Mitchell River National Park (Western Australia)
Mitchell River National Park is a national park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, northeast of Perth. The park adjoins the northern boundary of the Prince Regent National Park. The nearest towns are Derby, to the southwest, as well as Wyndham, to the southeast. Created in 2000, the park covers an area of over on the Mitchell Plateau.
The two main features of the park are Mitchell Falls and Surveyors Pool. It lies in the traditional lands of the Wunambal, an Aboriginal Australian people. The park is known for distinctive plants such as a species of fan palm; it is home to several significant and threatened species, including the tiny rock wallaby known as the monjon and the black grasswren.
A new Kimberley National Park, which would encompass Mitchell River National Park, Prince Regent National Park and Lawley River National Park, was in the early stages of planning around 2015 by Colin Barnett's government, when permits to mine bauxite on the plateau were terminated, but since then these plans have not been furthered.
History
The plateau's wildlife has remained unchanged for close to 50,000 years.Ngauwudu is the Wunambal people's name for the Mitchell Plateau. Wunambal people have lived in the area for many thousands of years, practising their culture based on Wandjina and Wunggurr lore and law. The Wunambal form part of a cultural bloc of Aboriginal peoples known as Wanjina Wunggurr.
European explorers reached the region in 1921, led by surveyor William Easton, who named the Mitchell River after then Premier of Western Australia, James Mitchell.
In 1965 a mining company called Amax Bauxite set up a camp on the plateau.
The park was formed in 2000 without the consent of the traditional owners or following proper procedure under the Native Title Act 1993.
the park encompasses over of the Mitchell Plateau.
Management and future plans
The park area falls into the Uunguu area of the Wanjina Wunggurr peoples. In May 2011, native title was eventually determined for the Wunambal Gaambera people, represented by the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC. The first stage of the Uunguu Indigenous Protected Area encompassing hectares was created at this time, with the second stage declared in 2015. The IPA covers as of 2020. The WGAC works in partnership with Bush Heritage Australia, a non-government organisation working to preserve the environment.The Department of Parks and Wildlife manages the park jointly with the Wunambal Gaambera.
In March 2015, the Government of Western Australia agreed on a ban on mining with both Rio Tinto and Alcoa Australia, which would allow protection over an area of. The government had started on negotiations with traditional owners with a view to creating a huge protected area which would lie next to the already-planned Great Kimberley Marine Park. A new huge Kimberley National Park had been planned to cover more than and would include the Prince Regent National Park and the Lawley River National Park]. Rio Tinto committed to worth of spending on land rehabilitation where drilling had already occurred. However, as of 2020, with a change of government in 2017, the plan for the new park has not as yet advanced.
Flora and fauna
The Mitchell Plateau, according to Pew Outback, "is the only part of mainland Australia where no native species extinctions have occurred".The park is biologically significant and contains over 50 species of mammal, 220 birds and 86 amphibians and reptiles, including the saltwater crocodile, king brown snake and taipan.
There are mangroves, swamps, woodlands as well as patches of tropical rainforest. A species of Livistona palm endemic to the north Kimberley, Livistona eastonii, may grow up to and some are as old as 280 years.
The monjon and the rough-scaled python live in sandstone areas of the plateau. Other important species include the dugong, flatback turtle, northern quoll, scaly-tailed possum, and the golden-backed tree rat.
The park is part of the Prince Regent and Mitchell River Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for a range of bird species, especially those restricted to tropical savanna habitats. It is home to the near threatened species, the black grasswren, which nests in sandstone crevices.