Warul Kawa Indigenous Protected Area facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Warul Kara Indigenous Protected AreaQueensland |
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Deliverance Island from the north, 2002
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 Warul Kara Indigenous Protected Area
Location in Queensland
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| Established | February 2001 |
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Native name:
Warul Kawa
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A map of the Torres Strait Islands showing Deliverance Island in the far north-western waters of Torres Strait
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| Geography | |
| Location | Northern Australia |
| Archipelago | Torres Strait Islands |
| Adjacent bodies of water | |
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| State | Queensland |
Warul Kawa Indigenous Protected Area is a special place in Australia. It is also known as Deliverance Island. This small island is part of Australia's National Reserve System. It helps protect important natural and cultural areas.
Warul Kawa is located about 34 kilometers (21 miles) south of Papua New Guinea. It is also around 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Thursday Island, Torres Strait. This makes it the most north-westerly island in the Torres Strait Islands. The island is part of Queensland, Australia. It is also about 74 kilometers (46 miles) from Indonesia.
Contents
Island Environment and Wildlife
Warul Kawa is a sand cay. This means it is a small, low island made of sand. It has a shallow reef platform around it. This platform has sandy areas and not much live coral.
Plants and Sea Life
The rocky parts of the island are mostly covered in brown and green algae. Some seagrass also grows there. The island and its surrounding reef are very important for sea turtles.
Sea Turtle Reproduction
Warul Kawa is one of the biggest nesting sites for the Flatback turtle (Natator depressus). Many of these turtles come here to lay their eggs. The shallow waters nearby also support many migrating green turtles. The breeding areas in northern and eastern Australia are the largest remaining places for green turtles to nest.
Protecting Nature
The island and its reef system have stayed very natural. This is because they are far away from big cities. Even though people have lived on Warul Kawa in the past, they did not harm the environment much. Only two types of non-native plants have been found here. The island has many different kinds of plants. These plants provide homes for 33 different types of birds. One special bird is the yellow-footed scrubfowl. This bird is not often seen on other Torres Strait Islands.
Cultural Importance
Warul Kawa is very important to the local Indigenous people. It has a lot of spiritual and cultural meaning for them. Because of this, Deliverance Island was named an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in February 2001. The local Indigenous name for the island is Warul Kawa. In the Torres Strait Island language, this name means "Island of turtles."
A Hermit's Home
A man known as German Harry once lived on the island. His real name was Johannes Henrik Enevoldsen. He was a Danish sailor. He lived alone on the island as a hermit from about 1888 until he passed away in 1928. He was a character in a book called Cosmopolitans by Somerset Maugham.
