West Kimberley National Heritage Place
A draft guide for landholders
Oscar Range © Jiri Lochman, Lochman Transparencies
© Commonwealth of Australia 2012
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2
What is the purpose of this document?
This document has been developed to help people understand what it might mean for
them now that the West Kimberley has been included in the National Heritage List. It
provides information about the West Kimberley’s National Heritage values and what the
listing might mean for pastoralists, the mining industry, the tourism sector, the fishing
and aquaculture industries and Indigenous people.
What is the National Heritage List?
The National Heritage List recognises, celebrates and protects our most important
natural, Indigenous and historic heritage places. Places in the National Heritage List
reflect our continent’s development, from its ancient origins and its first people to its
architectural masterpieces, the spirit and ingenuity of our community and our unique,
living landscapes.
There are currently over ninety-five places in the National Heritage List. These include
iconic landmarks like Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Bondi Beach, the Great Barrier
Reef, the Sydney Opera House, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Port Arthur Historic
Site, the Ningaloo Coast and the Stirling Range National Park.
What makes the West Kimberley special?
The West Kimberley is one of Australia’s very special places. A vast area of dramatic
and relatively undisturbed landscapes of great biological richness and important
geological and fossil evidence of Australia’s evolutionary history, the region is home to
a rich and dynamic Aboriginal culture and a proud pastoral and pearling tradition. Some
of the features that make the West Kimberley outstanding at the national level are:
Inspirational landscapes
The West Kimberley is renowned for its dramatic and beautiful landscapes, including
the towering cliffs, rocky headlands, sandy beaches, natural rivers, spectacular
waterfalls and thousands of islands located off its remote sandstone coast. Inland lies
the rugged Kimberley plateau, with its deep gorges and cascading waterfalls; the
striking King Leopold Ranges; and Windjana and Geikie gorges, which cut through the
limestone of an ancient coral reef.
King George Falls © Col Roberts, Lochman Transparencies
3
Ancient geology
Around 1,800 million years ago the Kimberley was a separate land mass that collided
with the ancient Pilbara and Yilgarn, forming the core of the future Australian continent.
The King Leopold Ranges are the remnants of massive mountains thrown up by the
collision and their folded and crumpled rocks tell an important story of the shaping of
Australia.
Bold Bluff, King Leopold Range © Jiri Lochman Lochman Transparencies
The Oscar, Napier, Emmanuel and Pillara Ranges are the remains of a vast coral reef,
similar in scale to the Great Barrier Reef, which existed nearly 400 million years ago but
is now high and dry in the landscape. The remarkable Gogo fish fossils from this
ancient reef system provide a rare insight into the evolution of life on Earth, including
the development of live birth and the earliest four-limbed vertebrates.
Gogo fish fossil Courtesy of the Trustees of the Western Australian Museum
4
Biological richness
The rugged Kimberley plateau, northern coastline and rivers continue to provide a vital
refuge for many native plants and animals that are found nowhere else or have
disappeared from much of the rest of Australia. In addition, Roebuck Bay is
internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most significant sites for migratory
wading birds.
Golden-backed Tree Rat
Purple-crowned Wren © Hans & Judy Beste, Lochman Transparencies
© Marie Lochman, Lochman
Transparencies
Rich and dynamic Aboriginal culture
Purple-crowned Wren © Hans
The
& JudyWest
Beste, Kimberley has been occupied by Aboriginal people for at least 40,000 years
Lochman
Transparencies
and
continues
to be home to Aboriginal groups practising traditional law in the world’s
oldest continuous culture. Carpenter's Gap and Riwi rock shelters provide rare
archaeological evidence of Aboriginal life and culture, including Australia’s earliest
evidence of art and Aboriginal trade networks that were operating during the last
Ice Age.
Carpenter’s Gap 1 rock shelter Courtesy of
Sue O’Connor
From the Dampier Peninsula north along the Kimberley coast, Aboriginal people used
