World Heritage | Ngura atunymankunytjaku
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is internationally recognised as a World Heritage Area. It is one of the few properties in the world to be dual-listed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for outstanding natural values and outstanding cultural values.
The park was first inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1987, when the international community recognised its spectacular geological formations, rare plants and animals and exceptional natural beauty.
In 1994, the park became only the second in the world to be acclaimed for its cultural landscape as well. This listing honours the traditional belief systems as part of one of the oldest human societies on earth.
Parks Australia has a responsibility for protecting the park’s World Heritage values. Traditional knowledge is combined with western science in caring for country.
UNESCO Gold medal
In 1995 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park won the Picasso Gold Medal, the highest UNESCO award for outstanding efforts to preserve the landscape and Anangu culture and for setting new International standards for World Heritage management.
UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program
The park is ranked as one of the most significant arid land ecosystems in the world. As a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program, it joins at least 11 other reserves in Australia and an international network aiming to preserve the world's major ecosystem types.
