Kakadu National Park Management Plan 2016-2026

About the Plan

Kakadu National Park covers an area of 19,810 square kilometres within the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory. Kakadu is one of the largest national parks in Australia, extending from the coast in the north to the southern hills and basins 150 kilometres to the south, and 120 kilometres from the Arnhem Land sandstone plateau in the east, through savanna woodlands to the western boundary.

The majority of the Kakadu region is Aboriginal land under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT 1976) and has been home to Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years. The Aboriginal people, Bininj in the north and Mungguy in the south, are the traditional custodians of the land.

There is an extensive network of rock art sites in the Kakadu region, recognised to be one of the greatest concentrations of rock art sites in the world. Some of the rock art is estimated to be up to 20,000 years old. This represents one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world.

The Kakadu region includes a diverse range of landscape types, including lowland savanna woodlands, stone country, rainforest and floodplains and coastal zones. These landscapes dramatically change throughout the year in response to the six seasons recognised by Bininj people in the north and five seasons by Mungguy people in the south of the park. The park contains a diverse range of plants and animals, including high numbers of endemic species in the stone country.

Much of the substance of this management plan is consistent with the intent and direction of the previous plan. The plan consists of four parts. Part A provides a description of the park and explains the management planning framework. Part B sets out some general provisions and importantly assigns the park to an Australian IUCN management category. Part C sets out how the park will be managed and Part D describes what activities can occur within the park and restrictions that need to be observed to protect the values of the park.

This management plan sets out how the park and its natural and cultural values will be managed, protected and conserved for the next 10 years, enabling management to proceed in an orderly way, helping reconcile competing interests and identifying priorities for the allocation of available resources.