Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula

Description

The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula will be proposed as a serial World Heritage property comprising a number of component parts from across the Peninsula and will not be proposed as the whole of the Cape York Bioregion.

This is our country.

The place of our ancestors.

You have to know that way to understand Aboriginal way.

The land gives us what we need.

Food, shelter, tradition, law, dance.

They were put there during the dreaming.

That way we live.

All things work together, the land, the law, the culture, the heritage.

That way things work.

Tommy George[1]

Located across a vast region of more than 120,000 square kilometres on the north-east of Australia, the rich complex cultural landscape of plains, hills, rivers and sea of Cape York Peninsula, have been shaped by the presence of ancestral creation beings since the beginning of time.

Within a landscape of exceptional beauty Cape York Peninsula, through the component parts of the proposed serial property, has special aesthetic value which reflect in the vast and intact area of diverse and spectacular landforms and tropical ecosystems, unusual on a world scale.

Cape York Peninsula is a landscape which has organically evolved in response to the Traditional Owners’ cultural beliefs and social and economic imperatives which have developed through association with and in response to the natural environment. Additionally, there are complex associative cultural elements within the landscape that are powerful human responses to the artistic and cultural associations of the natural elements. The associative cultural elements capture the living cultural beliefs which are expressed in stories of spiritual significance and an extraordinary repository of creative artworks.

The unified tangible and intangible attributes of Cape York Peninsula attest to tens of thousands of years of Traditional Owners using and caring for the land, rivers and sea. Cape York Peninsula is a cultural landscape that is defined by its active cultural, social and economic role in contemporary society, while remaining closely associated with traditional ways of life.

The earliest archaeological date for human occupation is 37,000 years ago at Ngarrabullgan (Australian Heritage Council, 2018) which is just to the south-east of Cape York Peninsula. David et al (2007) through their investigation of the stratigraphic integrity at Nonda Rock, also south-east of Cape York Peninsula, note the excavation suggests the commencement of human occupation at Nonda Rock sometime between ca. 67,000 and ca. 40,000 years ago.

The population of Cape York Peninsula prior to European arrival is considered to have comprised several hundred small kin groups (Ziembicki, 2010). Ziembicki notes there were about 45 distinct languages consisting of several hundred dialects from an area north of approximately 16 degrees South, which is 105 kilometres north of Cairns (Chase and Sutton, 1981 in Ziembicki, 2010).

Rock art occurs across Cape York Peninsula, most notably throughout the Laura Sandstone Basin, which includes the Quinkan National Heritage place. The rock art, which is of great diversity and antiquity, includes spirit beings, men and women, dingos, macropods, echidnas, birds, reptiles, fish, tracks and yams. The paintings which overlie very weathered and patinated geometric engravings date to 17,000 years ago (Rosenfeld et al., 1981). Evidence of occupation at these sites is dated to 34,000 years ago (Australian Heritage Council, 2018).

The associative cultural landscape is signalled through ancestral creation beings who provide the principles to present day Aboriginal communities on how to care for and manage the landscape. The ancestral creation beings shape every visible aspect of the world, including plants, animals, rivers, mountains, reefs and land systems, as well as every aspect of behaviour in the cultural, social and economic world.

In addition to the ancestral creation beings Cape York Peninsula’s cultural landscape is shaped by many natural elements including its geology and monsoonal tropical climate.  

The geology of Cape York Peninsula shows exceptional diversity and includes ancient Precambrian sediments, Palaeozoic granites and metamorphics, Mesozoic sandstones, as well as Cenozoic sands, alluvium and basalt (Willmott, 2009). Geological features include extensive deposits of bauxite on the west coast; sandstone which support the extensive Jardine wetlands; the extraordinary granite boulder fields of Kalkajaka and Cape Melville; the dune fields of Cape Flattery, Shelburne Bay, the Mitchell River delta; and the coastal beach ridge complexes of the west coast and Princess Charlotte Bay (Willmott, 2009).

Cape York Peninsula’s geology spans the development of the Australian continent since the Precambrian and the resulting land surfaces support a remarkable diversity of flora and fauna habitats. In addition, the Peninsula’s relative stability since the mid-Jurassic has provided an important basis for the region’s distinctive monsoon biota. Some parts of Cape York Peninsula, such as the Coleman Plateau, are considered to have changed little since their development in the Jurassic (Wannan, undated).

The monsoonal tropical climate of the region provides 1–2 metres of annual rainfall between December and March. Tropical savanna landscapes dominate and characterise the ecological matrix of Cape York Peninsula. Their integrity, extent, biodiversity and connectivity provide the underpinning for the region’s other biodiversity values (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). At more than 650 kilometres long and up to 400 kilometres wide, Cape York Peninsula encompasses a wide range of sub-biogeographies (Thackway and Cresswell, 1995), from upland areas (800 metres above sea level), hills and plains through to extensive savannah, grasslands, rainforest, mangrove forests, coastal salt flats, dune fields and beaches.

The overall biodiversity values of the Cape York Peninsula derive from the mix of a wide range of valuable ecosystems, rather than the tropical savannahs, grasslands or rainforests alone:

Biodiversity on Cape York Peninsula is the sum of the biodiversity in the many different habitats on the Peninsula, rather than any one habitat. Rainforest is the most diverse, mainly as a result of Indo-Malayan and New Guinea fauna entering via Torres Strait and it is this component of the fauna that sets Cape York Peninsula apart from any other region in Australia. Yet, on its own, rainforest does not characterise Cape York Peninsula. The Peninsula supports an extensive woodland habitat that is characteristic of tropical monsoonal savannah and because of its relative pristine condition is ideal for understanding the on-going ecological and biological processes within a major ecosystem. The biodiversity of Cape York Peninsula comes from the combination of species living in rocky areas, heaths, mangroves, dune fields, rivers, lakes and swamps, all within a matrix of the ubiquitous woodland (Winter, 2009).

Much of the present character and ecology of Cape York Peninsula’s tropical savanna is defined by a strongly monsoonal climate. Its landscapes are exposed to an orderly procession of climatic extremes: an almost rainless dry season of about 7 – 8 months, followed by a shorter season of violent storms and torrential rains (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). In contrast to Australia’s other monsoon areas, the eastern coastal parts of Cape York Peninsula experience significant rainfall during the dry season. This rainfall supports some of the most extensive monsoon rainforest areas in Australia, interspersed with the large areas of monsoon woodland. The landscape contains a large number of perennial rivers and a diversity of wetlands which are seasonal refuges for many northern Australian faunal species.

Cape York Peninsula’s terrestrial habitats of rainforests, vine thickets, open forests, woodlands, grasslands, heathlands, freshwater wetlands, mangroves, and salt-flats support over 3300 species of vascular plants, including 1100 rainforest species. The Peninsula is home to 18.5 per cent of Australian plant species, despite being only three per cent of the continental landmass. The region’s extraordinary plant diversity is exhibited in six endemic genera and more than 220 endemic species (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013).

In addition to the remarkable cultural landscape described above, Cape York Peninsula contains the first authenticated European sighting of the Australian coast, which occurred in 1606. The Dutch vessel the Duyfken, under the command of Willem Janszoon, met visible land on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, probably in the vicinity of the Pennefather River, before landing at Port Musgrave (Wenlock River), where one of Janszoon’s crew was killed (Pearson, 2005). There are intervening sightings of Cape York, including Jan Carstensz Carstenszoon sailing in Pera and Arnhem (1623) in the Gulf of Carpentaria (Pearson, 2005).

