Kakadu

Declared in 1979 and extended in stages until 1991, Kakadu is one of the few places on the planet with a dual UNESCO World Heritage listing, for its natural and cultural values alike. The Bininj/Mungguy people have lived in the region continuously for more than 50,000 years, and their rock art sites — among the most extensive and best documented in the world — tell stories running from animals now extinct to the first contacts with European explorers, making up one of the longest continuous historical records of any people on the planet. In the 1990s, the proposal to mine the Jabiluka uranium deposit inside the park's boundaries set off intense international controversy between the Australian government and Aboriginal communities and conservation organisations, which finally stopped the project.