Purnululu National Park is one of the most geologically interesting parks in Western Australia, a true open-air museum. In 1987, the park, which covers 240,000 hectares on the Kimberley Plateau, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The nature of these places is truly pristine and untouched - the nearest settlement is 250 kilometres from the park.
Purnululu means "sandstone" in the Kia Aboriginal language.The park is sometimes called Bungle Bungle after the mountain range of the same name, which is entirely within the park.
The topography of the park is very diverse, including the 45,000 ha Bangle-Bangle mountain range already mentioned above, vast sandy plains, grassy lowlands in the Ord River valley, and limestone cliffs in the west and east of the park.
The main attraction of Purnululu Park is the rock formations of the Bangle-Bangle Range, which have acquired the shape of beehives as a result of erosion processes over 20 million years. These "beehives" have an interesting structure - bright orange sandstone alternates with dark bands several metres wide. The bright orange colour is given to them by iron and manganese oxides.
The arid climate has caused the formation of two ecosystems here - northern tropical savannahs and mainland arid deserts. The park's flora is represented by sparse woodlands and grasslands with numerous eucalyptus, acacia and grevillea trees. A total of 653 plant species are found here, 13 of which are relicts. The fauna is more species-poor, with 41 species of mammals, 81 species of reptiles, 15 species of fish and 149 species of birds.
The territory of the park was of great economic and cultural importance to aboriginal tribes - about 200 rock paintings of ancient people and burials have been found here. But Europeans, due to the arid climate and inhospitable natural conditions, avoided these places. The first cattle breeders appeared here only at the end of the 19th century, and the amazing mountain formations of the Bang Bangl Range were first discovered for the world only in 1982!
