Porongurup science and cultural knowledge combines

DR LYNETTE KNAPP and PROFESSOR STEPHEN HOPPER AC have been collaborating on biodiversity conservation research for fourteen years. Today, they are sitting at the base of the Porongurup Range (Borongurup) ‘yarning up’ this special place with their colleague and former student Dr Ursula Rodrigues. They discuss how the Range’s great age underpins its cultural and biological significance, and how combining science and Noongar knowledge can help us care for the extraordinary landscapes of southwestern Australia.  

September 2026

Lynette and Steve’s collaboration has been built through many shared yarns on Country, usually over a cup of tea. The smells, sights and sounds evoke memories and conversations that have led to new insights for conservation. Image: Ursula Rodrigues.

Ursula: We’re sitting on Millinup Road on the southern edge of the Porongurup Range, gazing up at Castle Rock. It looks so dramatic cloaked in the morning’s light mist. Aunty Lynette, can you tell us about this place?

Lynette: Well, I’m a Merningar Yorga, a woman of the south coast shell, white sand or whale people. I belong to the coastline from Denmark in the west to the beginning of the Bight, and from the sea and the islands in the south to the northern end of the talyeraak (Eucalyptus pleurocarpa) boundary. I can only talk about my family’s stories.

Lynette and her boundary-marker tree, talyeraak (Eucalyptus pleurocarpa), photographed in 2017. Image: Steve Hopper.

I’ve known about Borongurup all my life. Borongurup is something that you remember when it’s told to you. It’s so big, you never forget it.

We used to camp around the eastern end of Borongurup, at the bottom of it. Dad had a friend there, Uncle George Dunn. We would camp right next to his farm, at a place where the beautiful brown boronia grows in the swamps.

Lynette’s father Alf Knapp, from whom she learned much of her knowledge about Country. Image: courtesy of Lynette Knapp.

My family has lived on our Country for 75,000 years, plus. We learned what to forage for. We learned the mountains, the plains, and the creeks, and the most prominent, sacred place on our Country is Borongurup. We hold it in high esteem. It’s got some of the oldest rocks in the world. It’s an amazing place.

Castle Rock is connected to a creation story for our Knapp family. The creation starts in Albany and Castle Rock is where one of our creator spirits now rests.

There’s no ownership on Borongurup because it belongs to our land, it belongs to our stories. It’s our connection with the Earth.

Lynette and Steve being interviewed by Ursula at Warrumbup (Weedon Hill), Denmark, during Ursula’s Honours research in 2020. Image: Alison Lullfitz.

Ursula: Steve, how did the Porongurup come into your life?

Steve: In 1977, I started as the state’s first Flora Conservation Officer with Fisheries and Wildlife. My job was to devise ways of caring for flora across the state. In 1979, a list of presumed rare species was published from herbarium records by botanists Neville Marchant of the WA Herbarium and Greg Keighery of Kings Park. We soon found that rarity in the herbarium didn’t equate to rarity in the wild. So, we had to get out in the bush.

Aerial photograph looking south-east towards the Porongurup Range, taken during Steve’s fieldwork in 1979. Image: Steve Hopper.

Greg had been living in Albany and knew of rare plants in the Porongurup. In the early 1980s, in my early thirties, we spent a few days climbing the Porongurup to see those plants. One of them was a thing that looks really exotic and grows in shallow soil adjacent to the granite. It has since been looked at in detail, and it turns out that it is actually two species that occur only here. I returned over the years, and we continued to discover species that are both endemic, occurring nowhere else, and rare.

I came as a tourist, too. In 1980, my parents came over for the last time to WA, and we stayed at Karribank. I’ve got photos of Dad standing beside Angwin Peak and Tree in the Rock.

It wasn’t until 2012, when I came to take up my current position as Professor of Biodiversity at UWA Albany, that the Porongurup Range became part of the daily routine; a core part of living in Albany. My wife Christine and I see them from our house at Goode Beach. Since then, I’ve been here on several trips with Lynette and other Elders. This has changed my views of Borongurup immensely. I think it’s just remarkable to hear stories of this place that go back generation upon generation from Lynette and her family.

Ursula: Would you be able to share some of those stories with us today, Lynette?

