The Australian Conservation Foundation has called on the Queensland Government to continue the process of returning land on Cape York to Traditional Owners.

Speaking at the Queensland Parliament’s inquiry into the future and continued relevance of government land tenure across Queensland, ACF’s acting Northern Australia Program Manager, Andrew Picone, said it was important that the government not lose sight of the reason national parks are declared in the first place.

“Queensland’s parks legislation is clear that the main purpose of national parks is to preserve an area’s natural condition and protect its cultural resources and values,” Mr Picone said.

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“We urge the government to continue to respect this primary purpose for our parks.

“The State’s current program of returning state land, including national parks and selected pastoral leases on Cape York Peninsula, to Aboriginal ownership is consistent with this purpose and we urge the state government to continue with it.”

Close to two million hectares of land has been returned to Aboriginal ownership including more than a million hectares of existing national parks and around 300,000 hectares of new conservation reserves.  Nearly 700,000 hectares has been returned as Aboriginal freehold for economic purposes.