Australia returned the world’s oldest rainforest to the Aborigines

Australian authorities returned Daintree National Park to its traditional owners, the oldest rainforest in the world and a World Heritage Site, under an agreement announced this Wednesday in a territory of more than 1,100 square kilometers in the extreme northeast of the country.

The Daintree, has remained for over 60,000 years for the residents of eastern Kuku Yalanji, will have the participation of the Aborigines in its management as is the case with other emblematic and heritage places such as the coral reef and the Kakadu National Park, both in the north of the country, as well as Uluru, in the Australian red desert.

In addition to the Daintree, the Australian state government of Queensland will offer three other national parks: Ngalba-bulal, in the tropical forest heritage zone; the Kalkajaka or the mysterious black mountains, and the Hope Islands, in Cape York, located in the extreme northeast of Australia.

Delivery to its traditional owners of the Daintree as well as the other three parks is “An important historical event”Chrissy Grant of the Kuku Yalanji East Traditional Owners Negotiating Committee said in a statement from the Queensland State Government.

For her part, Queensland Environment Minister Meghan Scanlon said in the government statement that Australia has an uncomfortable and ugly past, so the return was a key step on the road to reconciliation..

“The culture of the oriental people of Kuku Yalanji is one of the oldest in the world and this agreement recognizes their right to own and manage their country, protect their culture and share it with visitors as they become leaders in the tourism industrysaid Scanlon.

The four parks will be jointly managed by the traditional owners and the Queensland government., which to date has returned over 38,000 square kilometers of land to the traditional owners of Cape York, of which some 23,000 square kilometers are under joint management.

(With information from EFE)

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