Australia has declared its first Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area, a stretch of ocean larger than Portugal that will be managed by the Nyangumarta people using traditional knowledge. The new protected zone covers roughly 100,000 square kilometers of coastal and marine waters off the country's northwest coast.
A marine park guided by ancient knowledge
The Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area extends from the coast near the town of Broome northward along the Eighty Mile Beach. This area is a critical nesting site for the flatback turtle, a species found only in Australian waters. The Nyangumarta people, who have lived along this coastline for tens of thousands of years, will now hold legal management authority over the waters.
How the Nyangumarta will run the protected zone
The designation allows the Nyangumarta to apply their traditional ecological knowledge to conservation decisions. They will monitor turtle nesting sites, manage fishing practices, and protect seagrass meadows and coral reefs. The Australian government formally recognized the area in June 2026, making it the first Indigenous Protected Area to include ocean territory rather than just land.
Why this matters locally
For the Nyangumarta community, the sea is not a resource but a living part of their cultural identity. They call it "Sea Country" and consider themselves custodians of both the land and the water. Local people have watched industrial fishing and climate change threaten turtle populations and fish stocks for years. This new status gives them legal standing to enforce protections that align with their traditional laws.
The creation of this Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area marks a shift in Australian conservation policy. It recognizes that Indigenous Australians have been managing these waters effectively for millennia and that their knowledge systems can work alongside modern marine science. The Nyangumarta now hold the authority to decide what happens in their ancestral waters.