the unique double log raft, galwa or kalum, and their intimate knowledge of the massive
tides to travel to offshore islands and otherwise inaccessible coastal areas.
5
In the Wanjina–Wunggurr homeland, Wanjina creator beings, manifested in rock art
figures, stone arrangements and landscape features, continue to be central to the laws
and customs of the Wanjina–Wunggurr people. Painted images of creator beings,
ancestors, plants and animals in rock shelters and caves across the west Kimberley
represent a stunning visual record of an ongoing Aboriginal painting tradition that is
considered to be one of the longest and most complex ‘rock art’ sequences anywhere
in the world. The beautifully executed Gwion-Gwion/Girrigirro rock paintings of the
Wanjina–Wunggurr and Balanggarra homelands provide an extraordinary insight into
the material culture of Aboriginal society over thousands of years.
The history of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley has been one of resistance,
adaptation and survival in the face of dramatic change. In the 1890s, Jandamarra and
the Bunuba people’s intimate knowledge of the rugged Oscar and Napier Ranges was
crucial in their struggle to resist European pastoral settlement. The dispute at
Noonkanbah station in 1980 between Aboriginal people, a resource company and the
Western Australian Government over oil drilling in a sacred area was a pivotal event in
the national struggle of Aboriginal people to have their rights to practice traditional law
and culture recognised.
Early European exploration
The Kimberley coast was the scene of some of the earliest European exploration of the
Great South Land. Privateer William Dampier’s published accounts of his 1688 visit to
the Kimberley were highly influential in the creation of European attitudes towards
Australia and its people and stimulated later explorers such as James Cook.
A carved boab tree at Careening Bay provides rare physical evidence of the
explorations of the eminent nineteenth-century Australian hydrographer, Phillip Parker
King.
Rich pastoral and pearling history
The west Kimberley has a proud pastoral tradition, involving both Aboriginal and nonAboriginal people. Fossil Downs Station was established in 1886 by the MacDonald
and MacKenzie families after a three year journey of more than 5,600 kilometres
droving cattle from Goulburn in New South Wales – the longest overlanding cattle drive
in Australia’s history.
Droving cattle on Fossil Downs station
Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia
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The west Kimberley is also a special place in the minds of Australians for the region’s
colourful pearling history. Probably less known but equally important, Kimberley pearl
shell is the most widely distributed item in Aboriginal Australia, traded across two thirds
of the Australian Continent.
What are the National Heritage values of the west Kimberley
National Heritage place?
On 31 August 2011, the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability,
Environment, Water, Population and Communities (the Minister) included the West
Kimberley and its National Heritage values in the National Heritage List. The National
Heritage values of the West Kimberley are summarised according to the National
Heritage List criteria in Appendix A.
What does National Heritage listing mean?
National Heritage listing provides recognition and protection of outstanding heritage
values. It does not change land ownership and does not affect Native Title.
Management of National Heritage listed places remains with the current landowner
or manager.
The listing of the west Kimberley as a National Heritage place helps ensure that
heritage values are part of decision-making and heritage protection will be balanced
with the social and economic aspirations of the Kimberley community.
Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act),
it is the National Heritage values of a National Heritage place that are protected, not the
entire place itself.
A person cannot take an action that has, will have or is likely to have a significant
impact on the National Heritage values of a listed place without the approval of the
Minister.
An action would be likely to have a significant impact on National Heritage values of a
listed National Heritage place if there is a real chance or possibility that it would cause
one or more of the National Heritage values to be:

