National Heritage assessment announcement for Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo: Warmly welcomed by conservationists

• Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has asked the Australian Heritage Council to assess Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo for inclusion on the National Heritage List.
• Decision to formally assess Exmouth Gulf warmly welcomed by conservationists.
• Approval would see Exmouth Gulf finally join a list of places of outstanding significance to the nation.
• The assessment is in response to a joint nomination by Nyinggulu Traditional Owners and Protect Ningaloo-Australian Marine Conservation Society to help safeguard the significant environmental and cultural values of Exmouth Gulf.

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has accepted a nomination to have Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo included on the National Heritage List and has requested the Australian Heritage Council assess the Gulf to determine if it should be added to the list of places of outstanding significance to the nation.
Environmental organisation, Protect Ningaloo – Australian Marine Conservation Society, and Traditional Owner body, Nganhurra Thanardi Garrbu Aboriginal Corporation (NTGAC), jointly nominated Exmouth Gulf to the Council. Nearly 15,000 people also signed emails calling on the Environment Minister to support National Heritage listing for Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo, one of the world’s most important remaining marine and coastal wildlife refuges.
Inclusion on the National Heritage List would be formal recognition of Exmouth Gulf’s national environmental and cultural significance, and would be an important step on its pathway to conservation. National Heritage listing would complement the WA Government’s commitment, made in September 2025, to create a marine park for the whole of Exmouth Gulf. The WA Government’s Exmouth Gulf Taskforce also recommended National Heritage assessment be advanced for the Gulf.
Australian Marine Conservation Society CEO (and Protect Ningaloo Director) Paul Gamblin said news that the Gulf would be considered for National Heritage listing is very welcome: “National Heritage recognition of Exmouth Gulf would be historic and we commend the Minister and the Australian Heritage Council for beginning this process. This assessment is long overdue recognition of Exmouth Gulf’s national and indeed world heritage values, and its crucial role in the Ningaloo ecosystem.” Mr Gamblin said.
Exmouth Gulf is renowned for its resting humpback whale mothers and calves, dugongs, dolphins, rare sawfish, corals, sponge gardens, and more, and it forms a crucial part of Ningaloo’s famed nature-based tourism economy.
Protect Ningaloo-AMCS, in alliance with the Cape Conservation Group, Exmouth, worked closely with Nyinggulu Traditional Owners on this joint nomination. Exmouth Gulf has significant cultural heritage importance for the Traditional Owners – the Baiyungu and Yinnigurrura people – as a site of spiritual meaning and practice for millennia.

The National Heritage Council is currently inviting public comment, which will be followed by consultation with relevant parties.

Image: Blue Media Exmouth

WA Government commitments for Exmouth Gulf marine park welcomed by Australian Marine Conservation Society – Protect Ningaloo 

• Protect Ningaloo welcomes WA Government’s commitment to create a marine park with high levels of protection across the whole of Exmouth Gulf that will be jointly managed with Traditional Owners.
• The Government has responded to Exmouth Gulf Taskforce recommendations with long-awaited measures that prioritise conservation.
  Protect Ningaloo now calls on Government to act with urgency on these commitments, as the region faces increasing stress from severe marine heatwaves and proposed industrial development.
• The Australian Marine Conservation Society, Protect Ningaloo campaign has welcomed the Western Australian Government’s announcement that it will create a marine park across the whole of Exmouth Gulf – one of Australia’s natural wonders – to protect it for future generations.

The commitment is a key part of the Government’s response to recommendations from the Exmouth Gulf Taskforce on the future protection and management of Exmouth Gulf. The Taskforce was established following the WA Environmental Protection Authority’s landmark assessment in 2021 that the Gulf needed conservation measures as a priority. The Taskforce made a number of key recommendations designed to safeguard the natural and cultural values of this globally significant environment, which also has strong ecological linkages to Ningaloo Reef.

