Cared for by the world’s oldest living culture for more than 50,000 years, World Heritage- listed Kakadu and surrounds are a place of enormous biodiversity and cultural richness, where 2.5 billion year-old rocks have sculpted savannah woodlands, eucalypt and monsoon forests, rivers and bi I la bongs, coastal beaches, mudflats and mangroves.

About one-quarter of Australia’s land mammals (more than 77 species) live in this rich environment with 271 birds (one-third of Australia’s bird species), 132 reptiles, 27 frogs, 246 fish, almost 1,600 plant species and thousands of insect species.

EXPERIENCE A LIVING CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Indigenous traditional owners in Australia’s Timeless North have a deep spiritual attachment to the land dating back to the ancestral creation period known as the Dreamtime. One of the main Dreamtime ancestors in Australia’s Timeless North is known as Warramurrungundji (Mother of the Earth). Sending out spiritual children, she taught them which languages to speak and howto hunt and gather food. After creating river systems, billabongs and much of the wildlife in the region, she sat down and rested, changing into a large rock which marks her dreaming site. Cave paintings, rock caves and archaeological sites hidden throughout the rocky landscape document Dreamtime stories like these, creating one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world.

The cultural obligations and responsibility for country handed down by the ancestors are still central to the lives of Indigenous traditional owners, and age old skills such as patch burning remain integral to modern day land management.

SALTWATER (ESTUARINE) CROCODILES - A CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY

Crocodiles are a vital part of thefood chain, helpingto maintain the natural balance of wetland ecosystems. Between the 1940s and 1960s, when they were hunted for skins and sport, crocodiles came close to extinction. Populations have recovered since protection in 1971.This is crocodile country’-obey the crocodile warning signs!

STONE COUNTRY

With imposing sandstone walls up to 330 metres high, the Arnhem Plateau dominates the landscape for 500 kilometres. In the wet season, the plateau comes alive with cascading waterfalls as heavy rain tumbles through extensive networks of chasms and gorges. During the dry season, the plateau guards pockets of water in its crevices and cracks, keeping many plants and animals alive until the rains come again.

TIDAL FLATS AND COAST

The rain sweeps nutrient-rich soils down rivertothe expansive tidal mudflats and mangrove forests. Monitor lizards prey on flying foxes fallen from the trees, egrets and cormorants nest in the mangroves and gentle dugong (sea cows) feed on sea grass beds.

SOUTHERN HILLS AND RIDGES

The retreating Arnhem escarpment descends to hills and ridges in the south, exposing ancient volcanic rocks and a large variety of habitats. Here, the striking salmon gum sheds its white barkto reveal to glow a beautiful pink each year. Freshwater crocodiles live in the creeks and pools while the monsoon forests which line the cool, moist gorges are home to the brightly coloured hooded parrot, red goshawk, the endangered Gouldian finch, Calaby's mouse and the Kakadu dunnart.

SAVANNAH WOODLANDS AND LOWLANDS

The lowlands and woodlands with their eucalypts and tall grasses contain a greater variety of plants and animals than any other habitat in Australia's Timeless North. Dusk and dawn see the woodlands burst into a chorus of bird-songfrom red-collared lorikeets, red-winged parrots and sulphur-crested cockatoos. The evening brings the distinctive call of the barking owl, and small nocturnal mammals such asflyingfoxes, phascogales and bandicoots emerge to feed.