A proposed world heritage listing for Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula will strengthen the protection of ancient rock art, the environment minister says.
The federal government has formally nominated the Murujuga Cultural Landscape for inscription on UNESCO's world heritage list.
It advances a formal nomination process which began in 2020 when the site was put forward for a tentative listing.
Murujuga is among the world's most significant rock art sites with up to two million petroglyphs.
It contains evidence of continuous traditional culture over at least 50,000 years.
Traditional custodians have campaigned against industrialisation which threatens the preservation of the petroglyphs.
They believe the world heritage nomination is incompatible with state and federal governments continuing to support development of major projects on the peninsula.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says a proposed world heritage boundary of almost 100,000 hectares of land and sea has been negotiated.
"Murujuga is a natural wonder of the world - a place for all Australians to reflect on years of continuous living culture," she said on Friday.
"Our government is strongly committed to working with traditional owners and custodians to properly protect the history of the oldest living civilisation in the world."
Ms Plibersek last year appointed an independent report to conduct a cultural heritage assessment of all industry on the Burrup Peninsula.
She rejected an application by the Save our Songlines group for work to be paused on Perdaman's proposed $4.3 billion urea plant near Karratha.
Perdaman has said the project is being thoroughly assessed and will have minimal impact on rock art.
A program monitoring the health of the petroglyphs is being developed by the WA government and the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation.
Chief executive Peter Jeffries said the corporation was proud to have led the preparation of the world heritage nomination.
"We see inscription on the world heritage list as a mechanism to support what we have always done - share knowledge, protect our sacred places and ensure that we are in the best position to respond to the needs of country," Mr Jeffries said.
Other industry in the area includes Woodside's North West Shelf and Pluto LNG plants and an ammonia plant owned by Norwegian company Yara.
Mardudhunera woman and Save our Songlines spokeswoman Raelene Cooper renewed calls for the minister to pause development on the peninsula.
"If the government is serious about securing world heritage status for Murujuga, the minister must make a Section 10 declaration to protect it from expanding industry at the Burrup Hub," Ms Cooper said.
UNESCO's assessment process will take at least 18 months and the nomination is unlikely to be considered until at least mid-2024.
Australia is home to 20 world heritage sites including WA's Shark Bay, Purnululu National Park, Ningaloo Coast and Fremantle Prison.
