Purnululu National Park

World Heritage Site

The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 2003, and the adopted boundary of the existing national park. Since its listing, the Government of Western Australia has reserved additional areas located adjacent to the World Heritage Area, including the Purnululu Conservation Park and the Ord River Regeneration Reserve.

The national park is managed by the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions in conjunction with the traditional Aboriginal owners.

Indigenous Peoples

In 2022, the Federal Court of Australia recognized both the Purnululu and Gajangana Jaru (or Northern Jaru) native title claimants as the traditional owners of the area. Purnululu National Park was the second conservation park to have traditional owners recognized after the Native Title Act 1993 was amended to allow recognition. The Bungle Bungles Aboriginal Corporation hold native title in trust for the Jaru, Gija (or Kija) and Malngin people.

In 2024, the Gija community and Western Australian Museum published an interactive display of the Gija creation story on the museum website and on an installation in the park.

Features

The Bungle Bungle Range, lying fully within the park, has elevations as high as 578 m above sea level. It is famous for the sandstone domes, unusual and visually striking with their striping in alternating orange and grey bands. The banding of the domes is due to differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers: the orange bands consist of oxidised iron compounds in layers that dry out too quickly for cyanobacteria to multiply; the grey bands are composed of cyanobacteria growing on the surface of layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.

Geology

The Bungle Bungle Range is one of the most extensive and impressive occurrences of sandstone tower (or cone) karst terrain in the world. The Bungle Bungles were a plateau of Devonian sandstone, carved into a mass of beehive-shaped towers with regularly alternating, dark gray bands of cyanobacterial crust (single cell photosynthetic organisms). The plateau is dissected by 100 - deep, sheer-sided gorges and slot canyons. The cone-towers are steep-sided, with an abrupt break of slope at the base and have domed summits. How they were formed is not yet completely understood. Their surface is fragile but stabilized by crusts of iron oxide and bacteria. They provide an outstanding example of land formation by dissolutional weathering of sandstone, with removal of sand grains by wind, rain and sheet wash on slopes.

Access

Access to the park by road is via Spring Creek Track, from the Great Northern Highway approximately 250 km south of Kununurra, to the track's end at the visitor centre. The track is 53 km long and is usable only in the dry season (about 1 April to 31 December) by four-wheel-drive vehicles. Safely navigating it takes approximately three hours. Access by air is less demanding; helicopter flights are available from Bellburn Airstrip in the national park, and from Warmun roadhouse. Scenic light aircraft flights are also available out of Kununurra and Lake Argyle.

Gallery

File:The Domes Walk, Purnululu National Park.jpg|The Domes Walk File:Purnululu3.jpg|Cathedral Gorge File:A202, Purnululu National Park, Western Australia, Bungle Bungles, from plane, 2007.JPG|Aerial view of a canyon

References

References

1. (2010). "Department of Environment and Conservation 2009–2010 Annual Report". [[Government of Western Australia]].
2. (2014). "Purnululu National Park". [[UNESCO]].
3. (2003). "Purnululu National Park (Australia)". [[UNESCO]] World Heritage Convention.
4. (21 May 2007). "Determination regarding including World Heritage places in the National Heritage List". [[Department of the Environment (Australia).
5. (2022-09-14). "World Heritage Places - Purnululu National Park".
6. (2021-06-20). "Bungle Bungles dispute rumbles on, a 'handbrake' on UNESCO-listed Purnululu park's potential". ABC News.
7. "Recognition for Traditional Owners in historic Purnululu Native Title determination {{!}} Western Australian Government".
8. "Bungle Bungles Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC {{!}} PBC".
9. "Gija creation story on display at UNESCO World Heritage site".
10. "Purnululu National Park, Australia".
11. "Bellburn Airstrip | Explore Parks WA | Parks and Wildlife Service".
12. (9 January 2017). "Darwin to Perth Day 3 - Kununurra to Fitzroy Crossing | Still as Life".