It wasn’t until 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook (later Captain), sailing north along the east coast of the continent in the HM Bark Endeavour, that the most significant encounter with the Traditional Owners took place. While marking a series of prominent features Cook’s expedition nearly ended on Endeavour Reef, near modern day Cooktown, on 11 June 1770 when Endeavour struck a reef that arose from a depth of 182 metres (Pearson, 2005).

Endeavour was hauled close to the shore and unloaded before moving to a sandy beach, near the mouth of the Endeavour River, where it was able to be careened, exposing the damaged bottom for repair, which took place over seven weeks.

Horsfall and Morrison (2010) describe the encounter:

Cook and his crew found refuge on the bank of the Endeavour River while they repaired the ship. This was the first white settlement on the east coast of Australia, and it lasted for nearly two months. Interactions with the local Gugu-Yimidhirr people were mostly friendly, although cultural misunderstandings did occur. Cook’s description of the people he met was very positive. Botanist Joseph Banks collected many plant specimens during the enforced stay. These introduced European scientists to the very different flora of Australia, and are still preserved in the British Museum in London. The expedition also described an animal previously unknown to Europeans, called ‘kangaroo’ by the Gugu-Yimidhirr people.

Having completed the repairs Cook sailed Endeavour north. On 22 August 1770, Cook as the commanding officer of Endeavour and accompanied by Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, landed on Possession Island, which is to the west of Cape York, and claimed ‘possession’ of the east coast of Australia (Pearson, 2005).

In summary, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are exceptional landscapes of global significance; that significance arises from its cultural and natural values.

Management and protection

The Marpa or Wind Story provides a daily reminder to the Lama Lama people of the need to manage country:

Wind Story is a reminder for Lama Lama people to stand proud on country, to come together to respect and care for our land, sea, families and community … and to share the importance of our culture and traditional ways.[2]

In partnership with the Traditional Owners of Cape York Peninsula, the Australian and Queensland governments work with local government, landowners and stakeholders to protect, conserve and present the exceptional heritage attributes of Cape York Peninsula for transmission to future generations.

The Australian and Queensland governments acknowledge that Traditional Owners have enduring cultural responsibility, handed down through generations, for the protection, management and transmission to future generations of the landscape. Through traditional practices, Cape York Peninsula’s Traditional Owners continue to work together with governments to share cultural knowledge and land management expertise that has been part of their practice for tens of thousands of years. 

Working in partnership with Traditional Owners, the Australian and Queensland governments have overarching responsibility for the legislative and governance arrangements to ensure there is a coordinated and collaborative management approach across all of the component parts of the proposed Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula World Heritage nomination.

The day-to-day management of each component part of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula will continue to be the responsibility of the existing landowners.

As a State Party to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Australian Government ensures that effective and active measures are taken to protect, conserve, present and transmit the Outstanding Universal Value of Australia’s World Heritage properties. These obligations are met through cooperative and legislative arrangements between the Australian Government, state and territory governments, local government, and landowners. The importance of protecting, conserving, presenting and transmitting is described by the Kuuku Ya’u people:

We the Kuuku Yaʼu people are proud and healthy and manage our Ngaachi [Country] according to our strong customs and traditions.

Our rangers are fully equipped, qualified and employed to manage our sea, our land, our sacred and story places. We are the rightful protectors for our Ngaachi and our environment.

We will fish and hunt in harmony within our Ngaachi guided by our seasonal knowledge.

Our Puuya [heart] will be filled with joy and our people will collect and eat plenty of fresh bush tucker. We can always come back anytime and there will be plenty of bush foods.

Kuuku Yaʼu Customary Law and Culture is still good today.

We will keep this cultural knowledge strong through all of our generations and keep passing this knowledge on to our younger generations into the future.[3]

The Australian and Queensland governments are committed to a place based Traditional Owner led approach to the preparation of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula World Heritage nomination.

Each component part of this submission has the free, prior and informed consent of the relevant Traditional Owners and the written agreement of the landowners. The proposed serial World Heritage nomination of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York will also have the free, prior and informed consent of the relevant Traditional Owners and the written agreement of the landowners.

[1] Source: Visitor Information Shelter at Split Rock, Quinkan Country

[2] www.lamalama.org.au Accessed: 19 April 2024

[3] Personal communication, 9 May 2024: revised wording from Kuuku Ya’u Healthy Ngaachi Plan 2013-2023

Justification de la Valeur Universelle Exceptionnelle

The cultural landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are of global significance; that significance arises from both its cultural and natural values. While the cultural and natural values when considered independently are exceptional, when considered holistically the cultural and natural values of Cape York Peninsula are outstanding.

In this context the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula will be proposed as a cultural landscape and as a mixed property.

Criterion (i): represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.

This is our country. The place of our ancestors. The spirits of the ancestors live here. In the rocks, those sandstone escarpments. Our ancestors made the art you see on the rocks. The pictures and paintings of the past are our link with the present.

Tommy George and George Musgrave (1995)

The sandstone landscape of Quinkan Country contains many shelters and overhangs with rock art galleries created by Western Yalanji, Kuku Warra, Possum and (Balnggarrwarra) Guugu Yimidhirr people. Quinkan Country is named and best known for its depictions of Quinkan spirit beings, tall slender Timaras and fat bodied Imjims (or Anurra) (Australian Heritage Council, 2018). These are key figures in traditional stories and are of continuing significance to Traditional Owners.

Evidence of occupation at Quinkan is dated to 34,000 years ago (Australian Heritage Council, 2018). McDonald and Clayton (2016) note that the Laura rock art region is a prominent and distinctive motif in this rock art assemblage (Cole, 2011; Cole and Burich, 2012; Trezise, 1971). They go on to note that the paintings overlie very weathered and patinated geometric engravings, such as those found at Early Man Shelter, dated to 17,000 years ago (Rosenfeld et al., 1981).

McDonald and Clayton (2016) note that stylistically, Quinkan painted rock art:

is characterised by large colourful, figurative paintings of (mostly male) anthropomorphs, zoomorphs (macropods, dingos and echidnas, flying foxes, fish, birds, reptiles), X-ray motifs, plants, tracks and material culture items.

Quinkan Country is a dynamic cultural landscape that demonstrates how Traditional Owners adapt and modify their traditions, kin structures and practices to maintain their connection to Country, culture and identity.

Quinkan Country’s extensive art provinces, with diverse and distinct style phases, go back into deep time. The artworks are unique, yet representative of regional styles and in many cases include visually stunning designs. David and Chant (1995) and David et al. (1997) argue that this regionalisation was part of a socio-cultural response to the increased population in north Queensland during the mid to late Holocene. The people appear to have responded to increased social densities and potential for social conflict over resources with more formalised social relationships, including greater distinction of territorial structures.

As in other parts of Australia, this territoriality is constructed in terms of symbolic or spiritual ties that link individuals to ancestral sites and land, rather than on the basis of the occupation of ancestral territories by resident local descent groups. From this perspective rock art is one kind of expression among several dynamic socio-cultural systems that developed in response to a changing environment, including into the early contact period. David and Chant (1995) state:

Associated with changes [in stone artefact production and use] are significant increases in the deposition rates of a number of cultural materials. At the Early Man site, stone artefact, charcoal and ochre deposition rates begin to increase sometime between 5,500 and 1,800BP, and probably towards the end of this period. After 1,800BP, this trend accelerates, with stone artefact deposition rates increasing threefold. ... Charcoal and ochre deposition rates show similar trends at all sites.

The significant stylistic differences to other Australian rock art provinces make the southeastern part of Cape York Peninsula comparable in importance to Australia’s other globally renowned rock art precincts (Clottes, 1998) such as Kakadu National Park (listed World Heritage site), Murujuga Cultural Landscape (nominated World Heritage site) and the Kimberley Region (listed National Heritage site). 

Ancestral heroes are associated with important sites that have tangible and intangible values (Australian Heritage Council, 2018). In this context the Traditional Owners’ connection is expressed in the way they continue to care for their Country, protect their rock art, and conduct appropriate cultural protocols when approaching important sites (Australian Heritage Council, 2018).

While a number of key sites have been well studied, the rock art precinct requires further survey. A systematic survey, funded by the Australian Research Council (Grant: LP190100194[1]) and currently being led by Griffith University, aims to more extensively record the precinct’s unique rock art so that its testimony remains for future generations.

Cape York Peninsula’s exceptional rock art galleries are globally significant cultural features (IUCN, 1982) and custodianship of Quinkan Country continues to the present day.

The creative genius of the ancestors is evident in the visually stunning, original, diverse, and dense painting and engraving assemblages that continue to convey meaning within continuing cultural traditions that have existed for tens of millennia.

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.

Criterion (v): be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.

We would like to see our country through our grandfathers’ eyes …

We want to protect our land and protect our country and protect our sacred sites. 

We want to prepare a plan for our country so that we can manage it like it was before, to look after the country our way, the right way.

Jennifer Creek, Southern Kaantju [2]

Cape York Peninsula is an outstanding example of a culturally significant landscape demonstrating human interaction with the environment since deep time.

The organically evolving landscape of Cape York Peninsula retains its distinctive processes, relationships and dynamic functions. The Peninsula is the most important of the land-bridges into the Australian continent and is the most likely entry point for the continent’s first human occupation (Lourandos, 1997) (Hiscock, 2008).

The Torres Strait bridge and barrier adjoining Cape York Peninsula worked, in more recent times, to exchange and filter cultural features between New Guinea and Australia (Barham and Harris, 1983). Through the land-bridge a range of features moved from New Guinea onto Cape York Peninsula.

For the Traditional Owners of Cape York Peninsula, they are part of a world that is a cultural landscape, it is the landscape that impresses the patterned marks of cosmic and local forces that were there at the beginning and are there now (Sutton, 2011). Much of what made the lives of Cape York Peninsula’s peoples meaningful, vibrant and, at times set apart, as when performing the sacred and dangerous, rested on the commemorative and claim-staking relationship to the deep past. A life richly lived was one lived in both present and past, in the liveliness of current action but with a pervasive consciousness of what came before (Sutton, 2011).

The Traditional Owners across Cape York Peninsula are characterised by their affiliation to clan estates, which are made up of small descent groups and are commonly referred to as someone’s ‘Country’. Cultural tradition is characterised by formalised movement within a clan estate’s own Country, as well as through other estates where they may share the right to harvest food and access resources. Fire management continues to be practiced for signalling, ‘cleaning up’ Country, hunting, increasing resource abundance and attracting target species (Smyth and Valentine, 2008).

Fire plays a big role.

When we care for Country we use fire to look after the plants and animals … we call this cool burning. We do cool burns to make sure plants and animals return to our Country.

We also use fire to protect our important cultural sites, by using cool burning around rock shelters and caves we make sure our paintings won’t be hurt by wildfires …  the smoke from wildfires damages the paintings.

We do cool burning after the wet season and before the dry season.

Virginia Burns, Julieann McIvor, Bulla McIvor and Vince Harrigan, Balnggarrwarra[3]

Traditional Owners on Cape York Peninsula make no distinction between land and sea as well as having a deep connection to the sky. Land and sea were formed by ancestral beings, and both are ‘Country’ within clan estates. Land and sea, food and other economic resources and all social relationships are managed by a suite of tools including ceremony; restriction of access to resource areas based on clan affiliations; and restriction of access to species based on religious specifications including totemic, initiation, age and gender status (Smyth and Valentine, 2008).

There are also many Laws about Country and places that have been left by our Old People that we must follow in order to care for the health of our Country and our People.[4]

Cape York Peninsula’s Traditional Owners share a world view, similar to that of Traditional Owners in other parts of Australia, which is referred to as the ancient and foundational ‘Story Time’, or simply ‘before’ (Sutton, 2011). In this world view, what societies from a European cultural tradition term ‘natural’, is culturally created, humanised and human-centred (Sutton, 2011). The world as a whole began as a featureless void, only given form through the travels and adventures of ancestral, religious creation beings.

Greer (2011) considers that Cape York Peninsula:

… can be seen as an outstanding example of a cosmological system that explains the creation of the world, in which people and nature are integrated, and in which practices that ensure the fertility and reproduction of the system are prescribed. Moreover, this tradition continues today despite the massive interruptions associated with European colonisation.

The cosmological belief system is recognised across many parts of Cape York Peninsula, including on Wuthathi Country:   

The integration of both people and country is founded upon cosmological beliefs and associates sites and ceremonies. … this spiritual and social integration with land and waters is expressed and passed on through both social usage of country and the Ukaynta initiation ceremonies.  These ceremonies have continued from pre-contact times into the modern period.[5]

This cultural significance is further expressed in the exceptional rock art galleries of the Quinkan region (IUCN, 1982). Quinkan Country’s extensive, diverse and distinct style phases go back into deep time. The rock art is unique yet representative of regional styles and, in many cases, includes visually stunning designs. These dense art assemblages are associated with occupation evidence from the late Pleistocene, continuing through to the present. Quinkan Country continues to inform our understanding of Australia’s rock art, pre-history and occupation from the late Pleistocene to the present including Indigenous migration, lifeways and movement around the continent of Australia (Australian Heritage Council, 2018).

The rock art provinces and the surrounding inscribed landscape demonstrate the continuing use of the land including through significant climatic changes. Traditional Owners find identity and meaning in the landscape and continue responsibilities to care for the landscape and pass on these cultural traditions to future generations. This is expressed by the Olkola Traditional Owners:

Olkola arrgi (land) holds many sites of spiritual and cultural significance. Ingin (Story) connects these places to our People by totem and by descent. Our Old People and our Elders remain connected to their elan (spirit place). Our arrgi contains the ajan / abm agajarr / ugnub / agngamb (graves) of our Old People. We want to reconnect to arrgi by speaking Uw Olkola and practicing ojnyjen (ceremony) to help keep our important places strong.[6]

The painted and engraved rock art traditions of the region provide evidence about the processes which transformed society into that observed during the European contact period (Morwood, 2002).

Importantly, Cape York Peninsula’s archaeological, anthropological and linguistic records help to reveal how societies have changed over time, including as a result of interactions with other cultures.

Cape York Peninsula has the potential to contribute to global understanding of the impacts of colonisation, as Australia was the world’s only continent dominated by hunter-gatherer societies until European colonisation.

The intactness and high biological diversity of Cape York Peninsula, compared with Australia’s other northern regions, adds to the cultural landscape’s significance, the intactness and high biological diversity is outlined further below.

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula bear a unique and exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living.

Criterion (vi): directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.

