New national park in the Goldfields
A new national park and nature reserve in the remote Goldfields has added more than 800,000 hectares to Western Australia’s conservation estate.
The creation of the Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park and the Lake Carnegie nature reserve is a significant step in the State Government’s Plan for Our Parks initiative.
The reserves protect Martu Aboriginal cultural heritage values and the area’s biodiversity.
The Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation will jointly manage Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park and nature reserve at Lake Carnegie with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
An Indigenous Land Use Agreement was signed in October 2022. This is the largest exclusive possession native title agreement in Australia, the largest for the creation of a new jointly managed, and jointly vested conservation estate ever reached in WA.
The Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park was formerly two pastoral leases purchased by the State Government more than 20 years ago. It is also a dedicated Indigenous Protected Area with more than 480 plant species as well as being the centre of one of Australia’s largest threatened animal translocation projects.
Lake Carnegie is listed on the Commonwealth Directory of Important Wetlands and is culturally significant to Martu Aboriginal people.
More about Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park here.
