PILBARA STROMATOLITES NOMINATED FOR HERITAGE LISTING

Dr Martin Vab Kranendonk. Supplied: Martin Van Kranendonk.

A number of ancient rock formations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia have been nominated for National Heritage Listing.

The stromatolites are rock formations created by microorganisms hundreds of millions of years ago and are found in a few select locations around the world. 

The Pilbara stromatolites sit just west of Marble Bar and were nominated for the National Heritage Protection by University of New South Wales Professor of Geology Martin Van Kranendonk. 

Professor Van Kranendonk said he hoped the protection will enable greater collaboration with First Nations groups to protect the sites. 

“Our longer-term aim is to provide real protection, but also to open it up to the general public,” he said.

“And our dream is to develop a collaborative storytelling arrangement with the local Indigenous people, the Ngarmal, and have Indigenous rangers become the guardians of those sites.”

Listen to the full interview with Professor Van Kranendonk below: