - at least one million of them - are spread over a series rock outcrops on the Burrup peninsula and surrounding islands just outside Karratha in north-west Western Australia. "This is like a massive database," our guide, Ngarluma woman Sarah Hicks, says. History and knowledge are recorded in each image. A dissected kangaroo is an instructional image showing how to carve up the animal and use its parts for food, blankets, pants and combs. An emu, or jankurna, engraving reflects the emu-shaped spaces and dust lanes of the Milky Way in the night sky, a guide to the seasons and when to hunt. A Tasmanian tiger records the extinct marsupial's presence thousands of years ago on the Australian mainland. A prehistoric fat-tailed kangaroo, mangguru, is depicted standing on four legs in its massive megafauna state, long before it evolved to hopping. As we walk and talk, small rock wallabies navigate the hardy red stones on the outcrop peaks. Ms Hicks says the presence of living animals on our visit is a good sign. There are carvings everywhere, some more faded - and older - than others. There are whales and stingrays, mice and fish tails, dingoes, quolls, goannas, spears - and people. Though we are asked not to take photographs of depictions of people. The outback collection - the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings - is still revealing its secrets. A women's business carving of a hand was newly discovered and catalogued only weeks ago, Ms Hicks said. A Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation senior ranger, she shares the stories not only of the art but of the uses of plants around the base of the rocks. The bloodwood sap boiled with water to treat illness, the sticky spinifex grass (baru) burnt to make strong glue for spears and axes, the flowers that reveal when to fish depending on their bloom, and the bush tomatoes that taste like a mixture of squash and capsicum. She's assisted by young Ngarluma man Riley Sebastian, a ranger still learning. He confesses he's never tried a bush tomato or sap medicine, but Ms Hicks says local elders still consume both. As the talk ends, our small group of well-to-do east coasters and European tourists pass a team of air quality monitors checking emissions levels from the nearby gas and fertiliser plants and iron ore and salt export facilities. It is "highly likely" these operations are contributing to higher acid levels in the air which is deteriorating the carvings, a recent report found. We turn back to the dystopian landscape dominated by the machinery of natural resource extraction. The contrast could not be more stark. Woodside says it's committed to "protecting and managing this precious and culturally significant place". "Woodside has taken and continues to take proactive steps - including through emissions reduction, data sharing and ongoing support for the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) - to ensure we manage our impacts responsibly," a spokesman said. He said recent research shows the landscape and its ancient art can live alongside the gas operations with responsible management. For at least 47,000 years the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples have slowly, carefully managed their relationship with the Pilbara land, sea and their wildlife. That record of management exists in the Murujuga petroglyphs. If the elders were still carving records into the rocks today, I wonder how they would tell the story of the oil and gas operations on their doorstep. The road to the main viewing area for Murujuga's 50,000-year-old art is past Woodside's giant gas mining and export hub. As you listen to the ancient stories of lore and culture carved into rocks before you, the tangle of cranes, tanks, buildings and towers typical of huge industrial facilities sit at your back. The Murujuga petroglyphs and their landscape have just been World Heritage listed, less than two months after the federal government handed Woodside a provisional licence to extend its north west gas operations by 40 years to 2070. The carvings - at least one million of them - are spread over a series rock outcrops on the Burrup peninsula and surrounding islands just outside Karratha in north-west Western Australia. "This is like a massive database," our guide, Ngarluma woman Sarah Hicks, says. History and knowledge are recorded in each image. A dissected kangaroo is an instructional image showing how to carve up the animal and use its parts for food, blankets, pants and combs. An emu, or jankurna, engraving reflects the emu-shaped spaces and dust lanes of the Milky Way in the night sky, a guide to the seasons and when to hunt. A Tasmanian tiger records the extinct marsupial's presence thousands of years ago on the Australian mainland. A prehistoric fat-tailed kangaroo, mangguru, is depicted standing on four legs in its massive megafauna state, long before it evolved to hopping. As we walk and talk, small rock wallabies navigate the hardy red stones on the outcrop peaks. Ms Hicks says the presence of living animals on our visit is a good sign. There are carvings everywhere, some more faded - and older - than others. There are whales and stingrays, mice and fish tails, dingoes, quolls, goannas, spears - and people. Though we are asked not to take photographs of depictions of people. The outback collection - the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings - is still revealing its secrets. A women's business carving of a hand was newly discovered and catalogued only weeks ago, Ms Hicks said. A Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation senior ranger, she shares the stories not only of the art but of the uses of plants around the base of the rocks. The bloodwood sap boiled with