The Western Australian Government is being urged to intervene in a fight between an overseas company and Aboriginal traditional owners over mass land clearing at a prized cattle station in the Kimberley.

Key points: Traditional owners want the WA Government to stop cattle company Shanghai Zenith from clearing land on Yakka Munga

Traditional owners want the WA Government to stop cattle company Shanghai Zenith from clearing land on Yakka Munga Native title holders say the clearing had damaged sites, country, and habitat

Native title holders say the clearing had damaged sites, country, and habitat The Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association says clearing permits can take up to a year to obtain

Shanghai Zenith (Australia) Investment Holding is under fire for clearing land at Yakka Munga Station, north-east of Broome, without consulting with the Nyikina Mangala people, whose native title rights were recognised in 2014.

Traditional owner, Wayne Bergmann, said the native title holders had written to three WA Government ministers expressing their outrage and demanding that the work be stopped.

"I'm just shocked at how much they have done without even talking to us," Mr Bergmann said.

"They've damaged our sites, damaged our country, damaged our habitat."

Yakka Munga Station was purchased by the company, Shanghai Zenith, in 2016. ( Supplied: Wayne Bergmann )

Shanghai Zenith is a major player in WA's cattle industry and one of the state's biggest landholders.

It has declined to comment on the land clearing allegations by Mr Bergmann and the native title representative group, Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation.

The company added Yakka Munga to its portfolio in 2016, reportedly paying $9 million for the property to oil and gas explorer Buru Energy whose drilling operation continues under the new lease.

Station with colourful history

The dispute is the latest chapter in Yakka Munga's colourful history.

The 190,000-hectare property has changed hands several times since it was owned by Kimberley identity and bush poet, Johnny James, who died in a helicopter accident in 2003.

Mr Bergmann said he had been advised recently that the latest owners were building a road but that the clearing that he had witnessed during a visit to the site suggested a possible irrigation precinct.

"What they are calling an 'all-weather road' is as wide as the Broome Airport," he said.

"It's 4 kilometres long … you could land a 737 there."

Clearing work is being carried out at Yakka Munga Station near Derby, north-east of Broome. ( Supplied: Wayne Bergmann )

"Boab trees, medicine trees … all just pushed over.

"We've had Buru Energy operate in the area and vary their program to show respect for us, go around ant beds because this area was part of a complex of places where our people traditionally lived.

"People were buried in these ant beds."

Urgent inquiry

In a statement to the ABC, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation said that it had not received an application to clear native vegetation from the current lease holder of the Yakka Munga Station.

"The Department is urgently investigating the reported clearing," the statement said.

The chairman of the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association, David Stoate, could not comment specifically about the Yakka Munga case but said that pastoralists had limited powers to carry out work under their leases.

"You're entitled to clear fence lines and the edges of highways and that sort of thing to maintain your pastoral business," Mr Stoate said.

"If you want to diversify into some other areas, such as irrigation, that requires a clearing permit from the government department, which can be quite difficult to get.

"They often require all sorts of flora and fauna studies, which can be quite onerous.

"It can take months, probably up to a year, depending on the requirements of the department."

It is hoped a new deal to grant Myroodah Station its pastoral lease will provide future generations economic prosperity. ( Supplied: KRED Enterprises )

The dispute at Yakka Munga comes a month after the lease for neighbouring station Myroodah was handed over to the Nyikina and Mangala people.

The property is being managed by the Kimberley Agriculture and Pastoral Company (KAPCO), which is headed up by Wayne Bergmann, a former CEO of the Kimberley Land Council.

Wayne Bergmann visited the work site at Yakka Munga Station this week. ( Supplied: Wayne Bergmann )

KAPCO's four stations span 700,000 hectares with a 24,000-strong herd.

Mr Bergmann said, under an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA), Shanghai Zenith was obliged to consult with the traditional owners over land clearing work on Yakka Munga.

Traditional owner and chair of the Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation, Robert Watson, said the traditional owners wanted to "know what's going on".

"We've established ILUAs with pastoral properties all around us and we have had a workable relationship so far," Mr Watson said.

"My concern is that we need to have that relationship with international developers if they are to develop their properties for purposes other than pastoral use … that's a conversation that needs to come across the table."