lost

degraded or damaged, or

notably altered, modified, obscured or diminished.
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Mitchell Falls © Marie Lochman, Lochman Transparencies
Some National Heritage values, such as important geological features, are generally
more robust than others and are at a lower risk of being significantly impacted by
actions other than those involving major ground disturbances. Others, such as the
mangrove and vine thicket plant communities, and particular Aboriginal sites, are more
sensitive to disturbance.
Actions that would be likely to require approval include, but are not restricted to:

damaging important geological formations

inhibiting important landscape or ecological processes

fragmenting habitat important to biodiversity conservation in the region

causing the long-term reduction in rare, endemic or unique plant or animal species

introducing pollutants or other intrusive elements with substantial and/or long-term
impacts

permanently removing, damaging or altering important physical fabric associated
with historic values

obscuring important lines of sight in manner which is inconsistent with relevant
values, or

permanently diminishing the cultural value of a National Heritage place for a
community or group to which its National Heritage values relate.
For information on whether or not an action is likely to have a significant impact see the
EPBC Act referral guidelines for the West Kimberley National Heritage place (Referral
Guidelines). This document provides assistance in the ‘self-assessment’ process by
matching the National Heritage values of the west Kimberley with activities that are
likely to have a significant impact. Different parts of the west Kimberley have been
listed for different heritage values, which vary in their robustness and scale. Large
geological values are less susceptible to disturbance than smaller place-based values.
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In light of this variation in sensitivity, the Australian Government Department of
Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (the department) has
developed a draft zoning system that provides for six levels of protection. National
Heritage values in each zone share similar sensitivities to disturbance. The map on
page 5 of the Referral Guidelines provides an indicative guide to whether proposed
activities in different parts of the region are likely to need referral under the EPBC Act.
The Sacred Heart church at Beagle Bay mission
courtesy of Donna Harkess
The EPBC Act allows for some exemptions to the requirement for assessment and
approval. This means some activities may not need assessment or approval if certain
criteria are met.
Further general information is available on:
Approvals:
www.environment.gov.au/epbc/approval.html
Exemptions: www.environment.gov.au/epbc/about/exemptions.html
Referrals:
www.environment.gov.au/epbc/assessments/referral-form.html or,
phone 1800 803 772
Pastoralists are encouraged to use the services of the Environmental Liaison Officer at
the National Farmers’ Federation. The officer can be contacted by phoning
(02) 6274 2672 or emailing environment@nff.org.au.
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What does National Heritage listing mean...
For pastoralists?
Many of the west Kimberley’s National Heritage values occur on pastoral lands and
have been managed by pastoralists over many years. While some biological values,
such as those associated with vine thickets, are sensitive to disturbances like fire or
land clearing, other values, such as the geological values associated with the Devonian
limestone ranges, the King Leopold Ranges, Yampi Peninsula and the Fitzroy Uplands,
are more robust. Indigenous heritage values associated with places such as rock
painting sites, stone arrangements and significant natural landscape features are
sensitive and management should be guided through effective engagement with
Traditional Owners.
Further information is available on the department’s website at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/assessments/refer.html and
http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/assessments/referral-form.html
For the mining industry?
National Heritage values occur in many areas of interest to the mining industry. As
noted above for pastoralists, some biological values such as those associated with vine
thickets are sensitive to disturbances like fire or land clearing; other values, such as the
geological values associated with the Devonian limestone ranges and with the King
Leopold Ranges, Yampi Peninsula and Fitzroy Uplands are more robust. Indigenous
heritage values associated with places such as rock painting sites, stone arrangements
and significant natural landscape features are sensitive and management should be
guided through effective engagement with Traditional Owners.
Importantly, if you have previously referred an action for approval under the EPBC Act
and a decision has been made by the Minister, the decision remains unchanged.
Previous decisions made under the EPBC Act cannot be changed by National Heritage
listing. If you already have EPBC approval for your mine, National Heritage listing does
not mean that you need to submit a new referral for the same activity.
For the tourism industry?
Tourism in the west Kimberley occurs widely across the landscape in a range of
environments and at many different scales. While most tourism activities are unlikely to
have any impact on National Heritage values, or be affected by National Heritage
listing, tourism operators need to be aware of the sensitivities of some heritage values.
Many visitors to the Kimberley are interested in engaging with Indigenous culture and
appreciating Aboriginal heritage places. An important issue for tourism operators and
visitors is respecting Aboriginal law and culture. While the importance of not damaging
rock art may be obvious to everyone, visitors and tourism operators should be aware
that many places important to Aboriginal people have restrictions about who can go
there. Some places are only used for ceremony: some places are only for men and
others only for women. Photography can also be a sensitive issue, as many of the rock
art sites in the Kimberley are of deep cultural significance to their Indigenous
custodians, and some images can only be viewed by particular people. You may cause
someone serious distress by taking a picture. It is also important never to remove any
object from an Aboriginal site.
10
One way of ensuring that you are not having a negative effect on Indigenous heritage
and culture is to visit Aboriginal sites in the company of a Traditional Owner. In that way
you will learn about the Indigenous traditions in the area you are visiting and by being
aware of rules of behaviour, you won’t do the wrong thing.
Stick to the approved 4WD tracks and don’t wander out into the bush, unless you are
certain that it’s okay for you to do so. Sacred sites exist in many areas throughout the
Kimberley and will often not have any sign posts indicating their existence. You may
cause someone serious distress if you visit a place that is supposed to be off-limits.
Activities in the West Kimberley National Heritage place should be carried out in
accordance with the principles set out in Ask first - a guide to respecting Indigenous
heritage places and values which can be found at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications/commission/books/ask-first.html
Windjana Gorge © Dennis Sarson, Lochman Transparencies
For fishing and aquaculture industries?
National Heritage values identified in marine areas in the west Kimberley include
traditional Indigenous sources of pearl shell – used in ceremony and highly prized by
Aboriginal people, and the most widely traded commodity in Aboriginal Australia – and
the intangible values associated with the traditional use of the galwa or double log raft.
The Kimberley coast and islands also have important geological, biodiversity, aesthetic,
Aboriginal heritage and archaeological values.
An aquaculture development or activity could potentially require a referral under the
EPBC Act if it is likely to have a significant impact on the listed National Heritage
values. Examples might include activities like:
11




development of large scale infrastructure in coastal areas
commercial collection of pearl shell from identified traditional Indigenous sources
large scale infrastructure close to traditional Indigenous pearl shell sources
activities that impact on Aboriginal heritage places.
Importantly, if you have previously referred an action for approval under the EPBC Act
and a decision has been made by the Minister, the decision remains unchanged.
Previous decisions made under the EPBC Act cannot be changed by National Heritage
listing.
For Indigenous people?
National Heritage listing does not change land ownership, and does not affect your
Native Title rights. The provisions of the EPBC Act include a specific statement that it
does not affect the operation of the Native Title Act 1993.
For Indigenous communities wishing to undertake development activities, the same
conditions apply as for other individuals or organisations, that is, if an activity is likely to
have a significant impact on listed National Heritage values, it should be referred to the
Minister for approval under the EPBC Act.
The EPBC Act Regulations state that:
Indigenous people are the primary source of information on the value of their
heritage and the active participation of indigenous people in identification,
assessment and management is integral to the effective protection of indigenous
heritage values.
National Heritage listing will help to protect your important heritage places.
Threats and Conservation Actions
If you have National Heritage values on or near your property then continuation of good
land management is vitally important if these values are to be maintained for the benefit
of future generations.
To assist in the protection of National Heritage values of a National Heritage place,
relevant expert advice should be sought during the planning phase of any proposed
action that has the potential to have a significant impact on the relevant National
Heritage values of a National Heritage listed place. When considering the potential
impact of a proposed action, it is relevant to consider all adverse impacts from the
action, including direct, indirect and offsite impacts such as downstream or downwind
impacts, upstream impacts and facilitated impacts (impacts which result from further
actions which are made possible or facilitated by the action).
Impact mitigation aims to avoid significant impacts and should be applied in a
hierarchical order:
1. Avoid impacts – preserve National Heritage values and avoid their further loss or
2. Mitigate impacts – apply measures to reduce the degradation of National
Heritage values from an activity
3. Monitor effectiveness of mitigation – effective monitoring of impact mitigation
should occur with appropriate regularity and enable adaptive management.
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Survey work may be required to help identify if there are any National Heritage values
on or near your property.
Can I get funding to protect any listed National Heritage
values on my property?
The department works with owners and managers of listed places to ensure that
National Heritage values are protected. The Australian Government may provide
financial or other assistance for the identification, promotion, protection or conservation
of National Heritage places.
The major sources of Australian Government funding for activities that benefit
Australia's heritage are:

Competitive programs under which eligible parties can apply for their project to
be considered as part of a formal funding round; and

Discretionary, ad hoc or non-competitive grants under which funds are approved
by the Minister.
For more information on these sources of funding, please visit the department’s website
at http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/programs/index.html.
Where can I go for further information?
Kimberley-NHL@environment.gov.au
or
Major Assessments and Projects
Heritage & Wildlife Division
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population
and Communities
PO Box 787
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Kapok Bush (Cochlospermum fraseri)
© Jiri Lochman Lochman Transparencies
Other policy statements are available to help you
understand the EPBC Act. These can be obtained from the
department’s website at http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/guidelines-policies.html, or by
contacting the community information unit by emailing ciu@environment.gov.au or by
calling 1800 803 772.
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Useful websites

EPBC Act web site: http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc

EPBC Act Policy Statement 1.1 - Significant Impact Guidelines:
http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/publications/nes-guidelines.html

Information about other National Heritage places:
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/index.html

Environment Liaison Officer – National Farmer’s Federation:
http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/information/farmers.html

Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation website:
http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/
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Appendix A
National Heritage values of the West Kimberley National Heritage place
LISTING CRITERION
A
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's
importance in the
course, or pattern
of Australia's
natural and
cultural history.
HERITAGE VALUE
Assembling a continent
 The King Leopold orogen of the west Kimberley has outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (a) for recording pre-Rodinian and Proterozoic plate tectonic
processes, key events in the evolution of the Australian continent.
Ecology, biogeography and evolution
 The Devonian Reef of the Kimberley has outstanding heritage value to the nation
under criterion (a) because it is a continuous record of 20 million years of reef
deposition and shows the response of a Late Devonian reef to a mass extinction
event.
 The Gogo fossil sites have outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (a)
for important transitional fossils that document the evolution of early tetrapodomorph
fish.
 The northern Kimberley coast and islands, the Kimberley Plateau and the west
Kimberley Devonian reefs have outstanding heritage value to the nation under
criterion (a) for plant, mammal, reptile, frog and invertebrate species richness and
endemism; and as refugia protecting against human-induced environmental changes.
 Vine thickets of the northern Kimberley coast and islands and the Kimberley Plateau,
and the Devonian reefs of the west Kimberley, are of outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (a) for their evolutionary refugial role that has resulted in high
invertebrate richness and endemism.
 The Drysdale, Prince Regent, Roe, Moran, Carson, Isdell, Mitchell and King Edward
Rivers are of outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (a) as areas of
evolutionary refugia demonstrated by nationally high values for freshwater fish and
turtle endemism.
Wealth of land and sea
 Carpenter's Gap 1 and Riwi rock shelters have outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (a) as they demonstrate the operation of Aboriginal social and
economic networks 30,000 years ago over distances of 500 kilometres.
 Carpenter's Gap 1 rock shelter has outstanding heritage value to the nation under
criterion (a) as it provides evidence of the antiquity of the symbolic use of ochre on a
rock surface, the earliest 'art' in Australia's cultural history.
 Pearl shell beds at a number of identified sites from Bidyadanga to Cape
Londonderry, where in Aboriginal law and culture, the shell is believed to be created
by Dreamtime Beings and is collected by Traditional Owners, have outstanding
heritage value to the nation under criterion (a) as the source of the item most widely
distributed by Aboriginal people in the course of Australia's cultural history.
Contact, change and continuity
 The Kimberley coast is recognised for its association with early European exploration
of the continent. The William Dampier (Cygnet) (1688) landing place, around Pender
Bay, Karrakatta Bay, King Sound, the Buccaneer Archipelago and nearby coast, has
outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (a) for its association with
William Dampier and the influence of his published observations. The environment
observed by Dampier is substantially unmodified since his 1688 landing and can be
seen today.
15
 The place where the tree marked F136 once stood has outstanding heritage value to
the nation under criterion (a) for its association with the pioneering overlanding
journey undertaken by the MacDonald brothers in 1883-1886.
 The limestone ranges of the Devonian Reef have outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (a) as the place where Bunuba resistance held back the
advance of European settlement for 13 years, an unusual achievement by Aboriginal
people in the history of Australian frontier conflict.
 Bungarun (Derby Leprosarium) has outstanding heritage value to the nation under
criterion (a) as the only extant facility to tell the national story of leprosy treatment of
Aboriginal people in Australia's cultural history.
 The areas of Noonkanbah station encompassing the station gates, the crossing at
Mickey’s Pool, Pea Hill and the unsuccessful exploration well have outstanding
heritage value to the nation under criterion (a) as the site of the Noonkanbah dispute,
an important event in the national struggle of Aboriginal people to have their rights to
practice traditional law and culture recognised, and to protect their heritage for future
generations.
B
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's
possession of
uncommon, rare
or endangered
aspects of
Australia's natural
and cultural
history.
Ecology, biogeography and evolution
 The late Devonian Gogo fish fossil sites have outstanding heritage value to the nation
under criterion (b) for remarkable preservation of a diverse fauna of entire fossil fish
skeletons complete with the rare preservation of extensive soft tissue.
 The Dampier Coast dinosaur tracks have outstanding heritage value to the nation
under criterion (b) as the best and most extensive evidence of dinosaurs from the
western half of the continent, some of which are unknown from body fossils; for the
diversity and exceptional sizes of the sauropod prints; and the unique census of the
dinosaur community that they provide.
 The fossil human footprint sites of the Dampier Coast have outstanding heritage value
to the nation under criterion (b) as one of only three documented human track sites in
Australia and the only documented evidence of human tracks from the west coast of
