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Western Australia's Purnululu National Park - home to the renowned
Bungle Bungle Range - passes a tourism milestone today with the
official opening of a $1.2million world-class, environmentally
sustainable wilderness camp.
Western Australia's Purnululu National Park - home to the renowned
Bungle Bungle Range - passes a tourism milestone today with the
official opening of a $1.2million world-class, environmentally
sustainable wilderness camp.
Environment and Science Minister
Judy Edwards, who was in the park to open the facility, said the Bungle
Bungle Wilderness Camp set a new standard for tourism facilities in the
World Heritage listed national park.
"The World Heritage
listing, granted in July 2003, resulted in an increased expectation
from the international community, both on the Department of
Conservation and Land Management (CALM) and commercial operators, to
manage and operate in the park to world's 'best practice'," Dr Edwards
said.
"The consequence of these increased expectations was a
recognised need to improve the quality of facilities provided in the
park, particularly environmentally sustainable accommodation.
"In the past three years, CALM and Tourism WA have consulted with tour
operators, traditional owners and consultants to identify issues in
this regard, particularly the need to broaden the level of commercial
accommodation facilities in the park.
"Another important
consideration was the introduction of joint management arrangements for
the park with the Purnululu Aboriginal Corporation, leading to a
greater emphasis on cultural issues and the need to better involve
traditional owners in management issues, including commercial tourism
facilities."
The Minister said the end result of the expression
of interest process was that a five-year licence, with a five-year
option, was issued to KWA - a joint venture between the Wunan
Foundation (an Aboriginal development organisation) and APT, a
long-established tourism venture.
"This is a great partnership
between local Aboriginal interests and an established mainstream
national tourism operator," she said.
The KWA camp is
attractive, environmentally friendly and efficient in its use of
resources such as energy and water. It can accommodate up to 60 people
at any one time and features 30 custom-built tented cabins.
Ten
of these have private facilities, with twin beds and low voltage
lighting, bedside tables, linen, hot showers, kitchen facilities, an
indoor/outdoor dining complex and a campfire to relax by in the
evenings.
The camp is primarily powered by solar panels, with
generator backup. It uses water-efficient, composting toilets and has
environmentally friendly waste disposal systems.
There are also
permanent cook and camp hosts on hand to welcome travellers on arrival
and to make sure their stay is as enjoyable as possible.
Dr
Edwards said the well-appointed, comfortable camp was an ideal base for
exploration of the magnificent Bungle Bungle massif, and many visitors
would use the camp for a number of nights to give themselves plenty of
time to explore this fascinating World Heritage listed area.
Minister's Office - 9220 5050
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