Bid for World Heritage status for Burrup Peninsula

The Federal Government is believed to have made a bid to give UNESCO World Heritage Status to the Burrup Peninsula. The bid comes as Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is weighing up a number of major fossil fuel and resources developments in the area, including Woodside's North West Shelf and Pluto gas processing facility. The area contains one million petroglyphs across an area of 37,000ha, representing one of the densest and most diverse collections of 40,000-year-old rock art in the world.

Greenpeace activists are holding fast after boarding a Shell oil platform in extremely dangerous conditions which was en route to Scotland. The activists remain on board with Greenpeace’s ship the Arctic Sunrise chasing at full speed, aiming to catch up and stay in communication with the activists.

The Federal Government is consulting on legislation to establish a scheme to incentivise investment in nature restoration by creating tradable certificates for projects that protect and restore biodiversity. However, experts say the plan to encourage companies to invest in nature is nearly identical to a previous Coalition proposal and is at risk of failing due to a lack of business interest.

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Burrup Peninsula could be given World Heritage status after Federal Government makes formal bid
The Federal Government is believed to have made a formal bid to give the Burrup Peninsula UNESCO World Heritage status, potentially casting a shadow on billions of dollars worth of resources projects.

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