Paul Gamblin, CEO of Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and Director of Protect Ningaloo was a member of the Exmouth Gulf Taskforce and advocated for urgent protection for the whole of Exmouth Gulf, which is renowned for its resting humpback whale mothers and calves, dugongs, dolphins, rare sawfish, corals, sponge gardens, and more. Exmouth Gulf forms a crucial part of Ningaloo’s famed nature-based tourism economy.

“We strongly support this announcement and look forward to the establishment of a marine park that will be jointly managed with Nyinggulu Traditional Owners. We know the broad community in Exmouth and across WA will enthusiastically welcome the creation of a marine park across Exmouth Gulf and feel the same sense of deep pride in it as it does with the Ningaloo Marine Park.

“AMCS Protect Ningaloo has called for a whole-of-Gulf marine park for some years, and the need for a marine park is even more urgent following the devastating impacts from the 2024-25 severe marine heatwave on the Gulf’s corals and seagrass meadows. Marine conservation in an accelerating climate emergency requires serious efforts both to reduce carbon emissions and to manage direct pressures, to build resilience. We commend the government for setting a minimum level of 30% fully protected areas in the new marine park, which is now the global standard,” Mr Gamblin said.

The WA Government has also previously committed to establishing Class A reserves at Qualing Pool, right next to the site of a proposed industrial port, and other key areas. AMCS Protect Ningaloo now calls for the Government to act with urgency on all these commitments to end the decade of uncertainty from the threat of successive industrial proposals, including the current port proposal.

Protect Ningaloo is also pleased that the Government has indicated support for other key Taskforce recommendations, including supporting national and world heritage listing assessments, and other complementary protection mechanisms to improve integrated protection of the Gulf.

Protect Ningaloo strongly supports resourcing Traditional Owners represented by the Nganhurra Thanardi Garrbu Aboriginal Corporation (NTGAC) to be empowered and have capacity to fulfill their aspirations to care for this special land and sea Country.

“We hope today’s strong commitment to Exmouth Gulf’s protection is also a signal that the WA Government will begin to steer a conservation-oriented approach in this term of government. The community at large identifies strongly with the natural environment and is calling for urgent action. Premier Roger Cook has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to demonstrate how WA can lead the nation and the world by showing how genuine conservation efforts, strong nature laws and real action on climate can underpin a resilient, future-focused economy that serves the community,” said Mr Gamblin.

• Plans for a massive industrial saltworks at Exmouth Gulf-Ningaloo have been withdrawn by the German corporation, K+S.
• Protect Ningaloo – AMCS has led a widely supported campaign against the saltworks that would have damaged a nationally-listed wetland and disrupted nutrient flows into Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo’s nursery.
• Governments must act to ensure Exmouth Gulf is protected from future industrial projects.

The German multinational corporation behind a massive saltworks planned for the eastern side of Exmouth Gulf in a wetland of national importance, today announced it has cancelled plans for the project.
Protect Ningaloo, the campaign to save Exmouth Gulf, led the widespread opposition to the project which would have damaged an area 52 times the size of Perth’s Kings Park, risking harm to a fragile ecosystem that supports a diversity of marine life including critically endangered species.
Paul Gamblin, CEO of the Australian Marine Conservation Society said, “This has been a hard-fought, gruelling campaign over many years. To say we’re relieved at this news would be a huge understatement. This is a major win for Exmouth Gulf – one of Australia’s natural wonders and a place of international importance.”
“To the scientists, the film makers, the submission-writers, the volunteer campaigners and key supporters who have hung in there for the long haul, and to everyone who saw a better way for this vital part of the Exmouth Gulf-Ningaloo ecosystem, we hope you cherish this moment!”
“K+S has done the right thing by withdrawing its saltworks project. Exmouth Gulf is obviously no place for industrial development. The WA and federal governments must now move swiftly to protect Exmouth Gulf for all time. The era of one industrial proposal after another threatening Exmouth Gulf – an oil and gas pipeline facility, the saltworks, a port and dredging operation – all causing deep concern in the community, must now come to an end.”
Denise Fitch, Chair of the Exmouth-based Cape Conservation Group said, “The Ningaloo community is ecstatic about this news, and CCG welcomes this decision which marks the end of a nine-year struggle. This is a victory for people power, a victory for science and a victory for Exmouth Gulf. Now it’s time for the government to step up and protect the Gulf properly, once and for all.
Protect Ningaloo campaigned against the project in Australia and Germany. Over 17,000 people sent email letters to WA’s environment minister expressing opposition to the project, while billboards and social media campaigns in Germany called on K+S to withdraw the project. The campaign also undertook detailed scientifically-informed analysis to scrutinise the proponent’s proposal during the environmental assessment process.

