Introduction to Kakadu

Kakadu National Park is a timeless place. This ancient landscape is a place of exceptional beauty and great diversity.  Kakadu’s pristine country stretches over 20,000 square kilometres, from the mangrove fringed tidal plains in the north to the vast floodplains, the lowland hills and the sandstone cliffs of the Arnhemland escarpment. Teeming with wildlife in the water, on the land and in the air, the country displays a range and concentration of species seen nowhere else. The evolving landscape takes on different forms and colours with the passing of each of its six seasons. This enduring cycle spans millions of years. Kakadu has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years. The people of this culture, rich in spirituality, tradition and respect, have always cared for the land. Sharing and looking after the land has always been part of the Kakadu story.

Here is a travel guide created by Expedia in 2014 to introduce the Kakadu.

Non-Aboriginal history of Kakadu National Park

The material in this section is based mainly on the records of non-Indigenous visitors to the Kakadu region. It is important to understand, that Indigenous Australians do not share the same linear and time-based view of history. This chapter will cover the following two topics:

1. Social history since colonisation
2. Chronology of the establishment of Kakadu National Park.

Link to reading

International Significance of Kakadu

World Heritage listing

The cultural and natural values of Kakadu National Park were recognised internationally when the Park was placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. This is an international register of properties that are recognised as having outstanding cultural or natural values of international significance. Kakadu was first added to the World Heritage List in 1981, with further areas added in 1987, 1992 and 2011.

Under the World Heritage Convention, the Australian Government is required to ensure the ‘identification, protection, conservation, preservation and transmission to future generations’ of Kakadu’s cultural and natural heritage.

Kakadu National Park—an Australian World Heritage Property

Recognising its significance internationally, the Park and its natural and cultural heritage have been registered on, or are subject to, numerous international agreements and conventions, including those described below.

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage is concerned with identifying, protecting and conserving cultural or natural features of outstanding universal value. Parties to the Convention undertake to identify, protect, conserve, present and transmit to future generations the World Heritage on their territory.

Kakadu has been listed on the World Heritage List for both its natural and cultural value. Stage one was inscribed in 1981 and Stage two in 1987. The whole of the park was listed in December 1992. The records of the 1992 meeting of the World Heritage Committee that considered the consolidated listing of Kakadu commended the Australian authorities ‘for concluding a 10 year program to extend the park and for the exemplary management operation at the Park’.

Kakadu is listed as a World Heritage site against the following cultural and natural criteria:

Kakadu National Park World Heritage Values

Kakadu National Park was first inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981, and was subsequently expanded and re-inscribed in 1987, and again in 1992.

The World Heritage criteria current in 1992 and against which Kakadu National Park was most recently inscribed remain the formal criteria for this property. These criteria appear below. The World Heritage criteria are periodically revised and the criteria against which the property was listed in 1992 are not necessarily identical with the current criteria.

Examples of the World Heritage values for which Kakadu National Park was listed are described below for each criterion. It should be noted that while these examples are illustrative of the World Heritage values of the property, they do not necessarily constitute a comprehensive list of these values. Other sources including the Nomination of Kakadu National Park by the Government of Australia for Inscription in the World Heritage List and the publication Kakadu Natural and Cultural Heritage and Management are available and could be consulted for a more detailed understanding of the World Heritage values of Kakadu National Park.

Natural criterion

Natural criterion (ii)—outstanding example representing significant ongoing geological processes, biological evolution and man’s interaction with his natural environment.

Kakadu National Park is an outstanding example representing significant ongoing geological processes, particularly associated with the effects of sea-level change in northern Australia, biological evolution and people’s interaction with their natural environment. The World Heritage values include:

• the coastal riverine and estuarine flood plains of the South Alligator, West Alligator, East Alligator, and Wildman rivers, which include freshwater flood plains with tidal river channels
• the relatively undisturbed nature of the river systems and their associated catchments
• the mangrove swamps, including remnants of more extensive swamps which formed between 6500 and 7000 years ago on the coastal fringe and plains
• the spatial zonation of the coastal and floodplain vegetation which exemplifies a vegetation succession linked to processes of sea-level change and sedimentation and extends from lower intertidal mangroves to estuarine mangroves to floodplain vegetation
• the range of the environmental gradients and contiguous, diverse landscapes, extending from the sandstone plateaus and escarpments through lowland areas and wetlands to the coast, which have contributed to the evolution of high levels of endemism and species diversity
• the scale and integrity of the landscapes and environments with extensive and relatively unmodified vegetation cover and largely intact faunal composition which are important in relation to ongoing evolutionary processes in an intact landscape, the high spatial heterogeneity of habitats
• the high diversity and abundance of plant and animal species, many of which are adapted to low-nutrient conditions (including more than 1600 plant species, over one-quarter of Australia’s known terrestrial mammal, about one-third of the total bird fauna and freshwater fish species, about fifteen per cent of Australia reptile and amphibian species and a high diversity of insect species)
• the Aboriginal archaeological remains and rock art which represent an outstanding example of people’s interaction with the natural environment and bear remarkable and valuable witness to past environments in northern Australia and to the interaction of people with these environments
• the ongoing, active management of the landscapes by Aboriginal people through the use of fire, including fire-assisted hunting and the creation of environmental mosaics which contribute to species diversity, provide an important example of people’s interaction with the environment
• the diverse range of habitats and vegetation types including:
• – open forest and woodlands
• – lowland and sandstone (Allosyncarpa ternata closed forest) rainforests
• – shrubland and heath
• – wetland, riverine, and coastal environments
• – mangroves and floodplains.

Natural criterion (iii) contain unique, rare or superlative natural phenomena, formations or features or areas of exceptional natural beauty.

Kakadu National Park has features of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance and contains superlative natural phenomena. The World Heritage values include:

• the expansive and varied natural landscapes which include coastal areas, lowlands, wetlands, floodplains, plateau complexes, escarpments and outliers
• the exceptional natural beauty of viewfields
• the relatively undisturbed nature of the landscape
• the unusual mix and diversity of habitats found in close proximity
• the large scale of undisturbed landscape.

Natural criterion (iv) contain the most important and significant habitats where threatened species of plants and animals of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science and conservation still survive.

Kakadu National Park’s large size, its diversity of habitats and its position in an area of northern Australia subjected to considerably less disturbance by European settlement than many other parts of the continent have resulted in the protection and conservation of many significant habitats, including those where threatened species of plants and animals of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science and conservation still survive. The World Heritage values include

• the wide range of natural habitats, including:
• – open forest and woodlands
• – monsoon rainforest areas
• – heaths and shrublands
• – freshwater wetlands
• – mangrove and estuarine areas
• – foreshore and beach areas.
• significant plant associations, including those associated with Eucalyptus koolpinensis, the heath vegetation on the margins of the Marrawal Plateau, and woodland containing Terminalia platyptera on Snake Plains
• plant species of conservation significance (including endemic species and relict species) such as Arthrochilus byrnessii, Cycas conferta, Desmodium sp. 2, Eucalyptus koolpinensis, Hildegardia australiensis, Micraira spp., Neobyrnesia suberosa, Pityrodia spp., Plectrachne aristiglumis, Triodia radonensis, Typhonium russell-smithii
• animal species of conservation significance, including:
• – mammals (such as Calaby’s mouse Pseudomys calabyi, Kakadu dunnart Sminthopsis Nov., nabarlek Petrogale concinna, false water-rat Xeromys myoides, golden-backed tree-rat Mesembriomys macrurus, and ghost bat Macroderma gigas)
• – reptiles (such as the pig-nosed turtle Carettochelys insculpta, Pacific or olive ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea, green turtle Chelonia mydas, loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta, saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus and freshwater crocodile johnstoni)
• – birds (such as the Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae, partridge pigeon Geophaps smithii, hooded parrot Psephotus dissimilis, little tern Sterna albifrons, masked owl –northern subspecies Tyto novaehollandiae kimberli and red goshawk Erythrotriorchis radiatus)
• – invertebrates (such as crustaceans of the plateau and escarpment streams, especially the families Amphisopodidae, Atyidae and Palaemonidae)
• – fish (such as two newly discovered taxa of goby, including the new genus Cryptocentrus, and a speartooth shark Gyphis sp)
• – species which have experienced range reductions (such as the magpie goose Anseranas semipalmata, Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae, partridge pigeon Petrophassa smithii, pale field rat Rattus tunneyi and Leichhardt’s grasshopper Petasida ephippigera)
• – endemic species and relict species (including the ghost bat Macroderma gigas, the orange horseshoe bat Rhinonicteris aurantius, saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus, freshwater crocodile johnstoni, and the pig-nosed turtle Carettochelys insculpta).

