World Heritage Places - Purnululu National Park

Location

The World Heritage Listed area for Purnululu National Park is almost 2,400km². Purnululu National Park is located 300 kilometres by road south of the nearest population centre, the small regional town of Kununurra.

Description of Place

There is an adjacent buffer zone to the north and west (the Purnululu Conservation Reserve) of almost 800 km², which is not part of the nominated area but which is managed to help protect the park's World Heritage Values. Famous for the 450 km² Bungle Bungle Range, Purnululu has been listed as an outstanding landscape that is an incomparable natural phenomenon. It reveals the story of its formation over hundreds of millions of years, and helps unlock the story of the earth's history.

Twenty million years of weathering have produced the eroded sandstone towers and banded beehive structures of the Bungle Bungle Range. Dark bands, formed by cyanobacteria, winding horizontally around the domes, contrast with the lighter orange sandstone. Cyanobacteria are single-celled organisms that represent some of the oldest life-forms on earth. These organisms have been found as fossils in rocks elsewhere in Western Australia in rocks that are believed to be up to 3500 million years old. The cyanobacterial bands are up to several metres wide, yet only a few millimetres thick. The crusts help stabilise and protect the ancient and fragile sandstone towers. The dramatically sculptured structures undergo remarkable seasonal variation in appearance, including striking colour transition following rain. The intricate maze of towers is accentuated by sinuous, narrow, sheer-sided gorges lined with majestic Livistona fan palms. These, and the soaring cliffs up to 250 metres high, are cut by seasonal waterfalls and pools, creating the major tourist attractions in the park.

The sandstone karst of Purnululu is of great scientific importance in demonstrating so clearly the process of cone karst formation on sandstone - a phenomenon only recognised by geomorphologists over the past 25 years and still not completely understood. While sandstone towers and cliffs are known from other parts of the world, including some regions in Australia, the spectacular features of the Bungle Bungle Range are unrivalled in their scale, extend, grandeur and diversity of forms. They owe their existence and uniqueness to several interacting geological, biological, erosional and climatic phenomena.

The park's domes, gorges and wet season waterfalls were almost unknown to the outside world until 1982 when aerial pictures of this outback jewel were released. Purnululu National Park lies in a transition zone between the arid desert environments of central Australia to the south and, to the north, the monsoon savannah environments of northern Australia. The biological features of the park show adaptations to the aridity of the neighbouring desert environments and also to the rainfall-rich zone of the monsoon region. The Ord River, the major watercourse, creates a riverine ecosystem that is a vital resource for plants, animals and people. Mean annual rainfall is around 600 mm but the evaporation rate is very high, and runoff is rapid. Consequently, there is little permanent surface water. The diversity of landforms, along with the park's location in a transitional climatic zone, supports a range of distinct vegetation communities, ranging from desert shrubs along the exposed plateaus of the Bungle Bungle Range, to the rainforest communities along Osmond Creek valley.

Management of Purnululu National Park

The Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is responsible for day-to-day management of the property, through the Purnululu Park Council in conjunction with local Aboriginal people.

Statement of Outstanding Universal Value

Brief synthesis

Purnululu National Park, located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, covers almost 240,000 hectares of remote area managed as wilderness. It includes the Bungle Bungle Range, a spectacularly incised landscape of sculptured rocks which contains superlative examples of beehive-shaped karst sandstone rising 250 metres above the surrounding semi-arid savannah grasslands. Unique depositional processes and weathering have given these towers their spectacular black and orange banded appearance, formed by biological processes of cyanobacteria (single cell photosynthetic organisms) which serve to stabilise and protect the ancient sandstone formations. These outstanding examples of cone karst that have eroded over a period of 20 million years are of great beauty and exceptional geological interest.

Criterion (vii) contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance

Although Purnululu National Park has not been widely known in Australia until recently and remains relatively inaccessible, it has become recognised internationally for its exceptional natural beauty. The prime scenic attraction is the extraordinary array of banded, beehive-shaped cone towers comprising the Bungle Bungle Range. These have become emblematic of the park and are internationally renowned among Australia's natural attractions. The dramatically sculptured structures, unrivalled in their scale, extent, grandeur and diversity of form anywhere in the world, undergo remarkable daily and seasonal variation in appearance, including striking colour transition following rain and with the positioning of the sun. The intricate maze of towers is accentuated by sinuous, narrow, sheer-sided gorges lined with majestic Livistona fan palms. These and the soaring cliffs up to 250 metres high are cut by seasonal waterfalls and pools, creating the major tourist attractions in the park with evocative names such as Echidna Chasm, Piccaninny and Cathedral Gorges. The diversity of landforms and ecosystems elsewhere in the park are representative of the semi-arid landscape in which Purnululu is located and provide a sympathetic visual buffer for the massif.

