- Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has asked the National Heritage Council to assess Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo for inclusion on Australia's National Heritage List.
- Decision to formally assess Exmouth Gulf warmly welcomed by conservationists.
- Approval would see Exmouth Gulf finally join a list of places of outstanding significance to the nation.
- The assessment is in response to a joint nomination by Nyinggulu Traditional Owners and Protect Ningaloo-Australian Marine Conservation Society to help safeguard the significant environmental and cultural values of Exmouth Gulf.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has accepted a nomination to have Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo included on the National Heritage List and has requested the Australian Heritage Council assess the Gulf to determine if it should be added to the list of places of outstanding significance to the nation.
Environmental organisation, Protect Ningaloo – Australian Marine Conservation Society, and Traditional Owner body, Nganhurra Thanardi Garrbu Aboriginal Corporation (NTGAC), jointly nominated Exmouth Gulf to the Council. Nearly 15,000 people also signed emails calling on the Environment Minister to support National Heritage listing for Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo, one of the world's most important remaining marine and coastal wildlife refuges.
Inclusion on the National Heritage List would be formal recognition of Exmouth Gulf's national environmental and cultural significance, and would be an important step on its pathway to conservation. National Heritage listing would complement the WA Government's commitment, made in September 2025, to create a marine park for the whole of Exmouth Gulf. The WA Government's Exmouth Gulf Taskforce also recommended National Heritage assessment be advanced for the Gulf.
Australian Marine Conservation Society CEO (and Protect Ningaloo Director) Paul Gamblin said news that the Gulf would be considered for National Heritage listing is very welcome: "National Heritage recognition of Exmouth Gulf would be historic and we commend the Minister and the Australian Heritage Council for beginning this process. This assessment is long overdue recognition of Exmouth Gulf's national and indeed world heritage values, and its crucial role in the Ningaloo ecosystem." Mr Gamblin said.
Exmouth Gulf is renowned for its resting humpback whale mothers and calves, dugongs, dolphins, rare sawfish, corals, sponge gardens, and more, and it forms a crucial part of Ningaloo's famed nature-based tourism economy.
Protect Ningaloo-AMCS, in alliance with the Cape Conservation Group, Exmouth, worked closely with Nyinggulu Traditional Owners on this joint nomination. Exmouth Gulf has significant cultural heritage importance for the Traditional Owners – the Baiyungu and Yinnigurrura people – as a site of spiritual meaning and practice for millennia.
The National Heritage Council is currently inviting public comment, which will be followed by consultation with relevant parties.
