Kakadu National Park

[Back to List of Saved Sites]

Kakadu National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in three stages over eleven years (1981-1992). It is one of the few sites included on the List for both outstanding cultural and natural universal values:

  • Natural
    1. As an outstanding example representing significant ongoing ecological and biological processes;
    2. As an example of superlative natural phenomena; and
    3. Containing important and significant habitats for in situ conservation of biological diversity.
  • Cultural
    1. Representing a unique artistic achievement; and
    2. Being directly associated with living traditions of outstanding universal significance.

The park is located in the tropical north of Australia, 120 kilometres east of Darwin, covering a total area of 19,804 square km.

The park is extremely important to Aboriginal people, and many communities still occupy the region. Significant sites associated with the Dreaming are particularly significant to the Aboriginal communities.


The art sites, concentrated along the Arnhem Land escarpment and its outliers, display a range of art styles, including naturalistic paintings of animals.

The southern part of the park contains a number of art sites, the most significant being those associated with ‘Bula’, a Creation Time being who created a number of sacred and potent sites that, even today, are considered by Aborigines to be dangerous.

[Back to List of Saved Sites]

Leave a Reply