water to treat illness, the sticky spinifex grass (baru) burnt to make strong glue for spears and axes, the flowers that reveal when to fish depending on their bloom, and the bush tomatoes that taste like a mixture of squash and capsicum. She's assisted by young Ngarluma man Riley Sebastian, a ranger still learning. He confesses he's never tried a bush tomato or sap medicine, but Ms Hicks says local elders still consume both. As the talk ends, our small group of well-to-do east coasters and European tourists pass a team of air quality monitors checking emissions levels from the nearby gas and fertiliser plants and iron ore and salt export facilities. It is "highly likely" these operations are contributing to higher acid levels in the air which is deteriorating the carvings, a recent report found. We turn back to the dystopian landscape dominated by the machinery of natural resource extraction. The contrast could not be more stark. Woodside says it's committed to "protecting and managing this precious and culturally significant place". "Woodside has taken and continues to take proactive steps - including through emissions reduction, data sharing and ongoing support for the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) - to ensure we manage our impacts responsibly," a spokesman said. He said recent research shows the landscape and its ancient art can live alongside the gas operations with responsible management. For at least 47,000 years the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples have slowly, carefully managed their relationship with the Pilbara land, sea and their wildlife. That record of management exists in the Murujuga petroglyphs. If the elders were still carving records into the rocks today, I wonder how they would tell the story of the oil and gas operations on their doorstep. The road to the main viewing area for Murujuga's 50,000-year-old art is past Woodside's giant gas mining and export hub. As you listen to the ancient stories of lore and culture carved into rocks before you, the tangle of cranes, tanks, buildings and towers typical of huge industrial facilities sit at your back. The Murujuga petroglyphs and their landscape have just been World Heritage listed, less than two months after the federal government handed Woodside a provisional licence to extend its north west gas operations by 40 years to 2070. The carvings - at least one million of them - are spread over a series rock outcrops on the Burrup peninsula and surrounding islands just outside Karratha in north-west Western Australia. "This is like a massive database," our guide, Ngarluma woman Sarah Hicks, says. History and knowledge are recorded in each image. A dissected kangaroo is an instructional image showing how to carve up the animal and use its parts for food, blankets, pants and combs. An emu, or jankurna, engraving reflects the emu-shaped spaces and dust lanes of the Milky Way in the night sky, a guide to the seasons and when to hunt. A Tasmanian tiger records the extinct marsupial's presence thousands of years ago on the Australian mainland. A prehistoric fat-tailed kangaroo, mangguru, is depicted standing on four legs in its massive megafauna state, long before it evolved to hopping. As we walk and talk, small rock wallabies navigate the hardy red stones on the outcrop peaks. Ms Hicks says the presence of living animals on our visit is a good sign. There are carvings everywhere, some more faded - and older - than others. There are whales and stingrays, mice and fish tails, dingoes, quolls, goannas, spears - and people. Though we are asked not to take photographs of depictions of people. The outback collection - the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings - is still revealing its secrets. A women's business carving of a hand was newly discovered and catalogued only weeks ago, Ms Hicks said. A Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation senior ranger, she shares the stories not only of the art but of the uses of plants around the base of the rocks. The bloodwood sap boiled with water to treat illness, the sticky spinifex grass (baru) burnt to make strong glue for spears and axes, the flowers that reveal when to fish depending on their bloom, and the bush tomatoes that taste like a mixture of squash and capsicum. She's assisted by young Ngarluma man Riley Sebastian, a ranger still learning. He confesses he's never tried a bush tomato or sap medicine, but Ms Hicks says local elders still consume both. As the talk ends, our small group of well-to-do east coasters and European tourists pass a team of air quality monitors checking emissions levels from the nearby gas and fertiliser plants and iron ore and salt export facilities. It is "highly likely" these operations are contributing to higher acid levels in the air which is deteriorating the carvings, a recent report found. We turn back to the dystopian landscape dominated by the machinery of natural resource extraction. The contrast could not be more stark. Woodside says it's committed to "protecting and managing this precious and culturally significant place". "Woodside has taken and continues to take proactive steps - including through emissions reduction, data sharing and ongoing support for the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) - to ensure we manage our impacts responsibly," a spokesman said. He said recent research shows the landscape and its ancient art can live alongside the gas operations with responsible management. For at least 47,000 years the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples have slowly, carefully managed their relationship with the Pilbara land, sea and their wildlife. That record of management exists in the Murujuga petroglyphs. If