Australia.
Wealth of land and sea
 Carpenter's Gap 1 rock shelter has outstanding heritage value to the nation under
criterion (b) for its rare archaeological sequence of micro and macro-botanical
remains spanning 40,000 years that contributes to our understanding of the impacts
of climate change on flora composition though time, and the rare evidence it provides
of plant procurement strategies used by Aboriginal people from the Pleistocene,
through the last glacial maximum, a period when many occupation sites were
abandoned across Australia, and into the Holocene.
Contact, change and continuity
 The Mermaid tree within Careening Bay has outstanding heritage value to the nation
under criterion (b) as rare, in situ, physical evidence of nineteenth century
hydrographers and in particular the survey work of Phillip Parker King, one of
Australia's most important early marine surveyors.
16
C
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's potential
to yield
information that
will contribute to
an understanding
of Australia's
natural and
cultural history.
Ecology, biogeography, climate and evolution
 The Devonian reef outcrops of the Lennard Shelf have outstanding heritage value to
the nation under criterion (c) because of their potential to yield information that will
contribute to an understanding of the climatological and biological processes that
affect major reef systems.
Gogo fossil sites
 The Gogo fish fossils have outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (c)
as they have significant potential to yield new information about the natural history of
Australia, the evolution of Australian vertebrates and about new technologies that can
be used to study fossils.
Human ecology and adaptation
 The coastline from Cape Londonderry to Cape Leveque and the Devonian reef
complex have outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (c) for their
potential to yield significant new archaeological information contributing to an
understanding of Australia's natural and cultural history.
 The rock paintings of the Wanjina-Wunggurr homeland and the Balanggarra native
title claim area have outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (c) for
their potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of climate
change and species extinction; early Aboriginal material culture and technology
development; and the interactions between Aboriginal people and outsiders.
 The west Kimberley coast between Cape Londonderry and Cape Leveque has
outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (c) for its potential to yield
information that will contribute to an understanding of the nature and the effect of
mega-tsunami events.
Contact, change and continuity
 The west Kimberley coast from Cape Londonderry to the Lacepede Islands has
outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (c) for its potential to yield
information that will contribute to an understanding of Indonesian-Aboriginal
interaction in Australia's cultural history.
D
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's
importance in
demonstrating the
principal
characteristics of:
(i) a class of
Australia's natural
and cultural
places; or
(ii) a class of
Australia's natural
and cultural
environments.
Ancient landscapes, geological processes
 The west Kimberley coast from Helpman Islands in King Sound to the western shore
of Cambridge Gulf, including islands, peninsulas, inlets and inundated features, has
outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (d) for demonstrating the
principal characteristics of a major coastal landform type, in an extensive region
without significant modification by coastal infrastructure.
 The Devonian carbonate complexes of the Lennard Shelf have outstanding heritage
value to the nation under criterion (d) for demonstrating the principal characteristics of
a very well preserved proto-Australian carbonate ramp environment on an ancient
continental shelf.
17
Ecology, biogeography and evolution
 The dinosaur tracks and associated ichnofossils, plant macrofossils and Cretaceous
depositional environments of the Broome Sandstone exposed in the intertidal zone of
the Dampier Coast have outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (d)
for preserving snapshots of the ecology of the Mesozoic.
 Roebuck Bay has outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (d) due to
the place's importance as a class of avian habitat (a migratory hub or staging post),
and for the regular presence of migratory, protected or endangered avifauna.
 The Fitzroy River and a number of its tributaries, together with their floodplains and
the jila sites of Kurrpurrngu, Mangunampi, Paliyarra and Kurungal, demonstrate four
distinct expressions of the Rainbow Serpent tradition associated with Indigenous
interpretations of the different ways in which water flows within the catchment and are
of outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (d) for their exceptional
ability to convey the diversity of the Rainbow Serpent tradition within a single
freshwater hydrological system.
E
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's
importance in
exhibiting
particular
aesthetic
characteristics
valued by a
community or
cultural group.
Wealth of land and sea
 The Kimberley coast from the Buccaneer Archipelago to King George River has
outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (e) for its aesthetic
characteristics valued by the Australian community., including its rugged sandstone
coast with rocky headlands and prominent peaks and striking landforms, sandy
beaches, pristine rivers, waterfalls and drowned river valleys with rich flora and fauna,
off shore reefs and numerous islands in extensive seascapes in a sea supporting
