Recent analyses of five Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) across regional and remote Australia demonstrate the social and cultural co-benefits of Indigenous land management initiatives.

Summary
In remote West Arnhem Land, on 1.4 million hectares of Indigenous-owned land adjoining Kakadu National Park, there is a small clearing where visionary local leader and accomplished artist, Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek, painted some of his last rock art before his death in 2009.

This clearing is one of thousands of rock art sites on the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), which is managed by Nawarddeken people in accordance with their priorities, with Federal Government support.

While most of Lofty’s more recent art is relatively well preserved, older sites have been badly damaged by buffalos and dangerous wildfires. When Nawarddeken left the land for nearby towns more than 50 years ago, feral animals and wildfires took hold of country that was no longer actively managed. Today, Warddeken IPA rangers are helping to bring back healthy country and preserve important heritage sites, including Lofty’s rock art.