Lynette: My father used to call it Bor-ron-gor-up. Borongur is our word for totem. We each have a plant and an animal totem. Borongurup refers to place of totemic spirits.

In our culture, we believe there’s two sides to each of us: soul and spirit. When someone passes away, our soul goes to the land that you see between the sea and the sky, and our spirit goes back into our borongur (totem animal and plant) to replenish them for future generations. When our borongur die, they become totemic spirits and they go back into the rocks on this beautiful range.

Borongurup is our sacredness. This is older and just as sacred as Uluru.

Borongurup also links up with Warrumbup (Weedon Hill), that sacred hill in Denmark. One of my family stories goes with Warrumbup being the birthplace of all rocks on our Country. At Warrumbup, there’s a tree that looks like it’s giving birth to a granite rock. We believe the rocks rolled away from there forming these kaats (hills) here at Borongurup. We call them kaats, like we call our heads kaats. They’ve got eyes and ears, and they watch us and make sure that we respect our Country. Rocks aren’t nothing; they are very much alive.

Ursula closely inspects the formation of a karri tree and granite rock at Warrumbup, where the Knapp family believe the tree gave birth to the rocks. Image: Alison Lullfitz.

Ursula: I remember you showed me Warrumbup during my Honours research. Steve, how does this relate to what science tell us about how Borongurup was created?

The Porongurup Range has been a true island numerous times in its life, most recently about 55 million years ago. The diverse habitats created by the geologic formation also act as biological islands, providing refuge for species with specific habitat needs and allowing persistence of species with Gondwanan associations. Today, the surrounding agricultural landscape means the National Park acts as a habitat island for many organisms. Image: Martin Regtien/AirPix & GreenSkills.

Steve: The Porongurup Range is characterised by granite and gneiss outcrops and boulders. The granite itself is a product of the west Australian Yilgarn craton and Antarctica crashing together to form the ancient continent Gondwana about 1.2 to 1.3 billion years ago; the Earth is about 4 billion years old. Borongurup is the stub now of a mountain range of incredible antiquity.

Lynette has just explained that this is the place where, for Noongars, it all began — where the rocks from Warrumbup rolled to create the place of totemic spirits. It’s an example, I think, of Noongar insight that is streets ahead of Western science. The whole notion of shifting continents only became widely accepted by science in the 1960s. Whereas, Noongars have known about this place forever, essentially. I think that’s just fantastic.

Unlike much of the northern hemisphere, southwestern Australia has not been glaciated for hundreds of millions of years, since prior to its separation from Gondwana. Instead, these ancient granites have weathered very slowly into the domes we see today. This has allowed for continuous speciation and resulted in the rich biodiversity that now inhabits the Range and the region. Image: Ursula Rodrigues.

Ursula: It seems to me that there are many examples of congruence across Noongar and scientific knowledge.

Steve: There are. The slopes that we’re looking at now on the south side of Borongurup are patches of granite amongst karri trees. From a scientific perspective, this population of karri has been distinct from others since the end of the last glacial maximum, around 5000 years ago. In the story about the trees giving birth to granite over at Warrumbup in Denmark, that’s a karri tree, too. So not only did the rocks get dispersed across the landscape, but the karri comes with them.

But if I look down from the slopes and karris to the trees growing on farmland to my right, we could be anywhere in the world. There’s Tassie blue gums and Monterey cypress from California and there’s east coast wattles flowering. This reflects a history of some people believing that the native trees here weren’t worth growing once the land was cleared.

Lynette: Our native trees are important to us. In our way of looking at different trees, the people of the jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) from the west could come and have as much knowledge and inclusion at Borongurup as the people from the talyeraak (Eucalyptus pleurocarpa) to the east because both those trees grow near Borongurup.

Ursula: Steve, what other patterns can be seen in where the plants grow?

Steve: While surveying for rare plants in the 1970s and ‘80s, across south-western Australia, botanists discovered that two-thirds of the genuinely rare and threatened plants were confined to the upper parts of the landscape. Borongurup is a classic example of this. Of some 700 plant species found here, nine or ten species are endemic, and the majority of them are found only on the upper slopes.

