One of the Northern Territory’s largest national parks has been formally declared.
The Limmen National Park and the adjacent Limmen Bight Marine Park, 300 kilometres south-east of Katherine, cover an area spanning more than one million hectares in the Gulf of Carpenteria region. Limmen is home to majestic sandstone formations known as Lost Cities, and also contains beautiful beaches, waterways and rock art sites.
When the park was created, the government excised several parts of the proposed area that was rich in iron ore from the plans … a move criticised by some environmental campaigners. Western Desert Resources Ltd is well progressed in its iron ore mining plans.
NT Environment Minister Karl Hampton was delighted that the new national park had been declared after a long and difficult negotiation process. “It (Limmen) has been one of the sleeping giants of the Northern Territory in terms of economic and environmental issues,” Mr Hampton said. “That sleeping giant is well awake, and we have got a world class national park, a marine park as well.”
