World heritage

Kakadu is dual-listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its outstanding natural and cultural values.

People aren’t exaggerating when they refer to Kakadu as a world-class destination – only a few dozen sites around the globe appear on the World Heritage List for both their natural and cultural significance (and only four places in Australia).

The park is a living cultural landscape. Its archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of Aboriginal people over tens of thousands of years. Kakadu’s rock art documents Indigenous creation stories and makes up one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world.

Kakadu’s ancient Escarpment and Stone Country spans more than two billion years of geological history. It’s rivers and coastal floodplains are more dynamic environments, shaped by changing sea levels and big floods every tropical summer.

Kakadu National Park was first added to the World Heritage List in 1981, with further areas added in 1987, 1992 and 2011.