• Meeting of Environment Ministers endorses a Tentative List Submission for Murujuga, supporting the addition of Murujuga to Australia's World Heritage Tentative List in 2020
• Murujuga National Park, near Karratha, is home to the world's highest concentration of rock art engravings, or petroglyphs

The Murujuga World Heritage nomination is one step closer, with a Tentative List Submission receiving the green light at Friday's Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM).

Consideration by MEM is an important step toward Tentative Listing, with the meeting used to consult with other states and territories and obtain agreement on properties for inclusion on Australia's World Heritage Tentative List.

Following the meeting, the Western Australian Government will formally submit the Tentative List Submission to the Australian Government for consideration.  

As the State Party to the World Heritage Convention, it is the Australian Government that will determine whether to submit the Murujuga Tentative List Submission to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

A successful listing would place Murujuga alongside other World Heritage listed properties such as Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and Grand Canyon National Park.

For details on the World Heritage listing process, visit:

https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/about/world/world-heritage-listing-process

Comments attributed to Environment Minister Stephen Dawson:

"This is a great outcome for the WA Government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation who have worked collaboratively over the past year to prepare the Tentative List Submission."

"The addition of an area to Australia's World Heritage Tentative List is the first required step in the World Heritage nomination process, as a nomination will not be assessed until it has been on the Tentative List for at least 12 months."

"We will continue to work in partnership with the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and in collaboration with the Australian Government and stakeholders to ensure the success of the nomination."

Comments attributed to Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation CEO Peter Jeffries:

"The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation is very excited by the news that there is agreement among Environment Ministers that Murujuga should be Australia's newest tentative listing nomination for World Heritage Listing.

"Nominating for World Heritage Listing is a long and complicated process, and we would like to thank and acknowledge the work of the State Government for supporting us through this process so far.

"We are moving in the right direction to achieving our goal of World Heritage Listing and having our rock art internationally recognised for its cultural significance.

"The rock art is intrinsic to our culture, and we hope that attaining World Heritage Listing will help us to protect it for future generations.