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The Ngaanyatjarra Lands comprise a vast area of Western Australia (250,000 km2 or approximately 3% of mainland Australia) adjoining the Northern Territory and South Australian borders. These Lands are entirely within the state of Western Australia and fall within three shires: Ngaanyatjarraku, East Pilbara and Laverton. The Outback Highway (Great Central Road) bisects the Ngaanyatjarra Lands east to southwest, providing access to two major regional centres: Alice Springs (1,000 km NE of Warburton) and Kalgoorlie (900 km SW of Warburton). The 1,000 km section of road from Laverton to Uluru National Park is unsealed and subject to wet weather closure. Whilst numerous other roads exist, they are generally poorly (if at all) maintained and require special permits for transit (see Protocol under the Tourism section for more information). Traditional Owners have maintained continuous association with their country, comprise the majority resident population, and provide the entire regional infrastructure such as roads, roadhouses, stores, health clinics, and aerial services. The Ngaanyatjarra Lands encompass sections of the Gibson Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, and all of the Central Ranges that occur in Western Australia. These four regions correspond to the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) regions of the same name, as described by Thackway and Cresswell (1995). These immense areas of spectacular scenery have few obvious signs of human presence. In particular, the Central Ranges are considered by the Australian Heritage Commission to have “great conservational [sic] and recreational importance which is equal to or greater than that of Ayers Rock” (AHC 1981). Ngaanyatjarra Land Council holds some of this land as 99-year and 50-year leases and Aboriginal Reserve. However, the traditional lands are more extensive and represented by 10 native title claims. Although the people of the Western Desert Cultural Bloc are not limited by boundaries or borders and have traditional responsibilities that go beyond these, historic events led to the provision of services being defined by state borders and the formation of the Ngaanyatjarra Council that defines the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Permits for entry (see Protocol under the Tourism section for more information) by non-Aboriginal people onto the Ngaanyatjarra Lands is under the authority of the Aboriginal Lands Trust, administered by Ngaanyatjarra Council. The pattern of existing land use within the Ngaanyatjarra Lands (IPA) Indigenous Protected Area is complex and varied, though traditional practices continue to predominate. There has never been a pastoral industry in the region although the United Aborigines Mission at Warburton managed sheep, cattle, goats and horses until the mid-1980s. The only export industries have been sandalwood harvest, collection of dingo scalps, and prospecting. Physical access to and within the Ngaanyatjarra Lands is difficult, as even major roads are not all weather. Permits for travel by non-Aboriginal people anywhere other than the Great Central Road has to be approved by Ngaanyatjarra Council (permits for transit on the Great Central Road can be readily obtained from the Council’s Alice Springs office or WA Department of Indigenous Affairs in Kalgoorlie). In recent years, the Ngaanyatjarra people have been successful in developing their communities and associated infrastructure, but resources for people to look after their country have been more difficult to secure. In November 1997, Ngaanyatjarra Council appointed a Land Use Planner to provide strategic coordination of existing land management activities, and to assist Traditional Owners in the consideration and progression of land use options. Increasingly there is recognition of the area’s contemporary biological conservation values, principally through work undertaken by the Ngaanyatjarra Land Management Unit (NGLMU) in conjunction with external agencies including WA Dept of Conservation, Environment Australia, Wildlife Recovery Teams, and organizations such as the WA Herbarium and Birds Australia. The overall impression of existing land use is one of multiple use co-existing with conservation of environmental, cultural, archaeological and recreation values. In 1998, Ngaanyatjarra Council secured Environment Australia funding to investigate the establishment of Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) on their land. The IPA program is a Commonwealth Government initiative funded through the Natural Heritage Trust and based on International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines (IUCN 1994).
Declaration of the 98,129 km2 Ngaanyatjarra Lands Indigenous Protected Area is the result of five years careful consideration and discussion by Ngaanyatjarra Traditional Owners. Ngaanyatjarra Council through its Land Management Unit facilitated this process. Neither the developmental process nor Indigenous Protected Area declaration could have occurred without Natural Heritage Trust financial assistance, or the support of staff from both Environment Australia and the Western Australian Department of Conservation. Declaration of this, the largest protected area in Australia, is an explicit act of self determination by the Ngaanyatjarra people that demonstrates to an international audience that conservation values exist on their Lands as a consequence of indigenous land management, and that today’s Traditional Owners continue to maintain the Law and their association with their country. Through the Ngaanyatjarra Lands Indigenous Protected Area we, Yarnangu, the Traditional Owners of this country, invite all Australians to be a part of the Ngaanyatjarra journey.
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