• Some of Ningaloo’s most iconic sites, including Turquoise Bay, Coral Bay, Tantabiddi and Bundegi (Exmouth Gulf), have been bleached from a vast underwater heatwave
• Marine heatwave causing mass destruction as it moves down WA coast, killing tens of thousands of fish on Pilbara coast and now bleaching iconic Ningaloo
• Governments must inform the public how it will deal with Ningaloo bleaching, marine heatwave and climate change
• Divers have collected footage of widespread coral bleaching at Ningaloo

Western Australia’s iconic Ningaloo Reef is being hit by widespread coral bleaching and demands the strongest response from government, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said today.

Australian Marine Conservation Society WA Director Paul Gamblin said: “This is heartbreaking for all of us who love Ningaloo. To see beautiful coral reefs bleaching white at Ningaloo icons, including Turquoise Bay, Coral Bay and Bundegi, is just devastating.

“Bleaching at Ningaloo is not normal. It demands urgent action from government, not business as usual. Large areas of coral could die in the weeks ahead. This is a red-alert moment for Ningaloo.

“This marine heatwave is like an underwater bushfire raging along Western Australia’s coast killing tens of thousands of fish that washed up on Pilbara beaches and now it’s cooking Ningaloo, the jewel in the crown.

“We called for the WA government to address this destructive marine heatwave weeks ago after the fish kill, and there has been silence at the ministerial level. Surely now that there is such widespread bleaching at Ningaloo, someone in government will step up.

“We know that many people in Exmouth are distressed by what they are witnessing, and they need and deserve a clear response from government. It’s also a stark reminder that coastal communities and their businesses, including the fishing industry and Ningaloo’s world-renowned tourism industry, rely on a healthy marine environment, and climate change poses an existential threat to them.

“In addition to Ningaloo, we also need to urgently know the status of bleaching at WA’s spectacular offshore coral reefs, including Scott Reef and the Rowley Shoals.

“It’s time we listened to our scientists who have been warning for decades that climate change would threaten Ningaloo as it already has the Great Barrier Reef and many other coral reefs around the world. WA’s spectacular coast, so core to our identity and economy, is clearly not immune to the destructive impacts of climate change.

“Governments should be reducing pressure on our stressed marine environment, not piling it on. They should not even be contemplating industrial development at special places such as Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo, and oil and gas drilling at Scott Reef.”

IMAGE:  Brooke Pyke Photography

• Government postpones essential marine park protection for wider Exmouth Gulf
• Large area that’s important for whales, dugongs, corals and sponge gardens remains unprotected, subject to further undefined considerations 
• Traditional Owners show leadership by advancing Indigenous Land Use Agreement to support land and sea Country in the southern and eastern Exmouth Gulf 

The Western Australian Government has postponed the creation of a marine park across Exmouth Gulf until the next term of government, despite the advice of its own Exmouth Gulf Taskforce last September, which was only revealed in its interim report released today. Environment Minister Reece Whitby had asked the taskforce to provide interim advice on a secure marine reserve over the wider gulf. 

This unfortunate news was buried in a press release celebrating the welcome news of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement for key marine and wetland areas of Exmouth Gulf – Ningaloo’s nursery. 

Protect Ningaloo Director Paul Gamblin said: “We applaud the leadership of the Nyinggulu Traditional Owners who have forged an agreement with the government to progress conservation in some important marine and land areas of Exmouth Gulf and Nyinggulu. This is an exciting and important agreement and we look forward to supporting it in future.

“It is most unfortunate that in the same announcement of positive news for Exmouth Gulf, Environment Minister Reece Whitby also announced that the Cook government will postpone the creation of a multiple-use marine park across the whole of Exmouth Gulf, despite the interim recommendation from the government’s own Exmouth Gulf Taskforce. The government has previously announced the creation of a smaller marine park in Exmouth Gulf, but today’s decision to postpone a marine park across the whole gulf defies scientific advice and broad community expectations. 

“We do not believe there is any justification for the Cook government to further postpone a marine park in the western gulf, which is decades overdue. The western gulf is renowned for its resting humpback whale mothers and calves, dugongs, dolphins, corals, sponge gardens and so much more. This area forms a crucial part of Ningaloo’s famed nature-based tourism economy.

“Exmouth Gulf – Ningaloo’s nursery – urgently needs protection and certainty. The area has been beset by years of community stress from the threat of numerous industrial proposals, including a controversial port and a giant saltworks. Today’s announcement that whole-of-gulf marine protection will be postponed only deepens the uncertainty. 

“Many thousands of Australians have urged the government to protect the gulf. The broad community expects the government to show leadership and follow through on the Environment Protection Authority’s original advice to protect this magnificent area that supports a healthy nature-based economy.”

Image: Blue Media Exmouth

• Billboards have popped up all over Kassel, Germany, asking K+S to drop saltworks
• The ‘postcard’ billboard shows iconic Exmouth Gulf animals – a dugong and a turtle –
  asking K+S to stop plans to damage their home

Protect Ningaloo has taken the fight to save Exmouth Gulf – Ningaloo’s nursery – from
industrialisation to the doorstep of the German-based multinational that’s planning a huge
saltworks over nationally listed wetlands on the shores of the Western Australian gulf.
Billboards opposing the development have appeared all over the German city of Kassel,
headquarters for K+S, the corporation behind the project. K+S is seeking environmental approval
to develop the saltworks that would cover about 210 square kilometres and require extensive land
clearing and construction. That’s an area about 52 times the size of Perth’s Kings Park or nearly
12,000 MCG ovals.

The billboards feature a postcard saying “Greetings from Australia” with a post-it note attached
urging K+S to stop its plans for the massive saltworks in Exmouth Gulf-Ningaloo before it damages
this special place forever. (See image)

Australian Marine Conservation Society Protect Ningaloo Campaign Director Paul Gamblin says
the billboard campaign aims to persuade K+S executives to be responsible global citizens and
reconsider the project because of the damage it would cause to an area of outstanding
conservation value. Exmouth Gulf is a vital part of the nearby Ningaloo Reef ecosystem, with
UNESCO recommending Exmouth Gulf be considered for inclusion in the World Heritage-listed
Ningaloo Coast.

“K+S needs to understand that Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf is loved by people all over the world,
including many German tourists, who have been visiting it for decades,” Mr Gamblin said. “We call
on K+S executives to do the right thing and show what it means to be a responsible global citizen
in 2024.

“We want the executive and employees of K+S in Kassel to understand the deep concern in
Australia for this massive industrial project and for K+S to not proceed any further with it.
“More than 15,000 people have already emailed WA Environment Minister Reece Whitby saying
they are opposed to K+S’s proposal. Another 14,000 people have emailed Federal Environment
Minister Tanya Plibersek calling for Exmouth Gulf to be granted National Heritage protection.
Controversy is building around this proposal and it’s important for K+S leadership in Germany to
be accountable.”

The WA Government has committed to strengthening environmental protection for Exmouth Gulf,
including a marine park adjacent to the proposed saltworks, and it is hoped this prospect will also
deter K+S from proceeding with the project.