the elders were still carving records into the rocks today, I wonder how they would tell the story of the oil and gas operations on their doorstep. The road to the main viewing area for Murujuga's 50,000-year-old art is past Woodside's giant gas mining and export hub. As you listen to the ancient stories of lore and culture carved into rocks before you, the tangle of cranes, tanks, buildings and towers typical of huge industrial facilities sit at your back. The Murujuga petroglyphs and their landscape have just been World Heritage listed, less than two months after the federal government handed Woodside a provisional licence to extend its north west gas operations by 40 years to 2070. The carvings - at least one million of them - are spread over a series rock outcrops on the Burrup peninsula and surrounding islands just outside Karratha in north-west Western Australia. "This is like a massive database," our guide, Ngarluma woman Sarah Hicks, says. History and knowledge are recorded in each image. A dissected kangaroo is an instructional image showing how to carve up the animal and use its parts for food, blankets, pants and combs. An emu, or jankurna, engraving reflects the emu-shaped spaces and dust lanes of the Milky Way in the night sky, a guide to the seasons and when to hunt. A Tasmanian tiger records the extinct marsupial's presence thousands of years ago on the Australian mainland. A prehistoric fat-tailed kangaroo, mangguru, is depicted standing on four legs in its massive megafauna state, long before it evolved to hopping. As we walk and talk, small rock wallabies navigate the hardy red stones on the outcrop peaks. Ms Hicks says the presence of living animals on our visit is a good sign. There are carvings everywhere, some more faded - and older - than others. There are whales and stingrays, mice and fish tails, dingoes, quolls, goannas, spears - and people. Though we are asked not to take photographs of depictions of people. The outback collection - the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings - is still revealing its secrets. A women's business carving of a hand was newly discovered and catalogued only weeks ago, Ms Hicks said. A Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation senior ranger, she shares the stories not only of the art but of the uses of plants around the base of the rocks. The bloodwood sap boiled with water to treat illness, the sticky spinifex grass (baru) burnt to make strong glue for spears and axes, the flowers that reveal when to fish depending on their bloom, and the bush tomatoes that taste like a mixture of squash and capsicum. She's assisted by young Ngarluma man Riley Sebastian, a ranger still learning. He confesses he's never tried a bush tomato or sap medicine, but Ms Hicks says local elders still consume both. As the talk ends, our small group of well-to-do east coasters and European tourists pass a team of air quality monitors checking emissions levels from the nearby gas and fertiliser plants and iron ore and salt export facilities. It is "highly likely" these operations are contributing to higher acid levels in the air which is deteriorating the carvings, a recent report found. We turn back to the dystopian landscape dominated by the machinery of natural resource extraction. The contrast could not be more stark. Woodside says it's committed to "protecting and managing this precious and culturally significant place". "Woodside has taken and continues to take proactive steps - including through emissions reduction, data sharing and ongoing support for the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) - to ensure we manage our impacts responsibly," a spokesman said. He said recent research shows the landscape and its ancient art can live alongside the gas operations with responsible management. For at least 47,000 years the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples have slowly, carefully managed their relationship with the Pilbara land, sea and their wildlife. That record of management exists in the Murujuga petroglyphs. If the elders were still carving records into the rocks today, I wonder how they would tell the story of the oil and gas operations on their doorstep.
West Australian
7 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Rita Saffioti 10 Things: Government announces support to help deliver 1200 new apartments across Perth
1. A big thank you to all of the emergency personnel involved in the search for Carolina Wilga. Her survival after spending 11 nights in our freezing temperatures in WA's Wheatbelt region is quite remarkable. Her story will be one we will remember for many years. 2. Our Government is proposing changes to the public holiday calendar. Some of the proposals include aligning our public holidays with those over east and adding up to two extra public holidays. WA currently has the lowest number of public holidays in the nation and aligning with other States and Territories will support WA business. 3. Our Government has announced additional support for 15 new apartment developments to assist industry to deliver more than 1200 new apartments across Perth. This is yet another example of our commitment to boosting housing supply across the State by removing barriers that prevent major projects getting off the ground. 4. Speaking of a housing boost, preferred community housing providers have been chosen to deliver more than 400 new affordable and social homes across two major residential developments in East Fremantle and Subiaco. These projects also have support through the Albanese Government. These projects will continue to support affordable housing while and providing industry with a pipeline of construction work. 5. A significant outcome for the traditional owners and custodians via the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and its Circle of Elders with the ancient rock art of Murujuga, on WA's Burrup Peninsula, to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage List. 6. Big news for UFC fans as we gear up for the first ever Fight Night in Perth in September. As the only UFC Fight Night scheduled to take place in Australia this year we're expecting thousands of out-of-State visitors to WA, while also attracting a significant global broadcast audience. 7. What a fantastic week in sport. West Coast Fever continued their record form, securing a 12th victory in succession in front of a record Super Netball crowd on Sunday. I hope their form continues through the finals. 8. The Dockers kept their finals dream alive after a come from behind win over Hawthorn to jump back into the top eight. The side showed grit and determination, and I couldn't think of a better way to honour and bid farewell to the legend that is Michael Walters. 9. It was also great to see the Australian men's cricket team retain the Frank Worrell Trophy in a clean sweep against the West Indies. The bowling attack is in fine form ahead of the Ashes this summer. Look out for the first test starting here in Perth in November. 10. I hope everyone is enjoying the school holidays. I know keeping kids busy during holidays is always a lot of work! Great that families have so many activities to choose from including dino hunts and workshops at the WA Museum to Lightscape at Kings Park and a range of nature learning sessions run by Parks and Wildlife. Hope everyone is feeling refreshed.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Murujuga traditional owner accuses UNESCO of silencing, intimidating her in Paris
A Murujuga traditional owner claims a UNESCO committee silenced and intimidated her delegation which was lobbying against the removal of industrial emissions protections in the rock art's World Heritage Listing. Raelene Cooper travelled to Paris with a small group from her Save Our Songlines group to persuade World Heritage Committee members to retain restrictions on industrial emissions near the Murujuga rock art contained in a draft decision considered at its meeting in Paris on Friday. Those conditions, which would apply to projects like Woodside's North West Shelf and Burrup Hub assets, were scratched from the final decision in an amendment moved by committee member Kenya, and supported by the majority of the committee. Cooper wrote to World Heritage Centre director Lazare Eloundou Assomo on Sunday to complain about the treatment of her group. She claimed UNESCO staff blocked her group from entering the chamber floor on the day of the Murujuga vote, ignored requests to address the committee, and assigned an intimidating level of security to the Save Our Songlines representatives. Loading Cooper was granted observer status and was able to lobby member countries on the floor of the committee meeting on Wednesday and Thursday last week, but said on the day of the vote her team was prevented from entering the chamber. The former Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation chair said representatives from the Australian government and current MAC members were still allowed on the chamber floor and to address the committee following the vote. 'Had I been able to address the committee regarding the Murujuga inscription, I would have been able to express my profound joy at the successful inscription, and my congratulation [sic] to every member of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation on a momentous day for our people achieving such recognition,' Cooper said in her letter.
The Age
16-07-2025
- General
- The Age
Murujuga traditional owner accuses UNESCO of silencing, intimidating her in Paris
A Murujuga traditional owner claims a UNESCO committee silenced and intimidated her delegation which was lobbying against the removal of industrial emissions protections in the rock art's World Heritage Listing. Raelene Cooper travelled to Paris with a small group from her Save Our Songlines group to persuade World Heritage Committee members to retain restrictions on industrial emissions near the Murujuga rock art contained in a draft decision considered at its meeting in Paris on Friday. Those conditions, which would apply to projects like Woodside's North West Shelf and Burrup Hub assets, were scratched from the final decision in an amendment moved by committee member Kenya, and supported by the majority of the committee. Cooper wrote to World Heritage Centre director Lazare Eloundou Assomo on Sunday to complain about the treatment of her group. She claimed UNESCO staff blocked her group from entering the chamber floor on the day of the Murujuga vote, ignored requests to address the committee, and assigned an intimidating level of security to the Save Our Songlines representatives. Loading Cooper was granted observer status and was able to lobby member countries on the floor of the committee meeting on Wednesday and Thursday last week, but said on the day of the vote her team was prevented from entering the chamber. The former Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation chair said representatives from the Australian government and current MAC members were still allowed on the chamber floor and to address the committee following the vote. 'Had I been able to address the committee regarding the Murujuga inscription, I would have been able to express my profound joy at the successful inscription, and my congratulation [sic] to every member of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation on a momentous day for our people achieving such recognition,' Cooper said in her letter.