Lepidosperma hopperi, a granite endemic sedge, growing in the Porongurup Range. This species is named in recognition of Steve’s contribution to understanding the flora, particularly of granite outcrops, in Western Australia. Image: Steve Hopper.

We now know it’s not only plants that are specialised to these peaks: it’s animals that don’t move around much, too. Spiders, land snails, earthworms, myriapods — all of them have locally endemic species to the Porongurup, and many are confined to the upper slopes and hilltops.

This short-range endemic trapdoor spider with Gondwanan heritage is known only from on and around the Range and is one of many endemic invertebrate species found there. Image: Loxley Fedec.

Ursula: I think it is one of the richest mountainous areas for spiders in Australia. What are some of the conservation challenges for such an important place?

Steve: Well, right now, we’re sitting at the foot of the Porongurup with the houses and farmland. And Lynette has taught me that in her culture, people would camp, hunt and burn country down here.

Lynette: Yes, right where we are. My family wouldn’t climb these peaks because it’s sacred.

Shadows reveal the meely (eyes) in the kaat (head) of Gibraltar Rock on the Porongurup Range. The eyes watch over Country, ensuring that people act with appropriate respect. Picture: Steve Hopper.

Steve: Yet, it’s the peaks and the bare granite that walking and mountain bike trails often aim for. But no one has worked out how to get the tiny and rare plants back onto the granites after bikes have eroded away the soil. It would be distressing to see more trails on these peaks.

Lynette: There’s no explanation to the damage from bikes — they shouldn’t be on our kaats. It is fair enough to use already cleared areas down here for trails, but I’d hate to see the damage get any worse. And any plans for making more infrastructure like the Castle Rock Skywalk – that’s a big no-no. Leave the tourist spots as they are, but don’t do anymore drilling into rocks. I’d like to see people learn the importance of Borongurup. As totemic people, we’re here to look after the Country.

Lichens and mosses, which cover the rocks, grow slowly and will take a long time to recover from the damage caused by wheeled vehicles. Image: Steve Hopper.

Ursula: Aunty Lyn, I’ve heard you talk about this as an obligation to care for Country.

Lynette: For Noongar people, our life is an obligation: we’re obligated to look after each and every one of us and that includes Country. If you belong to this Country, your DNA is in all these things: rocks, plants, dirt. It’s not, “Well, that’s a tree”; that’s part of your family.

Ursula: How can we all better incorporate this ethic into our care for landscapes?

Lynette: I like what’s happening now by groups that are buying farms and replanting, like over here at Twin Creeks, because we need our bush back. And we need to start sharing a bit more with people like that.

Steve: We do. We need to work with Noongar Elders and groups like the Friends of the Porongurup Range, who look after Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve, to find common ground to care for Country. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least half a dozen principles from Noongar practices. Respect for things old is the classic case. I’ve learned it’s not just elder people, it is old landscapes, like the Porongurup, and old trees.

Another is the use of eucalypts to demarcate boundaries among dialect groups, like Lynette’s boundary marker — talyeraak. We live in the richest place on earth for eucalypts. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every West Australian said, “I’ll adopt a eucalypt”. With about a quarter of the genus currently threatened, eucalypts would be in much better shape if we did. You don’t have to be a botanist, either. Everyone can recognise a karri tree.

I’m quietly optimistic we’ve got a future if we can combine these two wonderful knowledge systems going forward.

Lynette: Definitely. And it helps when you’re good cobbers.

Steve: My modus operandi in the bush is to go exploring; I can’t drive past a track I haven’t been down before. I learned that Lynette is the same. She would often sing out, “why don’t we go down there and have a look?”. I’d think, “Fantastic, let’s do it”.  We often find something new.

Ursula: Aunty Lynette, how do you reflect on your collaboration with scientists?

Lynette: It’s been wonderful working in tandem with Steve. It’s a beautiful thing to watch Western science and Noongar science coming together.

Steve: There’s still a lot for me to learn. Every conversation, there’s something new. Part of it is learning to be humble and genuinely listen, and not to impose scientific views on everything. Soak it up and repeat the exercise often.

Lynette: I think the Western science will catch up soon.

Steve: Well, on some things, hopefully. My discipline, biodiversity conservation, hasn’t done a crash-hot job in caring for Country. But I really am convinced now, after 14 years of working together with Lynette and other Elders, that there are principles adopted by Noongar people that, if embedded in Western culture, we’d be doing a much better job.

