Aborigines given back land: 06-08-2008
For the first time in three decades, Aborigines will be able to call Australia's largest area of tropical rainforest their own.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has handed back the 695 sq miles in the McIlwraith Range on behalf of the Australian government after 30 years of state rule.
The area is rich in wildlife and The Australian Conservation Foundation's Don Henry called it the "jewel in the crown" of Australia's protected areas.
"We're hoping at the end of the day that this is not only a great gift to all Australians, but it also provides a better future to the traditional owners," Henry told a local radio station.
Half of the country's butterflies and many endangered birds inhabit the area, which is home to only 18,000 humans.
Since the 1970s, the government, environmentalists and Aborigines have been at loggerheads over what should become of the land, but it now seems the issue is settled.