SBS Australia
14-07-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
Murujuga has been placed on the World Heritage list, but pollution concerns remain
More than a million pieces of ancient rock art have secured World Heritage status in a bittersweet listing for Traditional Custodians, scientists and environmentalists, who are fearful nearby industrial activity is damaging the engravings. The Murujuga rock art landscape on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site late last week after intense lobbying by the federal government. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt was accompanied to the UNESCO meeting in Paris by representatives from the Western Australian government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC). Murujuga contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of petroglyphs, a type of rock art where the design is carved into the surface of the rock. Some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old. They depict animals, plants and human figures and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks. The site was put forward to UNESCO for World Heritage listing in 2023, but the application was referred back in May over concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art. The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities. Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for the Woodside North West Shelf project on the peninsula, which includes the Karratha gas plant, to continue operating until 2070. Custodians celebrate listing, while concerns remain over pollution Raelene Cooper, Murujuga custodian of the Mardudhunera people and founder of Save our Songlines, has been in Paris with other First Nations leaders pushing for Murujuga to be listed as a World Heritage site, but with the explicit intention of ensuring any listing comes with strict conditions to sufficiently manage industrial impacts on the site. 'My family and community have worked for many years for World Heritage protection for Murujuga's ancient rock art," she said. 'This is a momentous day for our old people and our future generations, to have Murujuga's outstanding universal heritage values recognised by the world. 'Our rock art tells the stories of our people, and maintains our Songlines and bloodline connection to our ngurra (Country)." Ms Cooper said while she was overjoyed about the World Heritage listing, she was deeply concerned about the pollution from surrounding heavy industry. Part of the government's lobbying efforts involved removing protections suggested by UNESCO's independent advisory body ICOMOS in May from the final approval. 'Fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years," she said. "But comments from World Heritage Committee members today send a clear signal to the Australian Government and Woodside that things need to change to prevent the ongoing desecration of Murujuga by polluting industry. "Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga. We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against.' Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the collective voice of the Ngarda-Ngarli (Traditional Owners and Custodians), said they were elated to see the Murujuga Cultural Landscape recognised. 'While today's inscription is recognition of the hard work that MAC has put in ... over the past two years, more importantly, it is recognition of the way our ancestors have managed this extraordinary landscape for over 50,000 years," said MAC Chair Peter Hicks. "World Heritage is the mechanism we will use to continue to do what we have always done: protect our culture for all future generations." But Ben Smith, Professor of Archaeology (World Rock Art), at the University of WA, said that unless pollution is drastically curbed, the rock art is at risk of serious degradation. "While I celebrate Murujuga receiving the well deserved status of being listed as a World Heritage site, the nature in which the Australian Government handled the scientific findings on industrial impacts on Murujuga during this process reveals the extent to which they will go to play down the impacts of our gas industry," he said. "The scientific data clearly demonstrated the advanced weathering of the Murujuga petroglyphs from heightened levels of certain airborne pollutants from the nearby Woodside gas processing facility, yet we saw this repeatedly dismissed by different levels of government, with graphs and data being manipulated to back up the narrative that no conditions were required for the listing. "One only hopes that Murujuga's listing as a World Heritage Site spurs the government to no longer shirk their responsibility to conserve and protect this globally significant rock art site, and we see proper measures put in place to stop the polluting gas industry from degrading our First Nations cultural heritage." Foundation of culture Ngarluma woman Samantha Walker wrote to the nominations unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the director of evaluation unit at ICOMOS, urging the WHC to list Murujuga as a world heritage site with specific recommendations to have independent bodies monitor and manage industrial pollution at Murujuga. "Murujuga is more than just rock art – it is who we are," she wrote. "Murujuga contains Songlines and stories that define our identities as First Nations people, connecting us to our Elders and people that have walked before us. "Murujuga is the foundation of our culture. "The health of Murujuga is the health of my people and the ngurra (Country) is crying out for help." Ms Walker said Murujuga is sacred, but also has a dark history due to colonisation and the Flying Foam Massacre of 1868. "That history of colonisation is being continued on by the way that government allows multi-billion-dollar industries to operate on Murujuga without having to obtain free, prior and informed consent or listen to the people whose Country this is," she said. Ms Walker also expressed her alarm at the Environment Minister's provisional approval to extend the lifetime of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas plant to 2070. "It is unfathomable to imagine the French Government approving industrial pollution at the site of the 17,000 plus year-old Lascaux cave paintings . "Why is there not more global outrage that Minister Watt and the Australian Government have given provisional approval for 40 more years of pollution that is damaging the 50,000 plus year-old Murujuga rock art on our Country?" Environmentalists were also concerned the Woodside project extension could cause further damage. 'The world is now watching," Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy said. "The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution." As part of the immediate inscription, the Australian Government will provide a state of conservation report for consideration in 2027. Murujuga will become the second place in Australia recognised on the World Heritage List solely for its First Nations cultural heritage, following the listing of Budj Bim in 2019 . Senator Watt said it had been a great privilege to support the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga, who have protected the landscape for more than 50,000 years. 'The Australian Government is strongly committed to World Heritage and the protection of First Nations cultural heritage – and we will ensure this outstanding place is protected now and for future generations,' he said. A Woodside spokesperson said the company had been a "proud supporter" of the World Heritage nomination and assessment process and they looked forward to continuing to work closely with MAC on the continued protection and management of this globally significant area. UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates.
