Warlu Jilajaa Jumu Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) was dedicated in 2007 . It covers over 1.6 million hectares of arid scrub and desert wetlands in the north-west of Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. The IPA is cared for by its traditional owners, the Ngurrara people. It is named after:
- warlu - the fire they use to keep the land healthy
- jila - permanent waterholes or ‘living water’
- jumu - seasonal soaks.
The Yanunijarra Ngurrara Rangers are based at the community of Djugerari in the southern Kimberley region. This area includes part of the Canning Stock Route. The rangers are instructed by traditional owners to protect heritage. This is done through knowledge transfer, and protecting culturally important sites by managing:
- visitors
- waterholes
- feral animals
- fire.
Following identification of fire management sites through community-based planning, the ranger team conducts annual burns.
Yanunijarra Ngurrara Rangers also undertake:
- training in conservation and land management
- relevant occupational health and safety training
- biodiversity surveys
- recording species abundance across representative habitat types within Ngurrara country
- weed surveys to inform control plans and management of weeds in the region.
State: WA - Kimberley region
Administration Organisation
Yanunijarra Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC