One of the world’s last great untamed areas needs protection. In Guardian Australia’s new series, we examine the challenges it faces and meet those caring for it
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The outback looms large in Australia’s collective mythology. For some it’s a fabled place of extreme beauty and harshness that forged the Australian character. But for others this is a false narrative – as the author Alexis Wright puts it, a story “Australia chose to tell itself and wanted to believe, about a land which had been stolen from Aboriginal people”.
What is certain is that the vast region, which spans 5.6m sq km and covers more than 70% of the continent, including the Northern Territory, most of Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and a corner of New South Wales, is one of the world’s last great untamed areas.