UNESCO has awarded World Heritage Status to Murujiga Rock Art in Western Australia, many say it is fragile due to nearby gas projects.
“It’s a big day for our seniors and our descendants to make Murujuga’s outstanding universal heritage values recognized by the world,” Raelene Cooper, a traditional owner of Pilbara and Mardudhunera woman, former Mac’s former chairman and founder of SALE SONGLINES Group, told Save Lines Group. ABC News. “Our rock art tells the story of our people and maintains a connection with our Ngurra’s singing and bloodline.”
Located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the Murujuga site consists of ancient Aboriginal rock art, predating famous monuments such as Stonehenge and the Pyramid of Giza. It contains over a million known petroglyphs, including the oldest descriptions of human faces, dating back to 50,000 years.
The land is supervised by five language groups, known as Ngarda-Ngarli and Aboriginal people.
The landscape was nominated for World Heritage Status by the Australian Government in 2023 after two decades of Aboriginal Group campaigning and twenty years after Aboriginal Group campaigning.
The main gas and fertilizer plant for the main pollutants is located on approximately 247,105 acres of nominated land.
The Karratha gas plant, operated by Woodside Energy, is part of the Northwest Shelf Project, which has been in operation since the 1980s. Woodside is seeking to expand its plants, but has reviewed the resulting emissions. (Last month, the government conditionally approved plans to expand gas plants to 2070.)
Although the Australian Government reports that Murujiga rock art is in good overall, the International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the agency, has advised UNESCO, claiming that the site is vulnerable to these emissions in May.
In Paris, custodians from the Murughiga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) and federal environment minister Murray Watt oppose the proposal to pass on the draft decision to bid for the status of the World Heritage Site to Australia.
While the decision to protect the region as a UNESCO World Heritage Site among UNESCO member states was consistent, the country on Friday introduced an amendment to continue tracking the impact of local industries on land. However, other traditional owners have pushed for more conservation on the site, some of whom advocate an end to nearby oil and gas expansion.
“Today, Australia has rewrite the World Heritage List in the interests of the gas industry. Despite the unanimous lobbying of the Australian government, in addition to all recommended conservation measures, we are still happy to see the World Heritage Sites that Murujiga was eventually listed by the United Nations Cosco State,” Cooper continued. ”
“At the same time, the fertilizer plant is still being built around our sacred sites, and the polluted gas plant will emit toxic acids on our rock art, for another 50 years. Today’s final decision is much lower than the protection recommended by experts ICOMOS.” “However, the comments from members of the World Heritage Committee today send a clear signal to the Australian government and Woodside that changes need to be made to prevent the desecration of Murujiga by the pollution industry.”
This UNESCO name marks the country’s 21st World Heritage Site and the second site of indigenous cultural heritage.