• Exmouth Gulf is renowned sanctuary for threatened species such as sawfish, dugongs and turtles, as well as mangroves, seagrasses, corals and sponges
• Saltworks is massive in scale, equivalent to 52 of Perth’s Kings Park 
• Saltworks at odds with WA Government’s plans to protect Exmouth Gulf

German industrial company K+S has lodged its plans to build a giant saltworks on the shores of the renowned Exmouth Gulf, a crucial part of the adjacent World Heritage-listed Ningaloo ecosystem, the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Protect Ningaloo campaign said today as the company released its Environmental Review Documents.

The proposed saltworks could undermine the Western Australian Government’s plans to protect the Gulf, a sanctuary for threatened species such as sawfish, dugongs and turtles, following a recommendation from the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). In December 2021, the WA Government announced it would create new protected areas for Exmouth Gulf, but these would be sorely compromised by a saltworks that risks vital components of the environment that the government is seeking to protect.

Protect Ningaloo Director Paul Gamblin said: “It’s clear that industrial proponents are swimming against the tide of both scientific and public opinion for Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo. The ‘Wild West’, proponent-driven era in the region was brought to an end in 2021 when the WA Government sent a strong signal that Exmouth Gulf needs to be protected. Unfortunately, it seems that German industrial company K+S has missed the memo and is seeking approval for its mega salt project before the new Exmouth Gulf protection plan has even left the starting blocks.”

The salt project is proposed to be constructed over a nationally listed wetland, one of the last undisturbed arid-zone wetland ecosystems along the coast. This wetland provides critical habitat and underpins biological productivity in the Gulf, supporting many threatened species found in the area, including sawfish, turtles, dugongs, shovelnose rays and migratory shorebirds.

Salt pond walls many kilometres long risk disrupting nutrient delivery via tidal or floodwaters into the Gulf and impacting this vital marine food chain. There is also the risk of discharge of toxic hypersaline water from the salt ponds that could kill highly sensitive mangroves and harm marine animals, such as critically endangered sawfish and shovelnose rays, living in the nearby creeks and marine waters.

The giant salt project’s impacts are potentially so serious and far-reaching for threatened species and important habitats – already under pressure from climate change – that it will be assessed by both the WA Environmental Protection Authority and the Australian Government at the highest level possible.

Mr Gamblin said: “The right thing for K+S to do would be to withdraw its project for the good of the Exmouth Gulf ecosystem and its long list of threatened species, but instead the community now has to dig deep once again and fight a project that shouldn’t have left the drawing board.

“A similar salt project earmarked for an area just south of the K+S proposal was rejected by the EPA nearly 15 years ago due to its likely impacts and risks to the environment. The recognition of Exmouth Gulf’s importance has only grown sharply since then so if the case to protect the Gulf from industrial salt production was strong back then, it’s emphatic now.

“There is an alternative, positive future for Exmouth Gulf with many new opportunities to protect its globally significant natural and cultural heritage and the jobs it supports, and to enhance economic resilience through sustainable, nature-based economic activity. Tourism is Exmouth’s biggest industry, which could be enhanced by well-managed eco-tourism ventures, Aboriginal land and sea joint management, cultural tourism and interpretation, marine science, educational tourism and blue carbon management.”

The idyllic Exmouth Gulf has as much spectacular marine life as its more famous neighbour Ningaloo Reef, and is often referred to as Ningaloo’s nursery.

The Gulf is a globally significant humpback whale nursery, serving as a waystation to humpback mothers with young calves looking to rest and fatten up in preparation for the long trip to the Antarctic. It also boasts dugongs, dolphins, orcas and rare marine species that inhabit the relatively undeveloped area.

Exmouth Gulf has about 800 species of fish and 831 species of molluscs. It has at least 63 species of sharks and rays and at least 15 species of sea snakes, some critically endangered, but there could be many more – the sharks, rays and reptiles are big knowledge gaps.

Paul Gamblin, Director of Protect Ningaloo, said, “We welcome this announcement by Minister Whitby, and the strong signal it sends that the future of Exmouth Gulf and its economy must be based on protecting the environment rather than threatening it with industrial development. The establishment of the Exmouth Gulf Taskforce is an implicit acknowledgment by Government that the area needs much greater conservation attention, consistent with the EPA’s advice.”

