A new National Park for Cape York

Michael Ross, Chairperson of the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation Land Trust, with Qld Campaigns Manager Tim Seelig and Acting Qld Climate Change and Sustainability Minister, Annastacia Palaszczuk, at the handover ceremony.

A new National Park has been created on Cape York, which offers hope to the endangered Golden Shouldered Parrot as well as protection for other species and landscapes.

The new Alwal National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land) is part of the new model of national park on the Cape, which sees the land owned by the Traditional Owners, and joint management arrangements made between them and the Queensland Government.

'Alwal' is the Indigenous name for the Golden Shouldered Parrot which is one of Australia's most endangered bird species. The Alwal National Park (CYPAL) is home to some of the last known populations of the parrot. It has conservation values of national, regional and local significance and includes escarpments, springs, tall woodlands, and the headwaters of the Morehead River.

The 42,000 hectare park created on a property previously known as Mulkay, is now owned by the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation Land Trust as Aboriginal freehold and dedicated as a National Park. It will be managed by the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation Land Trust with the support of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

A new National Park has been created on Cape York, which offers hope to the endangered Golden Shouldered Parrot as well as protection for other species and landscapes. Image: Lochman Transparencies

The new park is the latest outcome from a unique initiative - the Cape York Tenure Resolution Implementation Group or CYTRIG - designed to jointly deliver new Aboriginal owned and managed National Parks on Cape York and the return of homelands to Traditional Owners. This involves The Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation working with the Queensland Government, Cape York Land Council and Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation to enable properties to be purchased for both conservation and land justice outcomes. So far, almost 600,000 hectares of protected area, and a similar volume of land has been returned as Aboriginal freehold. 

The CYTRIG process demonstrates that conservation and Indigenous groups can work closely to successfully deliver mutual outcomes, and the contribution of The Wilderness Society was acknowledged at the handover ceremony. The ceremony, attended by representatives of the Wilderness Society along with acting Queensland Climate Change and Sustainability Minister, Annastacia Palaszczuk, Traditional Owners, conservation groups and Indigenous organisations, took place at Kalinga, a cattle property adjacent to the new National Park, which has now been handed back to the Kyerrwanhdha Thingalkal Land Trust.

Kalinga has special significance to conservation groups as it has previously been the focus of much concern about broadscale tree clearing and the planting of invasive Gamba Grass, a declared weed species. A new nature refuge has also been created over 2,673 hectares of this property which will protect habitat for the endangered red goshawk, the rare black necked stork and the rare Papuan sheath-tailed bat. The Wilderness Society wishes the Traditional Owners well in their endeavours to manage the area, and welcomes the return of their traditional lands to them. 

The Wilderness Society is also urging the Commonwealth and State Governments to provide further financial support to this successful initiative to secure future outcomes for conservation and return of Aboriginal homelands.