In our Lamalama way, the spirits – we call them Stories – made the land

The Stories gave different names to different places

They did that in the Story-Time …

Us Lamalama people come from Stories

They still live on the land

The spirits of our Old People, they still live here too

In Lamalama way when people diether spirits ga back to their own place

Their homeland, where they were born.

Paddy Bassani and Albert Lakefield, Lama Lama[7]

Cape York Peninsula is one of the best regions in the world for the documented cultural traditions that have evolved from a hunter-gatherer way of life (Sutton, 2011). The stories, beliefs and practices that constitute the Cape York Peninsula cultural landscapes existed in the past and continue into the present (Greer, 2011). The past to present relationship is expressed by Phillip Port:

Well, like Story places ... it's a bit upside down if somebody go out there without you knowing, especially Story places what people don't believe. It is true for us. But if anything happen and there where our places is, there's no telephone. Now, if you put a road in, you're stupid enough to go there and anything happen, you can't go back as quick as possible. That's your own fault. You should not go there without their permission or without them with you. ... If you go there without permission, you never know what can happen. ... These are things that people got to learn to understand.

Phillip Port, Ayapathu[8]

Greer (2011) acknowledges that the stories of the Peninsula are changing (as should be expected) according to social and historical circumstance and highlights the significance of the stories of Cape York Peninsula:

If stories and associated places (story places) are at the heart of Cape York relationships through time and across space, then it is these that are most expressive of Indigenous cultural heritage values. Inherent in the stories are the tenets of Indigenous knowledge systems including land and resource use and the cosmological relationships between people and the world in which they live.

Along with the vast extent of Cape York Peninsula, its intactness and the features noted above in relation to criteria (i) and (v), make it an outstanding example of the belief system of globally significant cultural traditions.

The integration of people and nature in stories was explained by the senior Lama Lama men, Paddy Bassani and Albert Lakefield to Tom Popp (2006):

That Wind Story, he belong to that Ronganhu, one of them Cliff Island

When you go to that place, you gotta behave the right way

You can’t do some things

You can’t go to that stone

You can’t put a name on there

That’s no good

If you don’t behave right way, if you do the wrong thing, the Wind goes wild

When that Wind blows up, the cyclones comes

If you do the wrong thing, that Wind Story gets angry and makes a cyclone.

Paddy Bassani and Albert Lakefield, Lama Lama

The passage of humans across the land-bridge and into Australia is globally significant. Recent work indicates that humans first occupied Australia around 65,000 years ago (Clarkson et al., 2017). While it remains unclear which route or routes were first used to occupy Australia, Cape York Peninsula’s proximity to New Guinea and Asia make it a prime candidate for the point of initial landfall (Lourandos, 1997) (Hiscock, 2008).

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are directly associated with globally significant living traditions, which reflect important ideas, beliefs and artistic works.

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

The landscapes and seascapes of Cape York Peninsula have a unique aesthetic value as a vast, intact area of diverse and spectacular landforms of savannah and tropical ecosystems, which is unusual on a world scale. Contributing to this unique aesthetic character are extended areas of coastline.

Land systems within Cape York Peninsula also have distinctive aesthetic value (Mackey et al., 2001), including rugged coastal scenery, depositional flood plains and marine plains, extensive wetlands, steep escarpments, coastal plains, dune fields, lakes, and heathlands.

The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula exhibit exceptional natural beauty, with superlative scenic features highlighted by extensive sweeping savannah vistas, forest vistas, wild rivers, waterfalls, rugged gorges and coastal scenery. The exceptional coastal scenery combines tropical rainforest and white sandy beaches with fringing offshore coral reefs.

Cape York Peninsula’s unique aesthetic value is simultaneously contrasted with the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area to the south-east, the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area to the east, the Torres Strait to the north and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the west.

Mackey et al (2001) describe Cape York’s undisturbed nature as exceptional.

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula contain examples of superlative natural phenomena and areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

Criterion (viii): be 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 Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula demonstrate an extraordinary long-term persistence of geological and geomorphological features consistent with the deep antiquity of the Australian continent, which are an outstanding feature globally. The landforms and highly weathered soils of much of the western slopes and plains are particularly ancient. They provide evidence that entire landscapes can persist for millions, even tens of millions of years. Such persistence is exceptional compared to the young, post-glacial landscapes found in many other parts of the world (Mackey et al., 2001).

Cape York Peninsula shows exceptional geological diversity and includes ancient Precambrian sediments, Palaeozoic granites and metamorphics, Mesozoic sandstones, as well as Cenozoic sands, alluvium and basalt.

Geological features include extensive deposits of bauxite on the west coast, sandstones which support wetlands, extraordinary granite boulder fields, dune fields, river deltas, and coastal beach ridge complexes (Willmott, 2009). It is likely that there is no global match for the longevity of some of Cape York Peninsula’s landscapes. The Kimba plateau for example is currently the oldest recorded continental drainage divide in the world, at 180 million years (Mackey et al., 2001) (Willmott, 2009).

Another geomorphic feature of particular interest is the excellent record of post-glacial geomorphic processes (Valentine, 2006).

Of outstanding global significance are the sand dunes in the far north of the region at Shelburne Bay. The unusually large coastal dune formation on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula reflects an abundant sand supply from the widespread Mesozoic sandstone and older granites (Pye, 1982). The dunes form Gegenwalle ground patterns that are the best developed and largest in the world (Mackey et al., 2001). These dune fields are one of the very few places in the world’s coastal tropic regions where large, elongated, parabolic dunes are still active. The occurrence of relictual Gondwanic conifers, Araucasia cunninghamii, in these tropical dunefields is indicative of deep time connections as well as unique hydrological conditions and a lack of extensive wildfires (Willmott, 2009).

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are an outstanding example representing major stages of significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms.

Criterion (ix): to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.

Cape York Peninsula lies largely within a single bioregion (the Cape York Peninsula Bioregion) between New Guinea to the north and the Einasleigh Uplands, Gulf Plains and Wet Tropics bioregions to the south. Although sharing much of the biota of the Einasleigh Uplands and Gulf Plains bioregions, the region’s slightly warmer and wetter climate has supported ongoing ecological processes resulting in a complex and diverse biota.

Additionally, Cape York Peninsula links the Australian continent through the Torres Strait with New Guinea, creating one of the world’s great land-bridges that has seen species movement in both directions. Cape York Peninsula, which is adjacent to the Torres Strait bridge and barrier, is the Australian continent’s major connection to New Guinea, this relationship differs from the Kakadu/Arnhem Land and the Kimberley land-bridges which only come into operation during periods of significantly lower sea levels (Mackey et al., 2001). 

The great antiquity of parts of the Cape York Peninsula Bioregion and the Einasleigh Uplands and Gulf Plains Bioregions, in combination with the land-bridge to New Guinea has created a globally significant hotspot for the ecological and biological evolution of plant and animal communities across fresh water, coastal and marine environments. An example of this relationship is described by Valentine, Mackey and Hitchcock eds (2013) in relation to rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) species in the Australian continent:

The distribution of Iriatherina werneri, Melanotaenia maccullochi and M. nigrans is highly fragmented, indicative of previous connection between the Peninsula region and the Top End of the Northern Territory and with New Guinea. At least 40 other species occur in rivers of the tip of Cape York Peninsula as well as southern New Guinea and are indicative of former connectivity between the two regions. Such species include the Fly River garfish (Zenarchopterus novaeguineae), lake grunter (Variichthys lacustris), Lorentz’s grunter (Pingalla lorentzi) short-finned catfish (Neosilurus brevidorsalis) and gulf saratoga (Scleropages jardinii). This latter species is of Gondwanan origin and unlike most other Australian freshwater fish species, its entire evolutionary history has been confined to freshwaters.

