Riversleigh section of the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites World Heritage integrity
Key Finding
The Riversleigh section of the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites is representative of the fossil deposits considered adequate to maintain its Outstanding Universal Value.
The Riversleigh section is 10,000 hectares and sits within Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park (30,000 hectares). While the majority of known fossil deposits occur within the World Heritage boundary, palaeontological exploration activities to extract fossils are carried out under scientific permit within both the World Heritage and national park boundary.
Fossil representativeness of the site is judged as adequate.
Threats to the integrity of Riversleigh’s fossil deposits through the removal of fossil material for analysis is low. The extent to which the fossil resource is affected by palaeontological excavation in Riversleigh was less than 1% at the time of inscription and remains less than 1% currently.
Palaeontological studies are critical for the identification, presentation and transmission of the World Heritage values of the property to future generations.
To retain the integrity of the original site as much as possible, extracted fossils should not be widely dispersed. Legislation supports conditions on scientific permits that require the holder to record the location and regulate the removal of fossil material from Riversleigh. Compliance with the conditions is supported by legislation.
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