Trachymene grandis grows in a moss mat adjacent to the granite slopes. It is one of many annual herbs that abound in this diverse habitat during winter and spring. Image: Steve Hopper.

Ursula: This year, the Porongurup National Park is 100 years old. Do you have a vision for caring for it for the next 100 years?

Lynette: The granite here that holds our totemic spirits must be recognised and I think we should have a say in its management. We need people to start looking at our Country through our eyes. It’s amazing to realise, when you sit here and look at those magnificent trees and plants and animals: they’re living creatures. We need all those things to be able to live. So, we should help them live.

Steve: I think Lynette summarized it beautifully. It comes down to what is it to be genuinely Australian. That’s something I don’t think we’ve quite mastered as a broader, multicultural community. Yet, we have this great gift of Aboriginal communities who’ve lived over incredible periods of time across the nation, whose lives are framed around respectfully living in a local place, understanding what Country and their ancestors tell them, and revering and celebrating that. I think if the broader community can understand this ethic, places like Borongurup will be even more important than most people appreciate now.

THANKS to Lynette Knapp, Stephen Hopper, Ursula Rodrigues and the photographers. Thanks also to Margaret Robertson, Loxley Fedec and the Friends of the Porongurup Range. The Southerly Magazine kindly published this story in its September 2026 edition (pp. 18-23). In this centenary year of the Porongurup National Park, we acknowledge the park’s management by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Further information

Friends of the Porongurup Range: The Friends are a not-for-profit community group dedicated to conservation and protection of the Porongurup region and the National Park. The following link to their website will connect you with events that are taking place in 2026 to commemorate the centenary of the Porongurup National Park, including the Centenary Exhibition at the Porongurup Hall, 14-29 November 2026. More details here: https://www.porongurup.org.au/centenary

The Porongurup National Park is on the National Heritage List: Here’s an outline of the values underpinning its listing: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/porongurup.pdf

Ranges Link video: This uplifting story of landholder-led conservation and restoration comes from the farming country between the Porongurup and Stirling Ranges. Farmer and native seed pioneer Peter Luscombe has teamed up with his neighbours the Friends of the Porongurup Range, working from their Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve, to build a major habitat link between the ranges. (Koi Kyeunu-ruff is the Noongar name for the Stirling Range). Produced by Gondwana Link Ltd for the Wild Life Gallery at WA Museum Boola Bardip: Ranges Link: Bringing country back to life | Heartland Journeys Duration: 2:36 min.

‘Twin Creeks Reserve: Community drive conservation‘: Meet some of the members of the Friends of Porongurup Range, an incredibly passionate and dedicated community group who own and manage Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve. This is a property of 511 hectares nestled between the highly biodiverse Porongurup Range and Stirling Range National Parks. Duration: 11:06 minutes.

‘Ranges Link: caring for the Kalgan River area‘: A Heartland Journeys podcast featuring some of the people behind the Ranges Link initiative, including Tim Saggers, Heather Adams and Peter Luscombe. Duration: 14.50 min.

In November 2022, we ran this heart-warming story featuring Sayah Drummond, a dedicated Porongurup local: Sayah Drummond: a refreshing perspective on making a difference | Heartland Journeys

Please visit the Centenary Exhibition at the Porongurup Hall, 14 to 29 November 2026. Here is your invitation:

Lynette and Ursula during fieldwork at an important site for the Knapp family north of the Porongurup Range. Lynette and Steve supervised Ursula’s five years of student research at UWA Albany. Through teaching and supervision, Lynette and Steve share their cross-cultural method and collaborative spirit with the next generation of people working to care for Country. Image: Steve Hopper.
Gnamma boorna, living cultural heritage, in a marri tree in Porongurup National Park. Through inter-generational horticultural practice, a water-holding hollow has been created at the base of the tree for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. Image: Ursula Rodrigues.
A lizard trap, or kaarda mia, is engineered habitat for reptiles found on granite outcrops in the Porongurup Range and across Noongar Country. Significant cultural artefacts like these can be difficult to spot, underlining the importance of not disturbing granite areas. Image: Steve Hopper.
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