Cultural criterion

Cultural criterion (i) represent a unique artistic achievement and a masterpiece of the creative genius.

The rock art sites of Kakadu National Park represent a unique artistic achievement, spanning a continuum tens of thousands of years to the present and continuing to maintain an important function in the cultural and social aspects of contemporary indigenous communities. The World Heritage values include rock art sites which:

• in themselves represent a unique artistic achievement and which comprise one of the greatest concentrations of rock art in the world
• are of great antiquity and which represent a continuous temporal span from the Pleistocene Epoch to the present
• exhibit great diversity, both in space and through time, yet embody a continuous cultural development
• demonstrate in the record of the art sites a living cultural tradition which continues today.

Cultural criterion (vi) directly or tangibly associated with events or with ideas or beliefs of outstanding universal significance.

Kakadu National Park is associated with events, ideas and beliefs of outstanding universal significance. The World Heritage values include cultural sites which:

• form a rich collection of places imbued with strong spiritual associations relating to creator beings and are connected to the continuing practice of traditional beliefs and practices
• demonstrate in the art and the archaeological record a living cultural tradition that continues today
• are of great antiquity and represent a continuous temporal span from the Pleistocene Epoch to the present
• include archaeological sites which are currently some of the oldest dated within Australia
• exhibit great diversity, both in space and through time, yet embody a continuous cultural development
• preserve a record, not only in the form of archaeological sites but also through rock art, of human responses and adaptation to major environmental change including rising sea levels
• preserve fragile items of material culture not commonly found within other archaeological sites.

Other international conventions, treaties and responsibilities

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar convention)

This convention aims to stop the world from losing wetlands and to conserve, through wise use and management, those that remain. More than ninety countries are contracting parties to the Convention.

Wetlands are selected as Ramsar sites for the list of Wetlands of International Importance because of ecological, botanical, zoological, limnological or hydrological criteria. Wetlands in Kakadu stage one were listed in June 1980. Wetlands in Kakadu stage two were listed in September 1987. In March 1996 wetlands in Kakadu stage three that are part of the South Alligator River catchment were added to the list. All wetlands in Kakadu are listed as wetlands of international importance.

In March 1996 the contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention also agreed to establish an East Asian/Australasian Flyway to protect areas used by migratory shorebirds. The flyway provides for an East Asian/Australasian shorebird reserve network of sites that are critically important to migratory shorebirds. The wetlands of Kakadu National Park are part of this reserve network.

Other treaties

Kakadu is also subject to international treaties for the protection of other wildlife and habitats, including the:

• Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of Japan for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Birds in Danger of Extinction and their Environment (JAMBA). Forty-six of the seventy-six birds listed under this agreement are found in the Park.
• Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the Protection of Migratory Birds and their Environment (CAMBA). Fifty of the eighty-one birds listed under this agreement are found in the Park.
• Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention). Twenty-one of the species listed under this convention are found in Kakadu.
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• Convention on Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific (Apia Convention).

Parks Australia is also signatory to a Memorandum of Understanding with the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to facilitate cooperative nature conservation programs in the South Pacific, which has particular ramifications for marine species that occur in the Park. Kakadu is involved in an international Tri-national Wetlands Conservation Project being developed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia. This project aims to exchange expert knowledge in managing wetlands with local Indigenous people.

Parties to the project agreement are the management authorities of:

• Kakadu National Park
• Wasur National Park in Irian Jaya (Indonesia)
• Tonda Wildlife Management Area in Papua New Guinea.

These three areas each have similar wetland habitats and are managed with the local Indigenous people. The project aims to develop a cooperative arrangement between the three areas to share experiences in wetland conservation, promote best management options and develop a training program. Wetlands in all three protected areas each form a significant stop-over point in the migration of birds on the East Asian/Australasian Flyway.