“The Exmouth Gulf Taskforce must take full advantage of this important opportunity to provide a clear conservation direction and long-awaited certainty for the Gulf, which has been buffeted by one major industrial proposal after another in recent years, causing a great deal of concern across the broad community in Exmouth and WA. It’s time to clear the decks forever of industrial threats like the controversial port and a massive salt operation, and instead, support investment in low impact economic activity like ecotourism, cultural tourism, marine science and education.”

“In parallel with the new Taskforce, the McGowan Government’s top priority for Exmouth Gulf must be to follow through quickly on its commitment in December 2021 to protect high priority places like the Qualing Pool precinct and the Eastern Gulf, both at risk from industrial development. A boost in funding from last week’s budget must see this crucial, overdue work accelerated.”

“These are important first steps, however, we also need to see the Government follow up with the protection of other globally significant values of Exmouth Gulf, including the Wetland of National Importance on the eastern side of the Gulf,” said Mr Gamblin.

Minister Whitby and the Minister for Fisheries, Don Punch, also confirmed funding for the creation of a marine park in Exmouth Gulf over the next two years.

“We’re pleased to see the Government allocate new funding for this process which includes essential support for Traditional Owners to fully engage in the joint planning and management of the new marine park.”

“We know there is strong support in the community for marine parks and we must ensure the areas that should be protected in the Gulf are informed by the best available science and the knowledge of people who understand the area and its incredible wildlife and habitats,” said Mr Gamblin.

Notes to editors

The EPA report on Exmouth Gulf delivered in 2021 can be found here. Its recommendations on a ‘coordinating body’ are at Section 3.3 page 36-37. See the EPA’s public statement on the McGowan Government’s response to its recommendations on 3-12-21.

Feature Image: Blue Media Exmouth

Ocean and meteorological scientific agencies in Australia and the United States have issued alerts about higher than normal sea surface temperatures which will likely persist for weeks and move south along the WA coast, potentially bleaching corals at Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo, Shark Bay, the Abrolhos Islands and beyond.

Paul Gamblin, Director of Protect Ningaloo, said: “Seeing footage of coral bleaching in the Ningaloo Marine Park is distressing for all of us who know this area to be one of the most inspiring and magnificent natural wonders in the world. Images of corals bleached white because of the stress they are enduring from overheated water is not something we ever want to witness in Western Australia.”

“These images of coral bleaching at Ningaloo, alongside yet another tragic mass bleaching event at the Great Barrier Reef this year, shows emphatically that we’re not doing enough to shift from burning dirty fossil fuels which primarily drives these events. Every photograph of bleached corals must be a reminder that we have barely begun to make the necessary transition to clean renewable energy and is a clear rebuttal to any claim to the contrary or to any sense of complacency.”

Marine scientists have been warning for many years that climate change will damage coral reefs, including in Western Australia. The ocean has absorbed most of the planet’s heat energy in recent decades and scientists predict that coral bleaching events will become more common. Corals can recover from bleaching if hot water dissipates quickly but repeated bleaching events, such as those predicted for the WA coast or currently occurring at the Great Barrier Reef, can cause long term damage over large areas.

“It’s too early to tell what the long-term impacts will be from this current bleaching event at Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf but scientists have warned that global heating means our reefs will bleach at greater scale and more often in the next few decades. These alarming images and scientists’ predictions must wake us up to the harm we’re causing to our most treasured places. Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf is not only a natural wonder but generates considerable economic returns and supports many family businesses and jobs,” Mr Gamblin added.

“It’s also a reminder of the considerable stress that our marine environment and coastal areas are increasingly enduring and should change how governments and all sectors consider places like Ningaloo and Exmouth Gulf. Our most productive marine natural assets like seagrass, mangroves and corals are already under pressure and we need them to be in top health to withstand the ravages of global heating. Every decision must be measured against the benchmark of whether it will increase or decrease pressure on these fragile places.”

Image: Blue Media Exmouth