You have probably heard about the threats to the Great Barrier Reef and its dire straits due to global warming. But hidden in Western Australia lies a much more accessible treasure trove that no-one seems to care to protect, except its traditional custodians.
The Burrup Peninsula near Karratha, 780 kms north of Perth, harbours irreplaceable Aboriginal rock art of world heritage class, exposed to wilful damage or theft, toxic emissions of nearby industry and threatened by political arbitrariness.
“Hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal petroglyphs (rock engravings) are distributed over an area of 88 sq km, inviting you to discover them,” writes Jens-Uwe Korff, owner of the website Creative Spüirits. “They range from small engravings of Emu tracks to very large ones representing some kind of corroboree or ceremony, Aboriginal figures climbing a ship’s mast. They depict a Tasmanian Tiger (thylacine), whales, kangaroos, emus and thousands of Aboriginal ceremonies.
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