The lands and seas of tropical northern Australia, encompassing Cape York Peninsula, the Gulf region, the Top End and the Kimberley, are universally recognised for their natural and cultural heritage significance.

Northern Australia is an ancient land shaped by the seasonal extremes of the wet and the dry and managed for millennia by its traditional owners. It is Aboriginal country and connections to it remain strong.

Northern Australia has been spared the worst impacts of land clearing and overdevelopment. Its diverse land and sea environs remain interconnected and largely intact. However, this fragile and complex environment is facing increasing development pressures and urgent conservation challenges.

The protection and management of the region requires a consistent and coordinated approach across the north.

In Northern Australia we have an opportunity to apply what we have learned form the experiences of land management in southern Australia. It is the responsibility of all Australians to follow a path of development that will ensure a diverse, prosperous, sustainable and equitable future for the region.

Future development must allow for the protection and good management of the land and seas, irrespective of tenure. It will require the restoration and maintenance of the natural integrity of the environment.

This is a challenging and long term task. To achieve it we must reform our decision-making and land and sea management processes.

This vision for healthy communities and healthy country will only be realized with the knowledge, participation and commitment of local people and the support of the wider Australian public.