Criterion (viii) outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features

The Bungle Bungles are, by far, the most outstanding example of cone karst in sandstones anywhere in the world and owe their existence and uniqueness to several interacting geological, biological, erosional and climatic phenomena. The sandstone karst of Purnululu National Park is of great scientific importance in demonstrating so clearly the process of cone karst formation on sandstone - a phenomenon recognised by geomorphologists only recently and still not completely understood. The Bungle Bungle Ranges of the Park also display to an exceptional degree evidence of geomorphic processes of dissolution, weathering and erosion in the evolution of landforms under a savannah climatic regime within an ancient, stable sedimentary landscape.

Statement of Integrity

Purnululu National Park includes the full extent of the Bungle Bungle Range, the World Heritage property’s predominant feature. The Range is well-buffered by protected land on all sides including spinifex- and mulga-dominated sand plains within the Park to the north, south and east. In the west the dominant feature is that of the Osmond Ranges which lie within the adjoining Purnululu Conservation Park (PCP). These areas were considered sufficient to protect the World Heritage values of the Range with the recommendation that the PCP be incorporated into the Park, and that surrounding pastoral country should also be added to provide better buffering and boundary delimitation. It was noted that the existing park boundaries are not ideal, being mainly water courses rather than watershed boundaries. This could potentially allow incursion of undesirable impacts from neighbouring areas in catchments upstream of the park, such as waste effluent from mining activities.

Since World Heritage listing, extensive areas of land have been added to reserved lands adjacent to the World Heritage property. This has resulted in the Park being completely surrounded by large areas of conservation land. These reserves include the Western Australian Government’s Purnululu Conservation Park and Ord River Regeneration Reserve.

The issue of impacts from outside the reserved area is managed by the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, which addresses any potential impact to the property’s World Heritage values. While there were no permanent inhabitants within the property at time of inscription, today there is seasonal occupation by traditional owners in three areas designated as special “Living Area Leases” within the property. Land tenure issues between the Indigenous community (Native Title claims) and the State are in the process of being determined.

Requirements for protection and management

Purnululu National Park World Heritage property is public land with secure legal protection and is managed on a day-to-day basis by the Western Australian government. Ranger staff resides within the Park whilst on duty, but the Park is closed during the wet season from December to the beginning of April.

Land-based access to and within the Park can be difficult because of the remoteness of the area and the Park’s position at the edge of Australia’s monsoonal region. Infrastructure funding has been used to upgrade the Park’s walking tracks, airstrip and associated helipad. Aerial tours are managed through set flight paths to control noise and facilitate safety.

Although visitor numbers have steadily risen over time, management measures are sufficient to address potential impacts. Infrastructure funding has increased with the Park’s World Heritage listing. However, maintaining adequate staffing of the Park can be difficult in this remote area. In the past grazing by cattle and feral donkeys has been problematic, and at time of inscription wandering stock and other pests were still an issue, requiring cooperation from neighbouring landowners. Invasive alien species such as feral cats and more recently the imminent arrival of cane toads also requires management.

Wildfires, especially now there is greater vegetation cover as the landscape recovers from past over-grazing, are also a major management concern. Measures, including controlled burns in the monsoon season, are in place to manage this threat.

Potential impacts to World Heritage values by mining activities are well-managed through a number of measures.  First, mineral exploration and mining are prohibited in the Park by the State Government. Second, while exploration and mining are possible in the neighbouring Purnululu Conservation Park and Ord River Regeneration Reserve, any potential impacts to the World Heritage values are addressed through the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

From July 2000, any proposed activity which may have a significant impact on the property became subject to the provisions of the EPBC Act, which regulates actions that will, or are likely to, have a significant impact on World Heritage values. In 2007, Purnululu was added to the National Heritage List, in recognition of its national heritage significance under the Act.

Since inscription, climate change has emerged as an additional potential threat to the World Heritage values, and Australia has introduced a range of measures at both the national and property-specific level to address potential threats.

Australia has reported regularly to the World Heritage Committee on a number of management issues in Purnululu National Park. These include the addition of reserve land to further buffer the Park, measures to ensure that any mining outside the Park is suitably managed to avoid impacts to World Heritage values, management of alien invasive species and funding for staffing and infrastructure for the Park.

History of Inscription

Purnululu National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee on 5 July 2003.

This Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value was adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th meeting on 6 July 2012.

The World Heritage Committee approved an updated map of the property at its 44th session in July 2021. The full text of the decision of the World Heritage Committee is available on the UNESCO website - Decision: 44 COM 8D

Further information

• Understanding World Heritage: what is outstanding universal value?

World Heritage Listing information

Visit the UNESCO web site for official listing information on Purnululu National Park:

• Purnululu National Park - Property ID 1094

Documents

• Purnululu World Heritage Nomination
• Purnululu National Park map (PDF - 2.5 MB)
• Purnululu National Park factsheet (PDF - 419.05 KB)

Databases

• Australian Heritage Database record - World Heritage List
• Databases and applications - Spatial data (in an ESRI shapefile format) for all of Australia’s World Heritage properties is held by the Department.
• Protected Planet Database - Purnululu National Park World Heritage Site

National Heritage Listing information

• Location/Boundary plan (PDF - 271.18 KB)
• Gazettal notice (PDF - 67.56 KB)
• Australian Heritage Database record - National Heritage List