Heritage under threat!! Guest blog by Jo Leonard

Would you build the largest Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) plant in the world right beside the Sistine Chapel?

Were you disgusted at the abhorrent behaviour and total disregard for historical artefacts when in Afghanistan the Taliban blew up 800 year old Buddhas carved into the face of ancient mountains?  I was simply sad for the path that politics and the fight for power and resources had taken. I now feel this same sense of sadness about an area in north western Australia on the Burrup Peninsula, part of the Pilbara, where 30,000 year old rock carvings are under threat of industrialisation, soon to be broken up piece by piece.

My name is Jo Leonard and I am a fellow adventurer and friend of the Backsons, travelling with my husband, Peter and two beautiful girls, Summer (7) and Ciara (3), around Australia.

We recently visited the Burrup Peninsula, near Dampier, north west WA. It is home to unique petroglyphs, or indigenous rock carvings, that tell stories of the lives and changing landscapes of aboriginal communities that have lived in the region for the past 30 millennia. Yes, 30,000 years! Europe's churches, as fascinating as they are, are a microsecond on the earth's timeline when compared to this amazing artwork.

Robin Chapple, Greens member of the WA Legislative Council and author of an article that appeared in 'The Monthly' magazine in Feb 2011, said that the Burrup Peninsula "gives you something nowhere else in the world does - the continuity of societal behaviour during different climatic conditions". This translates into an illustrated story of the complex relationships between indigenous families, neighbours and warriors - belonging to the earlier artwork - and as time went on, carvings of the local environment and how the population survived. Among the carvings which my family saw were turtles, dugongs, kangaroos, hunters, maps and ceremonial markings littered over the iron-ore rocks the size of refrigerators, piled high like bricks discarded off a building site.

Not sign posted for the masses to see or even for the few to appreciate or admire, these exquisite carvings, said to be the largest and oldest of their kind in the world, are under threat. Petroglyphs in their thousands have been bulldozed during each new wave of industry.

Multiple interests exist in the region with the latest development being Woodside's North West Shelf project, named 'Pluto B'. But despite moving 170 blocks of rock carvings to a fenced area, I can only imagine how many more were desecrated in the process.

Rio Tinto holds leases over most of the Burrup Peninsula and funds archeological work in the region, taking its conservation responsibilities more seriously than some. But what will become of the region with more industrialisation which, to be pragmatic, is inevitable.

The Burrup Peninsula is listed in the National Trust of Australia Endangered Places register. But what does this mean? The region is already a mega magnet for industry, with several iron-ore loading facilities, a salt mine, fertiliser plant, oil and gas project and now a desalination plant in the planning. 

My children have thoroughly embraced our trip around their native home country, lapping up the experiences laid before them: walking through gorges, swimming in spring pools, lazing on white sandy beaches, swimming with turtles, tropical fish, sharks and blue spotted rays, as well as making boomerangs with dot paintings, understanding the relationships and connections between nature and indigenous mythology and the tragic history of explorers whose ships broke against our rocky shores. But what lays ahead for their children? Or the future of our society if we cannot teach and educate the young of their past, of a people who doggedly survived despite all that was delivered to them.

We visited Kangaroo Island earlier this year and studied the fur seals that call the island their home. The greatest threat to this population is, believe it or not, rubbish! Bottle rings, plastic bottles, rings of rope or fishing wire, slowly strangling the animal to its death. Several Save the Seals promotions have hit our newspapers and people are too often made aware of the plight of these animals. An informative Information Centre overlooks the beach where guided tours operate, led by naturalists who are only too well aware of the delicate habitat that exists below the sand dunes. But here the message is clear: save our seals..... don't litter in our seas!

But what of the message to save indigenous petroglyphs? There is no strategic management plan in place. No Information centre that can educate the public. No signage that states "do not walk on the artwork". Where are the politicians to support the preservation of one of Australia's most signifiant and would-be world heritage listed rock carving locations? Surely this too is worth saving?

I agree with Robin Chapple that we should lobby the politicians, mining magnates and the Indigenous community leaders to develop a conservation master plan involving all interested parties to protect the art, develop an information centre to administer the area, and educate visitors for you, me, our children and those who come long after us.

This unique juxtaposition of industry and cultural heritage should be encouraged and nurtured. Surely, the comforts that have been afforded me by industrialisation and technological advances can coexist with Australian cultural heritage, especially one that has become one of the most amazing landscapes that my family has experienced. Swimming in clear waters off a beautiful beach, playing tag with flat backed turtles, watching dolphins dance among the waves and knowing that there is not another soul for miles in both directions. Surely the Burrup Peninsula is worth saving.

What do you think, should our heritage be fighting for it's life? 

 Jo

Hamish's notes: We didn't get to the rock art. I'd read about it, and knew a bit about Rio Tinto's investment in the region. However when we asked locals about it, the standard answer was that they had never heard of it, there's nothing there, don't waste your time. I wish we had wasted our time because I'm not sure how much importance of sites like this, and the fact that they are worth more to our childrens future than a refinery or a mine. If you can't do either, please just have a think about it.

If you want to read or know more, try these links. If they fail, google it.

http://www.burrup.org.au/ntwa.pdf

http://www.themonthly.com.au/destruction-burrup-rock-art-beehive-robyn-davidson-2983

Thanks Jo,

H