diverse marine life. The unusual effect of tidal movement is also part of the aesthetic
appreciation of some areas like the Horizontal Waterfall.
 The Mitchell River National Park has outstanding heritage value to the nation under
criterion (e) for its aesthetic characteristics valued by the Australian community.
 King George Falls and King George River have outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (e) for their aesthetic characteristics valued by the Australian
community.
 Geikie Gorge Conservation Park and Geikie Gorge National Park have outstanding
heritage value to the nation under criterion (e) for their aesthetic characteristics valued
by the Australian community.
 Windjana Gorge National Park has outstanding heritage value to the nation under
criterion (e) for its aesthetic characteristics valued by the Australian community.
 The King Leopold Ranges Conservation Park has outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (e) for its aesthetic characteristics valued by the Australian
community.
 Aboriginal rock art paintings in the west Kimberley, particularly in the WanjinaWunggurr homeland and Balanggarra native title claim area and the Devonian reef,
are both powerful and of deep religious significance to Kimberley Aboriginal people
and have outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (e) as they
represent a stunning visual record of an ongoing Aboriginal painting tradition in a
substantially unmodified landscape.
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F
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's
importance in
demonstrating a
high degree of
creative or
technical
achievement at a
particular period.
G
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's strong or
special
association with a
particular
community or
cultural group for
social, cultural or
spiritual reasons.
H
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's special
association with
the life or works of
a person, or group
of persons, of
importance in
Australia's natural
or cultural history.
Design and innovation
 Considered one of the longest and most complex painted 'rock art' sequences
anywhere in the world, (Morwood 2002, 143) the west Kimberley complex of painted
images is a creative achievement by Kimberley Aboriginal people that has
outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (f).
 The Sacred Heart church at Beagle Bay mission has outstanding heritage value to the
nation under criterion (f) for the high degree of creative and technical achievement in
the use of pearl shell and other locally sourced media to decorate the interior,
combining western religious and Aboriginal motifs.
Technical response to environmental constraints
 The manufacture of the double log raft from mangrove logs (particularly Rhizophora
stylosa) is a unique adaptation to the massive tidal variation of the west Kimberley
and has outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (f) for demonstrating
a high degree of technical achievement by Aboriginal people in the course of
Australia's cultural history.
Wealth of the Land and Sea
 Broome and the nearby region has outstanding (intangible) heritage value to the
nation under criterion (g) as a place which has a special association with the
Australian community because of the romance of Broome, its pearling history, its
remote and beautiful location at the gateway to the Kimberley's outback and pearling
coast, its association with pearls and the town's stories associated with the
development of a unique Australian community with a distinctive cultural diversity.
Contact, Change and continuity
 The William Dampier (Cygnet) 1688 landing place has outstanding heritage value to
the nation under criterion (h) for its special association with the life and work of
William Dampier.
 The limestone ranges of the Devonian Reef, known to the Bunuba as Barlil, have
outstanding value to the nation under criterion (h) for their association with
Jandamarra, whose campaign of resistance was unprecedented in Australian history,
as was the ferocity of the police and settler response. Jandamarra's death in 1897
ended the last large-scale organised violent resistance by Aboriginal people in
Australia's cultural history.
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Wanjina–Wunggurr Tradition
I
The place has
outstanding
heritage value to
the nation
because of the
place's
importance as
part of Indigenous
tradition.
 The Wanjina-Wunggurr homeland, where the painted images on rock and other
features in the land, sea and sky, including natural rock formations and man-made
stone arrangements, are manifestations of the Wanjina and the Wunggurr Snake, are
of outstanding heritage value to the nation under criterion (i) because of their
importance as part of Indigenous tradition.
Appendix B
Maps showing the approximate positions of National Heritage values of the west
Kimberley National Heritage place
The following figures provide approximate positions of the individual National Heritage
values listed for the West Kimberley. For referral matters, the overall West Kimberley
National Heritage place boundary description should be used; this can be found in the
official gazettal notice:
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/laws/publicdocuments/pubs/106063_05.pdf
Figure 1
National Heritage values - Geoheritage
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Figure 2 National Heritage values – Biodiversity
Figure 3
National Heritage values – Indigenous values (map 1 of 2)
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Figure 4
National Heritage values – Indigenous values (map 2 of 2)
Figure 5
National Heritage values – historic and aesthetic values
22