And they’re off! 🐢🥚 The 2026 Rosemary Island Turtle Tagging Program is underway. This year is a special one, marking 40 years of continuous turtle research, monitoring and conservation on Rosemary Island, one of Western Australia’s longest-running marine turtle monitoring programs. Before heading out the team had the pleasure of meeting Anna Vitenbergs OAM, the renowned environmental researcher and conservationist and longstanding contributor to turtle conservation and the Rosemary Island Turtle Tagging Program. MAC Cultural Advisor Belinda Churnside provided a Welcome to Country for staff and volunteers. Our Marine Ranger Team then helped get people and equipment safely ashore, with MAC vessel Nyamina working alongside Parks and Wildlife Service Western Australia's Imbricata. Built for the waters of the Dampier Archipelago, Nyamina can get close to shore, allowing our team to transfer people and equipment onto the island. MAC Marine Ranger Peaches Beazley and Field Officer Anna Martin are also spending the first week on Rosemary Island, working alongside the monitoring team. As a significant women’s place, Rosemary Island holds cultural meaning that can be protected and shared with world-class science and traditional knowledge. Senior Ranger Sarah Hicks and Marine Ranger Sharliya Mowarin are also heading out to the island throughout the program. Follow along as we share more of this important work over the coming weeks. Pictured: Peaches Beazley (left), Anna Vitenbergs OAM (middle), Anna Martin (right). Image credit: Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation #Murujuga #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage
Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
Community Services
Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga), Western Australia 4,932 followers
MAC's mission is to preserve and protect our land, heritage and culture while transforming the lives of our community.
About us
Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) is made up of members from five traditional custodial groups: the Ngarluma, Mardudhunera, Yaburara, Yindjibarndi, and Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo peoples. MAC brings together these five groups to pave the way for future generations and work together for country, while respecting lore, heritage and traditions. MAC was incorporated on 19 April 2006 and is the approved corporate body for the Burrup and Maitland Industrial Estates Agreement (BMIEA). Following a long struggle for native title recognition, three contracting parties comprising the Ngarluma-Yindjibarndi (1994), Yaburara Mardudhunera (1996), and the Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo (1998) received land entitlements and financial benefits in return for surrendering their native title rights and interests over the Burrup Peninsula. This was documented in the BMIEA. As MAC is not a prescribed body corporate for the purposes of native title, it does not receive royalties. Instead, MAC holds the freehold title to Murujuga National Park which adjoins the industrial land. The WA Government has allocated various areas for infrastructure and industrial development on the Burrup. The word Murujuga means 'hipbone sticking out' in the Ngarluma language. The name refers to the Burrup Peninsula, Dampier Archipelago and surrounding sea country. With an estimated one to two million images, Murujuga is home to one of the largest, densest and most diverse collections of rock art engravings, also called petroglyphs, in the world. It is the only place on Earth where the story of the people and their changing environment has been continuously recorded through art for more than 50,000 years. Murujuga National Park, covering areas of the Burrup Peninsula, is the 100th national park to be created in WA and is the first national park in WA to be co-managed by Traditional Custodians and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).
- Website
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http://www.murujuga.org.au
External link for Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
- Industry
- Community Services
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga), Western Australia
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2006
Employees at Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
View 22 employees at Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
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Locations
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Primary
Get directions
Lot 501 Griffin Road
Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga), Western Australia 6713, AU
Updates
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Thousands of years after this part of Murujuga was submerged, our Rangers are helping uncover its stories. New research, undertaken in partnership between Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and Flinders University, has documented two underwater archaeological sites and stone artefacts from a landscape submerged at least 9,000 years ago. MAC Rangers Malik Churnside and Richard Variakojis were part of the scientific dive team, bringing their knowledge of Country to the research. Malik and Richard are also co-authors of the newly published research, an important example of Rangers and researchers working together to better understand Murujuga. Read the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) story: https://lnkd.in/gjiYet8z Read the full journal article: https://lnkd.in/gjUU2AGz #Murujuga #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage
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Many people know MAC through our Rangers, projects and work on Country, but that work is guided by strong leadership and cultural authority. MAC is governed by a 12-person Board of Directors elected directly by Members representing the five Traditional Custodial groups of Murujuga. Together with the Circle of Elders, they help guide the future direction of MAC and represent the interests of Members, Country and culture. Image: Yindjibarndi Director Vincent Adams #Murujuga #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage
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Murujuga has never stood still. For more than 50,000 years, Ngarda-Ngarli people have adapted to changing environments while maintaining their connection to Country and their responsibility to care for it. Today, cultural knowledge, Ranger observations and scientific monitoring all contribute to a deeper understanding of this landscape. Together, they help guide the decisions needed to protect Murujuga now and into the future. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gF_fFrT3 #Murujuga #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage
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Led by Traditional Owners and Custodians. The MAC Rangers represent a unique model of caring for Country, working as employees of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and governed by the Circle of Elders to support the protection and stewardship of Murujuga's cultural and environmental values. Every day, their work helps preserve the cultural, environmental and heritage values that make Murujuga significant, now and for generations to come. #Murujuga #MACRangers #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage
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This week we are celebrating Peter Cooper's win of the Indigenous Heart of the Pilbara Award at the Pilbara For Purpose Community Services Excellence Awards. We also congratulate Sarah Hicks and our Murujuga Rangers, who were recognised as finalists in their respective categories. These recognitions highlight the incredible work being done every day by our people to care for Murujuga Country, share cultural knowledge, support community and protect one of the world's most significant cultural landscapes. Congratulations to Peter, Sarah and the Rangers on this well-deserved recognition. #Murujuga #Pilbara #CulturalHeritage #AboriginalLeadership
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We are proud of the cultural knowledge, leadership and custodianship that continues to be shared across generations at Murujuga. From Elders to Rangers, cultural knowledge is being shared, applied and carried forward across generations. That continuity is at the heart of caring for Country and protecting one of the world's most significant cultural landscapes. #Murujuga #NgardaNgarli #IndigenousKnowledge #CulturalCustodianship
Fifty thousand years of continuous record. This week I was shown a fraction of it. I spent the day on Ngarda-Ngarli country at Murujuga with the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and their rangers, visiting rock art on the Burrup Peninsula. Murujuga holds somewhere between one and two million petroglyphs. The largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art on earth, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2025 after decades of advocacy by the five language groups who hold custodianship. It is the only place where the story of a people and their changing environment has been recorded continuously through art across tens of thousands of years. What stayed with me was not the scale. One of the Elders described himself to me as the apprentice of the apprentice. A man carrying decades of knowledge, placing himself two steps back in a line that runs both directions further than anyone can see. I have never heard authority worn so lightly, or continuity described so precisely. The rangers are the next link. Since 2012 they have co-managed the national park and the 42 islands of the Dampier Archipelago. Patrols, monitoring, GIS data, cultural protocol, learning alongside senior knowledge. Custodianship there is not a sentiment. It is a job, done daily, by people who will hand it on the way it was handed to them. I work in energy and resources, where we speak in project life. Twenty five years, thirty at a stretch, and we call that long term. I stood on country that has been actively cared for across two thousand generations. Grateful to be in the Pilbara doing work that starts with listening. Thank you to the Corporation and the rangers for your time and your patience.
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Did you know Murujuga includes 42 islands, islets and rocky outcrops across the Pilbara coast, including the Burrup Peninsula and the Dampier Archipelago? It holds one of the world's most extensive collections of petroglyphs, recording the culture and history of the Ngarda-Ngarli through tens of thousands of years of change. It is a place of deep meaning, cared for by Traditional Owners and Custodians and now recognised on the UNESCO World Heritage List. #Murujuga #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage #BurrupPeninsula #RockArt #unescoworldheritage
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The Murujuga Rangers care for one of the most significant cultural landscapes in the world. Growing out of the 2012 Murujuga Ranger Pilot Project, they co-manage the National Park and surrounding country with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). Their work cover patrols, visitor education, monitoring, and pest and weed management, all guided by cultural protocols passed down through generations. #Murujuga #CulturalHeritage #Pilbara #WorldHeritage #BurrupPeninsula #RockArt #unescoworldheritage
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Year 3 MRAMP report released Today the Year 3 Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) report has been released. The findings reaffirm that current emissions from industry and mining activity are not impacting the rock art beyond natural rates of weathering and are not causing acid rain. Air quality monitoring also continues to show positive results across the Burrup Peninsula. For MAC, protecting Murujuga's cultural heritage remains our highest priority. Murujuga is a living cultural landscape of outstanding significance, recognised on the UNESCO World Heritage List and cared for by Traditional Owners and Custodians for countless generations. The Year 3 report is another important step in building the evidence needed to support its long-term protection. MRAMP brings together cultural knowledge and rigorous scientific research, helping ensure decisions about Murujuga continue to be informed by evidence, partnership and a shared commitment to protecting this extraordinary place for future generations. Read the full report and public summary here: https://lnkd.in/gfYHYg4R #Murujuga #MRAMP #WorldHeritage #CulturalHeritage #TraditionalOwners #ScienceAndCulture #Pilbara
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