Mining has made changes to the landscape, but only one uranium mine (Ranger) remains. Mine operators are have to repair and replant the area when the mine closes. Some small scale logging took place in the early part of the 20th century, but little evidence of this remains. Tourism causes big changes to Kakadu National Park with hundreds of thousands of visitors arriving annually. Roads, tracks, signs, shelter, accommodation, telecommunications and other services must be provided to support this activity.
Fire is part of the landscape of Kakadu National Park. The Park has large areas of woodland and grassy plains that are subject to long periods of dry hot weather. The flora of the region has adapted to frequent fires. Fires in northern Australia are less threatening than in southern Australia as many of the trees are largely fire resistant while other plants simply grow back very quickly.
Controlled burning is practiced by the national park in consultation with traditional owners who have used fire as a land management tool for thousands of years. Fire is an important hunting tool for Aboriginal people using it to flush out prey. The other benefit is that once the fire has gone through an area the tender shoots of the fast regenerating grasses attract wallabies into a clearly defined area. Birds of prey such as Whistling Kites also rely on fire to flush out small animals and are usually found in large numbers circling a fire front. Other species such as white-throated grasswrens have declined because of too many fires. Aboriginal people understand that fire is necessary to ‘clean up’ the landscape and believe that many small fires are preferable to one large fire.
Kakadu National Park is a major tourist attraction in Australia’s north with more than 200,000 visitors a year. Kakadu’s dramatic landscape, Aboriginal cultural significance and diverse and abundant wildlife are what visitors come to see. There are many beautiful waterfalls and gorges within the Park that are popular with visitors such as Maguk, Gunlom, Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls.
Kakadu National Park has some of the best examples of Aboriginal rock art in Australia. The sites of Nourlangie and Ubirr are among the most visited locations in the Park. It is possible to view some of Kakadu’s diverse wildlife at places like Yellow Water Billabong, Cooinda on board a wildlife cruise or at Mamukala Wetlands or Anbangbang Billabong. The Kakadu region is one of the world’s best for bird watching as about 30% of Australia’s bird species can be seen here.
Large saltwater crocodiles are also common at Yellow Water and the East Alligator River. The Crocodile Dundee movies were made here. Visitors need to be careful around crocodiles as they have been responsible for a number of fatal attacks. Fishing is a popular activity inside Kakadu National Park. The main species is Barramundi and the most popular locations are Yellow Water, the South Alligator and the East Alligator River. Hunting is not allowed in Kakadu National Park.
There are several places to stay in the Park, mostly found in the town of Jabiru, as well as a range of services to cater to visitor’s needs. Visitors can experience Kakadu National Park with a recognised tour operator or they can drive themselves. Many of the Park’s sites are can be reached by standard two wheel drive vehicles, but areas like Twin and Jim Jim Falls and Gunlom require four wheel drive vehicles. Visitors can experience Kakadu National Park via the Nature’s Way tourism drive which is a loop from Darwin to Jabiru then onto Katherine and back to Darwin covering about 900 km.
The Park is proclaimed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) and is managed through a joint management arrangement between the Aboriginal traditional owners and the Director of National Parks. The Director manages Commonwealth national parks through Parks Australia, which is a part of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Title to Aboriginal land in the Park is held by Aboriginal land trusts. The land trusts have leased their land to the Director of National Parks for the purpose of a national park for the enjoyment and benefit of all Australians and international visitors. Traditional owners have also expected that having their land managed as a national park would assist them in looking after their land in the face of growing and competing pressures. They saw a national park as establishing a way to manage the land that could protect their interests and be sympathetic to their aspirations. Parks Australia and the Aboriginal traditional owners of Kakadu are committed to the principle of joint management of the Park and arrangements to help this happen are highlighted in Kakadu’s Plan of Management.
The EPBC Act provides for boards of management to be established for parks on Aboriginal land. The Kakadu Board of Management, which has an Aboriginal majority (ten out of fifteen members), representing the Aboriginal traditional owners of land in the Park, was established in 1989. The Board determines policy for managing the Park and is responsible, along with the Director, for preparing plans of management for the Park. The Plan of Management is the main policy document for the Park and strives to balance strategic or long-term goals and tactical or day to day goals.
Day to day management of Kakadu is carried out by people employed by Parks Australia, which is a branch of the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Approximately one-third of the staff in Kakadu are Aboriginal people.
Kakadu National Park brought in an entry fee in April 2010. Money raised will help manage the natural and cultural values of the park environment and improve visitor services.
Like many World Heritage sites around the world, including Yellowstone National Park, Serengeti National Park, Stonehenge, Pompeii and Herculaneum and the Pyramids of Giza - a park use fee will help maintain world-best management practices and facilities for the more than 200,000 visitors who experience Kakadu each year.
The $25 fee will apply to all interstate and international visitors aged 16 years and over. It can be used for 14 days. All Northern Territory residents and children under 16 have free entry.
Kakadu National Park is linked to Darwin by the Arnhem Highway and to Pine Creek and Katherine by the Kakadu Highway. Both roads are sealed all weather roads although may be cut off periodically during periods of heavy rain.
The town of Jabiru has several accommodation options, a service station, police, a medical clinic and a shopping centre with a range of outlets. The town was built for the Uranium mine that was established prior to the founding of Kakadu National Park and provides infrastructure for the mine’s workforce as well as the national park activities and tourism. Jabiru has a small airport from which scenic flights operate daily. There are no scheduled air services between Jabiru and Darwin however.
Other small tourism centres such as Cooinda and South Alligator provide limited facilities. Cooinda, 50 km south of Jabiru on the Kakadu Highway is the site of Gagudju Lodge Cooinda, Yellow Water Cruises and the Warradjan Cultural Centre. Fuel and limited provisions are available at Cooinda and there is also a small airstrip for scenic flights. South Alligator approximately 40 km west of Jabiru on the Arnhem Highway includes a hotel and service station. The Border Store near Ubirr Art Site and Cahills Crossing, 50 km north of Jabiru, is a general store.