NINGALOO COAST NOMINATED FOR WORLD HERITAGE LISTING

The Australian Federal Government with the support of the Western Australian Government has nominated the Ningaloo Coast for World Heritage listing, in recognition of the area’s outstanding natural beauty, biological richness and international geological significance. The nomination is for an area of 710,000ha and includes Ningaloo Reef, Cape Range, a coastal strip extending about 260km south to Red Bluff, as well as adjacent dunefields, marine areas and islands.

“The reef is part of a marine ecosystem that ranks seventh on the world’s list of coral reef biodiversity ‘hotspots’ and is second in terms of the number of species to be found within a limited range,” said WA Environment Minister Donna Faragher.

“The Cape Range peninsula is an evolutionary laboratory that emerged from the sea over 26 million years, built from the skeletons of ancient marine creatures. The Ningaloo Coast represents the best opportunity in the world to encounter whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, together with globally significant populations of manta rays, dugongs, marine turtles, humpbacks, other cetaceans, rays and sharks.”

The nomination is also recognition of the comprehensive management arrangements in place for the area based on a network of marine and terrestrial conservation reserves. The reef and the adjoining Cape Range National Park attract more than 100,000 visitors a year.

The nomination document is being sent to the World Heritage Centre in Paris, where it will be assessed during the next 18 months. Currently, Shark Bay and Purnululu National Park are the only other Western Australian sites which are World Heritage listed.