The complex and diverse evolution of plant and animal communities on Cape York Peninsula has been influenced by global sea level changes. Australia and New Guinea have been alternately land-linked and separated by water on a number of occasions over millions of years (Mackey et al., 2001).

One of the world’s great peninsulas, the Cape York Peninsula land-bridge is of particular global interest because the landmasses which it alternately connects and separates are geographically very different. The ancient, stable and arid Australian landmass contrasts greatly with the moist environments of the actively uplifting New Guinea (Mackey et al., 2001); the latter backed by insular and mainland Southeast Asia (Barham and Harris, 1983).

The region’s high representation of species shared with New Guinea is unique within Australia. Cape York Peninsula’s intact nature allows a study of the biological features that were exchanged when the land-bridge was the main corridor for Malesian and Asian species into the Australian biota. Wannan (2010) lists examples of North Asian flora such as Rhododendrons, which occur from China south through to New Guinea and the mountainous tropical areas of north-east Australia, and also describes species from equatorial Malesian rainforests (Celtis, Beilschmieldia, Flagellaria, Garcinia) which are found in the rainforest flora of Cape York Peninsula. 

The McIlwraith Range area within the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula has been identified as a major centre of plant richness and endemism within Australia. The McIlwraith Range is recognised as being one of 11 centres of vascular plant endemism in Australia (Crisp et al., 2001, Laffan and Crisp, 2003).

IUCN lists a number of fauna that typifying the land-bridge connection including the spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), grey cuscus (Phalanger orientalis), spiny-haired bandicoot (Echymipera rufescens), palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) and eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus); the latter two being the only Australian representatives of their genera (Winter, 2009). Of Australia’s four species of birds of paradise, the magnificent rifle-bird and the manucode, do not occur south of the Peninsula (Winter, 2009) (Heinsohn, 2011). 

The evolutionary importance of Cape York Peninsula is highlighted in avian molecular biology and paleo-ornithology, which shows that the region was the bridgehead for ancient Australian bird species to disperse, radiate and dominate worldwide (Heinsohn 2011). The global development of the perching birds (passerines) began with the migration of ancestors from ancient Australia through Cape York Peninsula to the rest of the world.

Songbirds (oscine passerines), are the most species-rich and cosmopolitan bird group, comprising almost half of global avian diversity, originated in Australia (Moyle et al., 2016). Through genome scale DNA sequencing Moyle et al (2016) found a burst of songbird diversification occurred coincident with extensive island formation in Wallacea. This provided the first dispersal corridor out of Australia, and resulted in independent waves of songbird expansion through Asia to the rest of the globe.

Although the bridge and barrier system facilitated the exchange of plants and animals, the pronounced aridity of the Australian continent prevented the spread of some species further south than Cape York Peninsula. The aridity of areas at the base of Cape York Peninsula prevented tropical rainforest species closely related to New Guinea species from moving into the rest of Australia (IUCN, 1982). In contrast, the first placental mammals to occupy Australia came south from Asia in a number of waves, as the continent got close enough for flying mammals (the bats) and then later rats (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). 

The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are biologically more similar to the currently separated New Guinea than to its immediate neighbour, the Wet Tropics of Queensland, while at the same time being biologically very different from New Guinea (Mackey et al., 2001). These extraordinary differences in adjoining regions make Cape York Peninsula a global exemplar of the effect of in-situ evolution over long periods of time. In-situ conservation on Cape York Peninsula is demonstrated by its outstanding biological intactness and remarkably by the fact that no species are known to have become extinct in the region since European colonisation (Mackey et al., 2001). This is unusual for Australia and also remarkable globally.

Modern industrial societies have not widely colonised the region (Mackey et al., 2001) and its nutrient poor soils (Willmott, 2009) have limited post-colonial land uses. As a result, the Peninsula’s ecosystems have retained their integrity of biological processes, including hydroecological processes, over a vast area and entire watersheds and land systems (Cook et al., 2011) (Mackey et al., 2001). Such large, relatively biologically intact areas are a diminishing resource world-wide (Mackey et al., 2001). Tropical savannas in other Australian regions have undergone a major loss of native mammal fauna (Woinarski et al., 2011), but such losses are not evident in the savanna landscapes of Cape York Peninsula.

Cape York Peninsula comprises an essentially continuous native vegetation cover (Mackey et al., 2001) and its diversity of vegetation derives in part from its relatively intact groundwater and surface water systems (Mackey et al., 2001). The Peninsula’s hydroecological systems are also involved in recharging Australia’s Great Artesian Basin, a vitally important water source for the continent (Mackey et al., 2001). Numerous intact river systems provide flows of water from the wet eastern coast to the much drier western coast, creating and preserving extensive wetland systems.

The wetlands provide refugia for many species including waterfowl and international waders, while the river systems support some of the richest freshwater fish diversity in Australia. Cape York Peninsula hosts seasonal migration of birds from New Guinea for the wet season and their corresponding return before the dry season. At least 10 species undertake this seasonal migration including the Torresian imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor) and the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia), both of which breed in Australia (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013).

A range of shorebirds also migrate through the south-west coast of Cape York Peninsula to their austral summer feeding grounds. The coastal southwest area includes some of the most important wader habitats in Australia. Aerial surveys indicate that over 250,000 waders use the area during the southern migration, and that over 60,000 occur in the winter months (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). 

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are an outstanding example of an intact, bridge and barrier system showing exceptional evidence of ongoing biological evolution between two landmasses.

Criterion (x): contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are home to some of the most important in-situ natural habitats for conservation of biological diversity in the world, including large areas of high integrity tropical monsoon savanna, an ecological system which is globally threatened. Cape York Peninsula’s intact nature makes it of special conservation significance, not only for its savanna but also for its associations with a wide range of other land systems including woodlands, open forests, rainforests, wetlands and coastal land systems. The variety of land systems gives it exceptional diversity and endemism.

Cape York Peninsula’s internationally significant habitats include rainforests, vine thickets, open forests, woodlands, grasslands, heathlands, freshwater wetlands, mangroves, and salt flats. These habitats support over 3300 vascular plant species and more than 582 vertebrate species, including more than 260 endemic species, comprising over 220 plants and 40 vertebrates. Cape York Peninsula has an especially high diversity of orchids (62 genera, 168 species), grasses (93 genera, 313 species) and sedges (23 genera, 184 species). Cape York Peninsula also has a globally outstanding diversity of mangroves (36 species), being home to more than half of the world’s species.[9]

Although only three per cent of the Australian landmass, Cape York Peninsula supports 18.5 per cent of Australian plant species. The in-situ conservation of plant species on Cape York Peninsula is exemplified by a high level of diversity and endemism. The diversity is reflected in 1197 plant genera or 27 per cent of the Australian total, and 218 families or 80 per cent of the Australian total. Cape York Peninsula supports six endemic plant genera (Wodyetia, Jedda, Dallwatsonia, Thelepogon, Gunnessia, Indagator) and over 220 endemic plant species (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013).

The broad range of environments has made Cape York Peninsula a major centre of biological diversity and critical habitat for numerous threatened species. It is amongst the most important areas in Australia for rare and threatened plant species, with 221 threatened species recorded from the area. These include 22 endangered, 80 vulnerable and 149 near threatened flora species (Howell and Jones, 2012), many of which are endemic to the Peninsula. Howell and Jones (2012) also note there are 26 endangered, 39 vulnerable and 54 near threatened fauna species on Cape York Peninsula.

Twenty-two per cent of Australia’s terrestrial vertebrates, including 40 endemic species, are recorded on Cape York Peninsula (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). The region is known for its exceptional diversity of butterflies with 25 species recorded. The 251 recorded species represents more than 95 per cent of the diversity of butterflies in the Australian monsoon tropics (Braby, 2008) and approximately 60 per cent of Australia’s total butterfly diversity. The region supports 7 endemic species and 31 endemic subspecies/geographical forms (Braby, 2008).

The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula contains critical habitat for a number of species, including the freshwater whipray (Himantura dalyensis) and speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis) as well as three species of sawfish (freshwater sawfish (Pristis microdon), green sawfish (P. zijsron) and narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata)). These iconic species have very high conservation values: the sawfishes are listed as Critically Endangered, the speartooth shark is listed as Endangered and the whipray is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013).

Approximately 31 species of frog from nine genera (Austrochaperina, Cophixalus, Limnodynastes, Crinia, Cyclorana, Litoria, Notaden, Rana and Uperoleia) are known from Cape York Peninsula. Of the 31 species, ten are endemic to the Peninsula, of which three are widely distributed across the region and seven are narrow range endemics, with the McIlwraith Range being a hot spot for frog endemism (Cook et al., 2011) (Pusey et al., 2011). In addition, all four families of Australian frogs (Microhylidae, Myobatrachidae, Hylidae, and Ranidae) are known from Cape York Peninsula.

Six species, including one species comprised of two distinct subspecies of freshwater turtle from three genera occur on Cape York Peninsula. They are: Chelodina (long-necked turtles), Myuchelys (helmeted turtles), and Emydura (river turtles); although all also occur in other regions (Cook et al., 2011) (Pusey et al., 2011). The New Guinea painted turtle Emydura subglobosa subglobosa is the most restricted of the species occurring in freshwater habitats of Cape York Peninsula, being limited to the Jardine River and the Jacky Jacky basin. It also occurs in southern Papua New Guinea and is a further example of the biogeographic linkage between the two regions (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). 

Cape York Peninsula’s rainforests contain more than 230 endemic taxa and threatened species. The rainforests of the Peninsula have very high conservation value because of their diversity and intact state; they have not lost species such as endemic amphibians (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013).

Cape York Peninsula supports a large number of biogeographically significant species that illustrate the historical links with New Guinea to the north and the Wet Tropics to the south. Consequently, the region contains a biota of exceptional interest, which is representative of its Gondwanan, Malesian and endemic Australian affinities.

Therefore, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula contains some of the most important and significant natural habitats, including threatened species, for in-situ conservation globally.

[1] https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/Web/Grant/Grant/LP190100194

[2] Personal communication, 8 May 2024

[3] Personal communication, 7 May 2024

[4] Journey to Olkola Country – Olkola Aboriginal Corporation brochure

^[5] Wuthathi People #2 v State of Queensland [2015] FCA 380 para 34

[6] Olkola 10 Year Healthy Country Strategic Plan (2018) Olkola Aboriginal Corporation

[7] As told to Tom Popp (2006) Lamalama country: our country: our culture-way

[8] Aboriginal Land Claims to Mungkan Kadju National Park and Unallocated State Land near Lochinvar Pastoral Holding (Report of the Land Tribunal, May 2001)

[9] https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/ecology/components/flora/mangroves/

Déclarations d’authenticité et/ou d’intégrité

The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are an intact and representative example of one of the most significant concentrations of continuous human interaction with a dynamic landscape in the world. Cape York Peninsula is both an area of outstanding biodiversity and is a largely intact land and biological bridge retaining valuable evidence of bio-evolution and ongoing fragmentation (Mackey et al., 2001). 

The potential Outstanding Universal Value of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula is protected from deterioration and development through the care and responsibilities of the Traditional Owners and is supported by a comprehensive legislative and management framework. The integrity of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula is sustained through the continuing cultural and social practices of and active management by Traditional Owners.

All the attributes that convey potential Outstanding Universal Value are in a good state of conservation. The Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula includes all the elements necessary to convey the values of a cultural landscape, including many sites of significance that demonstrate the customs, observances and practices of the Traditional Owners, as well as sites that demonstrate a continuation of land use spanning millennia.

The attributes of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are intact. The attributes include the tangible heritage of the rock art, landforms and archaeological sites, as well as the intangible spiritually and culturally significant components of the landscape.

All of the significant features of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are in good condition and the impact of deterioration processes are controlled. World Heritage listing of the attributes of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula will provide protection from threats of deterioration and neglect by ensuring that actions which might affect the attributes are controlled and mitigated. The relationships and dynamic functions essential to the distinctive landscape are maintained through continuing traditional custodianship and management practices.

Cape York Peninsula has high bio-geophysical integrity with intact geomorphological and ecological processes. The Queensland Government Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) estimates that over 99 per cent of the region’s terrestrial ecosystems remain intact.[1] Consequently, ecological processes continue to operate at the landscape level with a high degree of integrity. Examples include the Wenlock and Archer Rivers, which rise in the rainforests on the eastern side of the Peninsula and then flow over 200 kilometres through monsoon savanna landscape to finally emerge on the west coast into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The extensive gallery forests of these perennial rivers provide a bioregionally important corridor function across the landscape, linking the ecosystems of the east coast to west coast.

DESI estimates that approximately 31 per cent, or 4.3 million hectares, of Cape York Peninsula is reserved in designated protected areas. The Cape York Peninsula Tenure Resolution Program has been implemented to increase the protected area estate across the Peninsula. This program has acquired and changed land tenure to Aboriginal inalienable legal ownership to ensure traditional management practices are central to the protection of both the cultural and natural values.

The protected areas of Cape York Peninsula include representative ecosystems from across the bioregion. The integrity of Cape York Peninsula is bolstered along the eastern boundary by the protection afforded by the adjoining Great Barrier Reef Marine Park World Heritage Area. This connection is particularly important for the protection of marine species such as marine turtles, which have critical components of their life history in terrestrial areas.

Cape York Peninsula is relatively undisturbed by modern industrial societies and is sparsely populated, it is a significantly large and intact example of a savanna landscape. By global comparison:

The lands of Cape York Peninsula exhibit outstanding natural integrity in a global, regional and continental context. Indeed this is one of the key overarching qualities that defines the character of the entire region. Cape York Peninsula has relatively small, isolated human populations, minimal infrastructure development, and the land use activity in place is either highly localised or extensive rather than intensive. (Mackey et al., 2001).

Cape York Peninsula’s coastline is undisturbed except for a mine site on the west coast at Weipa and a number of small silica mines and an export port on the east coast at Cape Flattery.

The dominant land use across the Peninsula is low-intensity rangeland grazing for cattle on very large properties, usually larger than 50,000 hectares. As a result of the low nutrient soils in most areas, grazing intensity has been low and unlike many other parts of Australia, the savanna landscapes of the Cape York Peninsula are minimally impacted by grazing.

Tropical savanna has been extensively cleared in the other parts of the world, reduced by at least 70 per cent in Asia, India, Latin America and Africa where population-driven pressures are more intense than in Australia (Mackey et al., 2001). Landscapes with relatively open vegetation cover such as savannas, are especially targeted by humans and have been much modified by the world’s horticultural, agricultural, and industrial societies. On Cape York Peninsula there is no evidence of loss of biodiversity in either plants or animals (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). 

Sub-Saharan savanna areas have been significantly impacted by societies and are the subject of an ongoing desertification process. The Indian savannas are similarly significantly impacted, although small areas of reserved land including populations of larger animals remain intact. The South American savannas are also under intense pressure driven by grazing and other development (Mackey et al., 2001). It is likely that Cape York Peninsula’s tropical savannas have the highest degree of biological integrity in the world (Mackey et al., 2001).

Cape York Peninsula has high authenticity in relation to its cultural traditions. The potential Outstanding Universal Value of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula is truthfully and credibly expressed in the rock art, traditional land use, and the living cultural practices of the Traditional Owners. Authenticity here encompasses truth in the credibility of the traditions and cultural connections associated with the landscape.

First Nations people comprise approximately half of the region’s population (ABS 2021). Cultural traditions continue to play a key role in daily life, including communities’ interaction with each other and other populations. Cape York Peninsula’s cultural traditions have been documented in detail, including anthropological research, linguistic research, ethnobiological research and archaeological documentation.

The Traditional Owners continue to protect the integrity and authenticity of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula’s living cultural values and acknowledge that cultural landscapes are living landscapes that change as time progresses, where oral tradition is the canon of proof and where changing practices of embodied experience with landscapes grow from generation to generation (Andrews and Buggey, 2008).

The relationship between people and landscape is literally the foundation that has governed economic, cultural, social and ceremonial interactions and delineation of place over thousands of years and remains strong today.

[1] Statewide Landcover and Trees Study accessed: 19 April 2024

Comparaison avec d’autres biens similaires

Given the extraordinary cultural, natural and cultural landscape attributes of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula, there are many properties for comparison. Reflecting the attributes described above in the Justification of Outstanding Universal Value, comparative consideration has been captured in relation to the creative genius; outstanding human interaction with the environment; living traditional beliefs associated with artistic and literary achievement; aesthetics; representation of the earth’s history; importance of ongoing ecological processes; and in-situ conservation of species.

In proving the cultural comparative analysis, the Traditional Owners of Cape York Peninsula acknowledge that, in First Nations’ peoples’ worldviews, the notion of comparative analysis is uncomfortable. As identified by Canadian First Nations: ‘the practice of identifying something as outstanding or exceptional above all others is somewhat foreign’ (O’Flaherty 2019). Recognising that the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value must be demonstrated within a World Heritage nomination nonetheless, Cape York Peninsula is discussed here in relation to several other properties within Australia and globally with an emphasis on key characteristics that make this landscape representative of the world’s outstanding universal value.

Cultural

Defining the geocultural context of Cape York Peninsula in a cultural landscape setting is of particular relevance considering the way humans have adapted to variable resources and a changing climate over a timespan of tens of thousands of years. Accordingly, Cape York Peninsula’s most evident geocultural parallels are made within Australia, where the context can be defined by cultural, ecological, historical, and deep time setting.

Comparative consideration is provided below in relation to the creative genius; exceptional living cultural traditions; outstanding human interaction with the environment; and living traditional beliefs associated with artistic and literary achievement. Cape York Peninsula is outstanding due to the following characteristics:

• human interaction with the landscape since deep time
• a creative and diverse collection of rock art and living knowledge associated with the rock art
• traditional knowledge and use of the landscape
• adaption to significant climatic and landscape changes
• a record of living traditional beliefs.

Regarding human interaction with the landscape since deep time, in the Australian geocultural context the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are comparable to Arnhem Land (including Kakadu National Park), Tasmanian Wilderness, the Central Desert (including Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park), Willandra Lakes Region and Mutawintji in Western NSW, Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, the Pilbara region (including Murujuga Cultural Landscape), the Kimberley region, the Western Desert (including Kaalpi, Jillakurru, Katjarra) and the Greater Sydney Basin.

Globally the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula are comparable to the ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape (South Africa) which is associated with the ǂKhomani San people and the strategies that allowed them to adapt to harsh desert conditions. The ǂKhomani San people developed specific ethnobotanical knowledge, cultural practices and a worldview related to the geographical features of their environment. The property bears testimony to the way of life that prevailed in the region and shaped the site over thousands of years.

In the Australian geocultural context, the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula’s art sites represent a unique artistic achievement because of the wide range of styles, the large number and density of sites and the delicate and detailed depiction of a wide range of human figures and identifiable animal species. Cape York Peninsula’s creative and diverse rock art also provides associated living traditional knowledge. In Australia, Cape York Peninsula is comparable to Arnhem Land (including Kakadu National Park), the Pilbara region (including Murujuga Cultural Landscape), the Gwion Gwion and Wandjina rock art styles of the Kimberley region, the Western Desert (including Kaalpi, Jillakurru, Katjarra) and the Greater Sydney Basin.

Comparatively, the 2.904 million hectares of Pimachiowin Aki (Canada), provides an exceptional testimony to the continuing Anishinaabe cultural tradition of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan (Keeping the Land). Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan guides relations between Anishinaabeg and the land; it is the framework through which the cultural landscape of Pimachiowin Aki is perceived, given meaning, used and sustained across the generations. 

The Matobo Hills (Zimbabwe) has one of the highest concentrations of rock art in southern Africa. The rich evidence from archaeology and from the rock paintings at Matobo provide a very full picture of the lives of foraging societies in the Stone Age. Matobo Hills demonstrates the interaction between communities and the landscape, manifested in the rock art and also in the long-standing religious traditions still associated with the rocks, which are community responses to the surrounding landscape. 

Maloti-Drakensberg Park (Lesotho and South Africa) is where the San people lived in the mountainous Maloti-Drakensberg area for more than four millennia, leaving behind a corpus of outstanding rock art, providing a unique testimony which throws much light on their way of life and their beliefs.

The rich archaeological ensembles of Cape York Peninsula demonstrate tens of thousands of years of continuous human occupation. The archaeological sites reveal, in the Australian geocultural context, knowledge and continuous landscape level management practices that are comparable to the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Willandra Lakes Region, and the Tasmanian Wilderness, as well as Murujuga Cultural Landscape (Tentative List) and the Kimberley Region.  

The two Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley (Portugal) and Siega Verde (Spain) are located on the banks of the rivers Agueda and Côa, tributaries of the river Douro, with an archaeological record that documents continuous human occupation from the end of the Paleolithic Age. Tassili n'Ajjer (Algeria) is a property of 7.2 million hectares which contains rock art images covering a period of about 10,000 years with archaeological remains that testify in a particularly lively manner that climate changes. These sites are comparable to Cape York Peninsula.

The adaptation of the Cape York Peninsula Traditional Owners to the significant climatic and resultant landscape changes over deep time is comparable to the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Willandra Lakes Region, and the Tasmanian Wilderness, as well as the Murujuga Cultural Landscape (Tentative List) and the Kimberley Region. 

