First National Park Joint Management Agreement

Photo by Dale Smith licensed under the Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

The WKSN-DBCA cooperative management committee have decided that the Stirling Range National Park will be our first jointly managed national park.

It was selected because of its cultural importance to all of the Noongar groups in the WKSN region.

Part of this joint management agreement includes dual naming of the park. The Noongar name for the Stirling Range is Koi Kyenunu-ruff.

The current management plan for the national park will now be rewritten, and the new joint management agreement will be attached to the plan.

Representatives from WKSN and DBCA will establish a joint management body that will make decisions regarding all aspects of how the park is managed.

Once the park enters into formal joint management, we expect to see more Noongar ranger jobs created.

Formalising joint management is a complex process, which will include identifying and protecting all the Noongar cultural values of the park. This work will take several years, so that we know it will be the right plan.

For more information about cooperative and joint management, call the lands team on (08) 8166 1940 or email lands@wagylkaip.org.au.