Indigenous Protected Areas Now Cover 15% of Australia and More Than Half Its Reserve System

Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are areas of land or sea Country that Traditional Owners voluntarily dedicate to protecting nature and cultural values. Once dedicated, an IPA becomes part of Australia's National Reserve System, the country's network of protected areas. Indigenous rangers manage these areas by tackling invasive species, carrying out cultural burning and other conservation work. The first IPA, Nantawarrina, was declared in 1998 on a former pastoral station in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, where the Nipapanha people restored land that had been heavily degraded.

There are now 96 IPAs across Australia, spanning 113 million hectares (279 million acres), almost 15% of the continent, while marine IPAs cover a further 9.3 million hectares (23 million acres), about 1.1% of Australia's marine estate. IPAs now make up more than 55% of the land protected in the National Reserve System, and their growth has outstripped that of other types of conservation land. In July, 4.7 million hectares (11.6 million acres) of the Simpson Desert was dedicated as the newest IPA, the Pmere Atherre Antenterreme IPA.

Growth has accelerated since 2022, when the Australian government signed an international pledge to protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030. Across all types of protection, both government and non-government, 25% of Australia's land is now protected, and 24% of its seas are highly protected 'no-take' areas where fishing is banned. Ranger teams, whose numbers began growing after dedicated federal funding became available in 2007, combine traditional knowledge with technologies such as drones, satellite imagery and environmental DNA to monitor how Country is changing.

IPAs with ranger programs receive just over A$1 per hectare in government funding, compared with national park funding that ranges from around $16 per hectare in Queensland to $58 per hectare in New South Wales.