Kakadu National Park - Heritage Site In Australia

Description of the site

Discuss about the People Place and Past for Cultural Organization.

Heritage generally refers to the various properties that are inherited by the concerned person from their ancestors. The world heritage sites refer to the landmark or an area that has been selected by the authorities at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or the UNESCO for the preservation and the protection of the area. The world heritage sites are mostly classified on the basis of the significance that they might hold in the fields of culture, history or science as well as any other way. These cultural heritage sites might also be protected by the various international treaties and might hold the interest of the complete human race (Sullivan 2016). The following essay deals with one of the world heritage sites that is present within the Australian territory. The essay opens with a description of the heritage site in discussion and proceeds further to discuss the importance of the concerned site in terms of the global human history. The essay nears its end with the reasons and the ways of protecting and conserving the cultural heritage site in discussion. 

Kakadu National Park is one of the protected areas within the Australian territorial boundaries. The park is located within the Northern territories of Australia almost at a distance of 171km to the south-east of Darwin. The location of the park is found to be within the region of the Alligator Rivers that is present within the Northern territories of Australia. The total area that is covered by park is around 19804 kilometers (Parksaustralia.gov.au 2018). The park extends for about 200 kilometers from the northern boundaries to the southern boundaries and almost for 100 kilometers from the eastern boundaries to the western boundaries of the country. The size of the park might be compared to the territorial size of the country of Slovenia, the half of the size of the country of Switzerland and almost one-third of the size of the country of Tasmania (Environment.gov.au 2018). The park is known to have been surrounding one of the uranium mines present nearby, the Ranger Uranium Mine.

The area was majorly the residence of a number of the Aboriginals who had been leasing out parts of their lands to the Director of National Parks so that the concerned area could be maintained properly. This leasing of the land had started during the 1970 while the Aboriginals had been protecting the area in discussion for a longer time span. The area has been known for the proper ecological balance within the area. The floodplains that have been present within the area were enough to have discussed the various effects of the changes in the sea-levels on the concerned country of Australia (Parksaustralia.gov.au 2018). The park is known for the exquisitely beautiful natural beauties as well as the various sweeping landscapes that are present within the territorial boundaries of the concerned heritage park in discussion. 

Importance in terms of global human history

The Kakadu National Park has another significance in the historical matters as well. This park was known to be the home of the Aboriginals before being considered as one of the world heritage sites (Whc.unesco.org 2018). The park has helped in the understanding of the various factors that might have resulted from the peaceful and prolonged interaction of the human beings with the nature. The park might be used to learn more about the hunting lifestyle that was followed by the people of the early ages. The area had gained the positioning in the huge amount of discussion on the matters that pertain to the environmental factors that need to be faced by the concerned area in discussion, Kakadu National Park.

Kakadu National Park provides a mesmerizing view of the starry night sky of Australia. This would be an innovative opportunity to view the Milky Way, which is otherwise very far from the human sight (Environment.gov.au 2018). Introducing effective schemes, discounts and offers would help the staffs to increase their revenue. Organizing sports events in the national parks would be one of the other ways for protecting the heritage site (Boley and Green 2016). Events like trekking for the children would provide them an enthralling experience. Apart from this, the sports events would act as a proper utilization of the site. 

The concerned park in discussion might be considered to be one of the most important areas within the Australian territories. The park is known to have been the residence of the Aboriginal people for a longer time span. The area was incorporated within the list of the world heritage sites due to the unique factor that helped in the creation of a sustainable bond between the concerned human beings and the concerned national park.

The Kakadu National Park has another significance in the historical matters as well. This park was known to be the home of the Aboriginals before being considered as one of the world heritage sites. The park has helped in the understanding of the various factors that might have resulted from the peaceful and prolonged interaction of the human beings with the nature. The park might be used to learn more about the hunting lifestyle that was followed by the people of the early ages. The area had gained the positioning in the huge amount of discussion on the matters that pertain to the environmental factors that need to be faced by the concerned area in discussion, Kakadu National Park. 

Protection and conservation

The area was majorly the residence of a number of the Aboriginals who had been leasing out parts of their lands to the Director of National Parks so that the concerned area could be maintained properly. This leasing of the land had started during the 1970 while the Aboriginals had been protecting the area in discussion for a longer time span (Environment.gov.au 2018). The area has been known for the proper ecological balance within the area. The floodplains that have been present within the area were enough to have discussed the various effects of the changes in the sea-levels on the concerned country of Australia. The park is known for the exquisitely beautiful natural beauties as well as the various sweeping landscapes that are present within the territorial boundaries of the concerned heritage park in discussion.

The preservation of the concerned park would result in protection of the lands, where Aboriginals lived for 40,000 years (Parksaustralia.gov.au 2018). The museums, consisting of the cultural heritage of the aboriginals would be a symbol, promoting the aboriginal culture. Paintings and exhibitions would be an effective means of promoting the life of the Aboriginals to the foreigners. In the national park, the case of buffalo hunting is a burning issue. This is adversely affecting the ecological diversity (Whc.unesco.org 2018). This might help the future generations to gain an insight into the ways in which the aboriginal people of the area might have been living in close companionship with the various aspects of nature that had been surrounding them. The concerned park should be considered to be important by the various people of the younger generation since this might be one of the ways to understand the relationship between the human beings and the nature surrounding them. 

