Rock Art Conservation and Management: 21st Century Perspectives from Northern Australia

Protection of what is arguably one of our nation's greatest assets - the imagery, stories and places associated with this country's First Nations rock art - is one of the considerable challenges facing Traditional Owners, rock art researchers and heritage practitioners today. The protection of many rock art sites is at a crisis point due to massive global changes which include: population increases and associated expansion to isolated places; elevating resource requirements in mining, agriculture and urban development sectors; Internet information exchange; and, environmental pressures linked to climate change. Diverse challenges to look after this precious resource are presenting in ways not previously experienced or predicted. Key research questions initially posed and investigated through this research related to: the identification of contemporary pressures on rock art sites and managers; examining the varying human motivations to protect and preserve cultural heritage; as well as, what was historically, is, and ideally should be, the role of archaeology in the conservation of sites. Consideration was also given to the identification of actual and perceived negative impacts at sites; methods to manage these, assisting with long-term preservation and protection programs; and mechanisms required to support all stakeholders in their efforts. Interestingly, what emerged during the course of the research was the importance first and foremost of identifying whose responsibility it is to determine, monitor, maintain and manage conservation activities. Should this be Indigenous communities themselves, or conservation scientists and heritage practitioners, or alternatively the governments and heritage bodies responsible for 'safe-keeping for humanity' this global treasure that we know as 'rock art'? Sites for this investigation were chosen across Northern Australia and included Kakadu National Park, Mirarr Country in the Jabiluka Lease Area, in and around the community of Gunbalanya in Arnhem Land, as well as the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Research involved Traditional Owners and Custodians in the relevant communities alongside Aboriginal Ranger teams and Land Councils; as well as consultation with additional organisations, such as Park authorities, mining companies and local communities. Data was collected during an intensive three-year period (2012-2014) and included the compilation of site histories, the identification of detrimental impacts, and suggested maintenance and mitigation strategies. Monitoring regimes and maintenance activities were established at the majority of locations and these continue to be reviewed annually or bi-annually till today (2020). Conservation management plans were produced for nineteen sites, primarily those visited by tourists. Central to the research paradigm interwoven through this thesis, is the decolonisation of conservation and management practices through collaborative methods. Inherently, this involved approaches with foundations in cultural knowledges embedded with Indigenous methodologies and archaeologies, ethnoarchaeologies and anthropological landscape studies, and cultural resource management with the overarching support of conservation science. Best practice standards and cases were investigated, including baseline data from 40 years of scientific intervention. This research, combined with data collected and based around the shifting decolonising paradigm articulated throughout, provides a pathway for the future co-created, co-designed and collaborative development of a national framework to guide governments and practitioners into the future. The culmination of this research is a series of detailed and appropriate strategies exemplifying best practice for the ongoing protection, conservation and, where necessary, management of rock art sites across Australia