Established:
2007
Area:
1.4 million ha / 14,000 km²
Location:
230 km east of Darwin, 30km west of Jabiru
The Arnhem Plateau is a region of spectacular stone and gorge country north and east of Kakadu National Park.
It’s recognised as a landscape of international biodiversity significance, having been geologically stable for millions of years. The region supports 166 species of plants and 20 species of vertebrate animals found nowhere else and has numerous, diverse refuge areas that protect plants and animals from fires and climate shifts.
The plateau has been inhabited for tens of thousands of years, and Traditional Owners represent one of the oldest ongoing civilisations on earth. Thousands of spectacular rock art galleries, occupation shelters and other sites of archaeological significance represent a cultural and environmental record stretching back over millennia. These places continue to play an important cultural role.
In 2008 the Bininj Kunwok clans of western Arnhem Land came together to found Warddeken Land Management Limited. Based at the Kabulwarnamyo outstation community, Warddeken is bringing people back onto their traditional lands to manage the country for conservation and to preserve and revitalise their traditional culture.
Animals: Yirlinkirrkkirr (White-throated grasswren), Djabbo (Northern Quoll), Yok (Northern Brown Bandicoot), Black wallaroo, Kordberr (Arnhem Land Rock-rat), Nawaran (Oenpelli Python), Golden-backed Tree Rat, Alyurr (Leichardt's Grasshopper), Delicate Mouse, Saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, Benok (bustard).
Plants: Anbinik / Allosyncarpia ternata, Anlarrk / Callitris intratropica, Boronia quadrilata, Boronia viridiflora
Vegetation communities: Anbinik rainforest, Arnhem Plateau shrubland complex, Sandstone heathlands, Savannah, Paperbark swamp, Headwater wetlands.
Bush Heritage has worked in partnership with Warddeken Land Management since 2007 (when they were known as as the Manwurrk Rangers) to support the development and implementation of a plan of management for the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). The plan helps ensure the sustainable management of the region for conservation, and the protection of important cultural sites under the direction of the Nawardekken Traditional Owners.
The development of the Warddeken plan of management was a vital step toward declaring the Warddeken IPA in September 2009. Along with the neighbouring Djelk IPA, the declaration encompasses more than two million hectares of land – an area larger than the neighbouring Kakadu National Park.
Indigenous Protected Area status provides a way for Warddeken to protect their traditional country and conserve high-value conservation lands as part of the Australian National Reserve System. It also attracts ongoing funding for land management employment opportunities, which deliver tangible improvements in the health and well being of Indigenous communities.
We’ve supported the development of governance mechanisms for managing the Warddeken IPA, as well as the establishment of a legal framework and endowment fund so supporters can help finance conservation work.
Bush Heritage continues to play a key role supporting the Plan of Management’s implementation by helping to fund management staff and co-ordinate on-ground work.
Our early work on this partnership was generously supported through the David Thomas Challenge, The Nature Conservancy and an anonymous donor.
BUSHTRACKS 21/12/2015
In West Arnhem Land, we are working with the Nawarddeken people whose Indigenous Protected Area covers 1.4 million hectares of natural and cultural treasures. A biodiversity survey was conducted over 10 days in Baby Dreaming Country, a significant cultural site in the northern region of the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), a full day’s drive from Darwin.
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BLOG 12/10/2015
Warddeken Land Management ran a biodiversity survey in a very special place - Baby Dreaming Country - in the Northern part of the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area. This beautiful and significant area had never been surveyed before and many interesting animals were recorded. Bush Heritage Healthy Landscape Manager and Ecologist, Allana Brown, writes about her experience.
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BLOG 26/05/2014
During National Reconciliation Week a unique photo exhibition is being hosted in Melbourne at Trinity Grammar in Kew, curated by our partners in the Arnhem Plateau – Warddeken Land Management.
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BUSHTRACKS 20/03/2014
Bush Heritage Australia has extended partnerships with the Warddeken of west Arnhem Land and Balkanu in Cape York to help fund their conservation programs.
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