In a global context, Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes (Senegal) has attributes that are comparable to parts of Cape York Peninsula. Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes bears witness to peculiar uses of the land, including crop rotation and manuring, communal sowing, weeding and harvesting and commuting practices imposed by traditional agricultural systems and by the relative scarcity of resources, thus representing an outstanding example of human interaction with a vulnerable environment. The remains in the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape (South Africa) graphically illustrate the impact of climate change and record the growth and, in that instance, the decline of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe, as a culture that became vulnerable to irreversible change.

Cape York Peninsula’s associative cultural landscape, evidenced by its record of living tradition beliefs, rock art and archaeology, is an exceptional source of social and ritual activities associated with hunting and gathering traditions of Traditional Owners from deep time until the present day. This is comparable to the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Willandra Lakes Region, and the Tasmanian Wilderness, as well as Murujuga Cultural Landscape (Tentative List) and the Kimberley Region. 

The cultural landscapes of Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape (Chad), Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi (Canada) and Pimachiowin Aki (Canada) are comparable to Cape York Peninsula.

Pimachiowin Aki is directly and tangibly associated with the living tradition and beliefs of the Anishinaabeg, who understand they were placed on the land by the Creator and given all they need to survive. They are bound to the land and to caring for it through a sacred responsibility to maintain their cultural tradition of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan (Keeping the Land).

The sandstone of the 2.44 million hectare Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape, in the northeast of Chad, has been sculpted over time by water and wind erosion into a plateau featuring canyons and valleys that present a spectacular landscape marked by cliffs, natural arches and pitons. In the largest canyons, the permanent presence of water plays an essential role in the Massif’s ecosystem, sustaining flora and fauna as well as human life. Thousands of images have been painted and carved into the rock surface of caves, canyons and shelters, presenting one of the largest ensembles of rock art in the Sahara.

The sacred landscape and the rock art of Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi provide exceptional testimony to the living cultural traditions of the Blackfoot people. According to Blackfoot beliefs, spiritual powers inhabit the earth, and the characteristics of the landscape and the rock art in the property reflect tangible, profound and permanent links with this tradition. The viewsheds of the sacred valley, with high grassland prairies, also contribute to its sacred character and influence traditional cultural practices.

Natural

The tropical savannas of the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula share some attributes with parts of already listed World Heritage areas including Kakadu National Park and Purnululu National Park as well as the Victoria River and Kimberley regions. In comparison with Kakadu National Park and Purnululu National Park, Cape York Peninsula’s tropical savannas have better retained their biodiversity (Woinarski et al, 2011), have had a more significant evolutionary role (particularly through their proximity to the Torres Strait bridge-barrier function), and probably show greater environmental heterogeneity, because they occupy a broader climatic range (Valentine, Mackey, and Hitchcock eds, 2013). 

Cape York Peninsula’s intact nature makes it of special conservation significance, not only for its savanna, but associations with a wide range of other land systems, including woodlands, open forests, rainforests, wetlands and coastal land systems. The variety of land systems gives it exceptional diversity and endemism. Comparative consideration is provided below in relation to:

• aesthetics
• representation of the earth’s history
• importance of ongoing ecological processes
• in-situ conservation of species.

The landscapes and seascapes of Cape York Peninsula have a unique aesthetic value containing a vast, intact area of diverse and spectacular landforms of savannah and tropical ecosystems. The vast expanse extends over hundreds of kilometres and provides habitat for hundreds of thousands of waterbirds. Cape York Peninsula retains vast areas with no human infrastructure and limited public access. Additionally, the exceptional natural beauty of the Cape York Peninsula landscape is of cultural importance to the Traditional Owners.

In the Australian context, Cape York Peninsula’s aesthetic value is comparable to the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, Wet Tropics of Queensland, the Ningaloo Coast and diversity of landscapes and exceptional coastal scenery of Shark Bay, as well as the Kimberley Region.

In a global context Cape York Peninsula is aesthetically comparable to Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest (Kenya), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda), Salonga National Park and Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Serengeti National Park (United Republic of Tanzania), and iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa).  

Cape York Peninsula demonstrates an extraordinary long-term persistence of geological and geomorphological features consistent with the deep antiquity of the Australian continent, an outstanding feature globally. The landforms and highly weathered soils of much of the western slopes and plains are particularly ancient.

In the Australian biogeographic region, Cape York Peninsula’s ancient landforms are comparable with the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Shark Bay and Purnululu National Park, as well as the Kimberley Region, the Flinders and Gammon Ranges in South Australia, and the Nullarbor Plain of southern Australia.  

Cape York Peninsula provides evidence that entire landscapes can persist for millions, even tens of millions of years. Such persistence is exceptional compared to the young, post-glacial landscapes found in many other parts of the world (Mackey et al., 2001). In a global context Cape York Peninsula has attributes comparable to the ancient landscapes of Newfoundland, including Gros Morne National Park (Canada) where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the earth's mantle lie exposed, as well as the 800,000 hectare Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo), which is located in the centre of the Albertine Rift of the Great Rift Valley.

Although bridge and barrier systems are known throughout the world, for example the Beringia land-bridge which connected Siberia to Alaska; Cape York Peninsula is of particular global interest. Cape York Peninsula’s land-bridge with New Guinea, through the Torres Strait, creates significant on-going ecological and biological processes that facilitate the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water and coastal ecosystems. Cape York Peninsula has a wider range of ecological systems because of its proximity to New Guinea and consequent biological exchange with this sub-continent (Mackey et al., 2001). Additionally, Cape York Peninsula’s significance is enhanced by its high biological diversity and outstanding ecological integrity. It is the most biodiverse area of tropical savanna in Australia, being more diverse than the other tropical savanna areas of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land (including the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park).

In a global context comparable land-bridges occur at Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park (Costa Rica and Panama) which is a large and mostly intact part of the land-bridge where the faunas and floras of North and South America meet. This 570,045 hectare property has an enormous variety of environmental conditions, due to its microclimatic conditions and altitudinal range, which leads to an impressive spectrum of ecosystems. 

The 688,558 hectare Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico) is notable for containing ecologically distinct bridge islands populated across past land-bridges, and oceanic islands populated by sea and air. The multitude and diversity of islands in terms of origin, size, environmental conditions and distance to the mainland has enabled an ongoing evolutionary speciation and endemism of major significance for conservation and science.

Darien National Park (Panama) is, biogeographically speaking, the location at the southernmost end of the geologically young land-bridge connecting South America and Central America, and is a rare and scientifically fascinating setting. The 579,000 hectare national park is the area of first contact and interchange between two major previously isolated landmasses, which is reflected in its biodiversity. 

Cape York Peninsula is home to some of the most important in-situ natural habitats for conservation of biological diversity in the world, including large areas of high integrity tropical monsoon savanna, an ecological system which is globally threatened. In the Australian bioregional context, Cape York Peninsula is the most biodiverse area of tropical savanna in Australia, being more diverse than the other tropical savanna areas of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land (including Kakadu National Park).

In a global context Cape York Peninsula is comparable to Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda (Gabon), Serengeti National Park (United Republic of Tanzania) and Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (Bolivia).

The Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda demonstrates an unusual interface between dense and well-conserved tropical rainforest and relict savannah environments with a great diversity of species. The vast plains of the Serengeti National Park comprise 1.5 million hectares of biologically diverse savannah, with at least four globally threatened or endangered animal species: black rhinoceros, elephant, wild dog, and cheetah.

One of the largest and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin is the more than 1.5 million hectare Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. With an altitudinal range of 200 metres to nearly 1000 metres, Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is the site of a rich mosaic of habitat types from Cerrado savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests. 

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