Preservation of the park would result in protection of the lands, where Aboriginals lived for 40,000 years. The museums, consisting of the cultural heritage of the aboriginals would be a symbol, promoting the aboriginal culture. Paintings and exhibitions would be an effective means of promoting the life of the Aboriginals to the foreigners. In the national park, the case of buffalo hunting is a burning issue. This is adversely affecting the ecological diversity. For this, the Government of Environment and Water Resources need to take strict measures for preserving the buffalo wetlands. The hunters can be fined for hunting the buffalo skin (Cronk and Fuller 2014).

Construction of North Australia Railway line have strengthened the foundation of the mining camps. The mining activities have uprooted many Aboriginals from Kakadu due to the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs. The environmental pollution has depleted most of the natural resources. In order to avert further degradation, transportation facilities can be one of the innovative solution. This would greatly contribute to the economy (Moyle and Weiler 2017).

Climate changes result in the destruction of the forest in the national park. The scientists and the Ministry of Forest can take help of various measuring devices, which would help in estimating the climate changes. This measurement would enable the staffs in warning the people about the precautionary measures, which they need to take for coping up with the climate changes. However, for the field experiments, written permission needs to be taken from the Aboriginals, as the land belongs to them. Absence of this permission would be illegal.

The park officials can indulge in partnership with various environmental agencies, who would look after its conservation. For this, taking the help of the social media would be an innovative step towards preserving the cultural heritage site (Farsani et al. 2014). Grants regarding social wellbeing projects can also be undertaken for promotion of the Aboriginal culture. The school students can be taken for a field trip to this site for enhancing their knowledge about the culture, in which they live. Along with this, the students can be shown the paintings, which depict the customs and traditions of the Aboriginals.

Kakadu National Park provides a mesmerizing view of the starry night sky of Australia. This would be an innovative opportunity to view the Milky Way, which is otherwise very far from the human sight. Introducing effective schemes, discounts and offers would help the staffs to increase their revenue.

Organizing sports events in the national parks would be one of the other ways for protecting the heritage site (Boley and Green 2016). Events like trekking for the children would provide them an enthralling experience. Apart from this, the sports events would act as a proper utilization of the site.

The natural resources can be preserved through field experiments and surveys. For this, partnership can be established with the Archaeological department. This partnership would conserve the resources used by the Aboriginals. Appeals through social media would bestow varying solutions upon the park personnel. The public can be informed about the programs, which would conserve the cultural heritage site. Donations would provide financial assistance to the staffs for undertaking effective and flexible projects (Moyle and Weiler 2017).

Exhibitions and fairs would act as a social upliftment for the Aboriginals. This would be through the selling of handicrafts prepared by them. Through this, the culture and heritage would be transferred from the local natives to the foreigners. These transactions would be prospective in terms of indulging in trades and transactions. Taking the opinion of the public would help in assessing the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of the products. This is in terms of ensuring the wellbeing of the people and the environment (Cronk and Fuller 2014).

In lieu of the above discussion, it might be safely said that the Kakadu National Park might be considered to be one of the best examples of the peaceful co-habilitation of the nature and the human beings. The world heritage sites are mostly classified on the basis of the significance that they might hold in the fields of culture, history or science as well as any other way. These cultural heritage sites might also be protected by the various international treaties and might hold the interest of the complete human race. Kakadu National Park is one of the protected areas within the Australian territorial boundaries. This park was known to be the home of the Aboriginals before being considered as one of the world heritage sites. The park has helped in the understanding of the various factors that might have resulted from the peaceful and prolonged interaction of the human beings with the nature. The park might be used to learn more about the hunting lifestyle that was followed by the people of the early ages. This site should be protected for the future generation to come and thus need to go through the various processes of preservation and conservation in order to maintain the status that has been accredited to the concerned area in discussion, Kakadu National Park. 

References

Boley, B.B. and Green, G.T., 2016. Ecotourism and natural resource conservation: the ‘potential’for a sustainable symbiotic relationship. Journal of Ecotourism, 15(1), pp.36-50.

Cronk, Q.C. and Fuller, J.L., 2014. Plant invaders: the threat to natural ecosystems. Routledge.

Environment.gov.au 2018. Department of the Environment and Energy. [online] Department of the Environment and Energy. Available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/kakadu [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].

Environment.gov.au 2018. Department of the Environment and Energy. [online] Department of the Environment and Energy. Available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/kakadu-national-park/culture-and-history [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].

Farsani, N.T., Coelho, C.O., Costa, C.M. and Amrikazemi, A., 2014. Geo-knowledge management and geoconservation via geoparks and geotourism. Geoheritage, 6(3), pp.185-192.

Moyle, B.D. and Weiler, B., 2017. Revisiting the importance of visitation: Public perceptions of park benefits. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 17(1), pp.91-105.

Parksaustralia.gov.au 2018. Kakadu National Park - History. [online] Parksaustralia.gov.au. Available at: https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/discover/history/ [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].

Parksaustralia.gov.au 2018. Kakadu National Park. [online] Parksaustralia.gov.au. Available at: https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/ [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].

Sullivan, A.M., 2016. Cultural Heritage & New Media: A Future for the Past, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 604 (2016). The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law, 15(3), p.11.

Whc.unesco.org 2018. Kakadu National Park. [online] Whc.unesco.org. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/147 [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].