Daintree National Park returned to Eastern Kuku Yalanji people | ABC News

The world's oldest living rainforest has been returned to its custodians in a historic handback ceremony in Far North Queensland.

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The Eastern Kuku Yalanji people have taken formal ownership of 160,213 hectares of country stretching from Mossman to Cooktown, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Daintree National Park.

"This is where we belong on country, on bubu — on land," Yalanji traditional owner and Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation director Mary-Anne Port said.

"All our ancestors called us back to home.

"I broke down — to get it all back in a battle that we've lost so many, young and old, that fought for country and now it's all back."

The Daintree Rainforest, estimated to be 180 million years old, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.

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