The Department of Environment and Science (DES) has announced the purchase of two former cattle properties — Bramwell Station and Richardson Station — 630 kilometres north-west of Cairns.
Minister for the Environment, Meaghan Scanlon said the purchases linked close to a million hectares of protected land, which would now be conserved and returned to Traditional Owners.
Ms Scanlon said the purchases formed part of the highly successful Cape York Peninsula Tenure Resolution Program.
“The area includes significant, undisturbed ecosystems and habitat that will become part of the protected area estate,” she said.
“Through the Cape York Peninsula Tenure Resolution Program, we will negotiate for which areas of the land will be made jointly-managed national park and which areas become Aboriginal freehold land.”
Ms Scanlon said the purchases were highly strategic and represented a major win for the environment, Traditional Owners and the local economy.
“The Bramwell and Richardson properties connect with other protected areas, including Batavia National Park, Bromley National Park, Michingun Nature Refuge, Heathlands Reserve and the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve Nature Refuge,” she said.
“The lands also provide a further opportunity to protect the Great Barrier Reef by stabilising two catchment areas that flow into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.”
Ms Scanlon said the purchases added significantly to protected areas, which totalled more than 14 million hectares “including national parks, conservation parks, nature refuges and special wildlife reserves”.
Executive Director of Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, Gerhardt Pearson said the Corporation was delighted that the Traditional Owners of these properties would now be able to enjoy the cultural and economic benefits of their ancestral lands.
“I congratulate the State for successfully concluding this complex and long-running matter,” Mr Pearson said.
