Senate calls for Tasmanian World Heritage cuts withdrawal. World Heritage Committee beseeched …

• Senate calls for Tasmanian World Heritage cuts withdrawal

A Senate inquiry has called on the Abbott government to withdraw its proposal to reduce the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area by 74,000 hectares, Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne said today.

“The Senate inquiry has also called for Australia to stand by its promise to the World Heritage Committee to assess by June 2015 the Aboriginal cultural values of additions to the Area,” Senator Milne said.

“The inquiry has exposed the lies behind the Abbott government’s attempt to remove the 2013 additions to the World Heritage Area for logging, and attracted close to 10,000 letters and submissions opposing the reduction.

“Most of the additional areas are old growth forest, other native vegetation and outstanding geomorphic features, and only 4% has been heavily logged before.

“The World Heritage Committee knew this when the 2013 addition was made and it’s now up to the Australian government to rehabilitate that 4%.

“Logging these areas would be madness. The industry doesn’t want to cut these forests, no market wants to buy the wood, and the community wants to see them protected

“The government should withdraw this proposal to protect our international reputation and avoid embarrassing the World Heritage Committee,” Senator Milne said.

The World Heritage Committee is due to release an interim analysis of Australia’s application on May 16 in Paris (early this Saturday morning Australian time), and the Committee will make its final decision at the meeting running from 15-25 June in Qatar.

The inquiry report has just been tabled in the Senate and is now available here: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Tasmanian_Wilderness_World_Heritage_Area/Report/index

• The Florentine Protection Society

12 May 2014

Attention World Heritage Committee: regarding the excision of some of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, added in 2013.

The Florentine Protection Society beseeches the World Heritage Committee not to de-list the outstanding world heritage forests of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

These forests were listed in June 2013 when the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was modified to include an additional 172,050 hectares. Now the Australian Government has requested UNESCO to roll back this addition by just over 74,000 hectares.

In 2013 the World Heritage Committee accepted this modification to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area because these forests meet all four natural World Heritage criteria. The Outstanding Universal Values of the additions to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area were well-known and understood by the World Heritage Committee when the decision was made.

In 2006 the IUCN’s State of Conservation Report noted that “there is forested land outside the property which may have World Heritage values and which would contribute to the integrity of the property”. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 the World Heritage Committee requested the Australian Government:

(1) to manage the forestry areas outside the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area to protect cultural sites of potential Outstanding Universal Value;

(2) to include the adjacent old growth forests in the World Heritage Area, mentioning in particular the tall eucalyptus forests and cultural sites reflecting the wider context of Aboriginal land use; and

(3) to consider re-nominating this World Heritage Area as a cultural landscape.

In 2012, the Australian Government committed to protect some of the World Heritage Committee’s recommended forests. However, the Committee noted that several other forests were exempted from this protection and requested the Australian Government to clarify that they not be exempted in order to retain their potential for possible addition to this World Heritage property.

In accepting the Australian Government’s June 2013 proposal for the minor modification of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, the World Heritage Committee were well informed of and took into account the small amount of degradation from logging in the additional forest areas. The Proposal, submitted in February 2013, made clear that the additional land included “areas that have been previously logged and are in the process of revegetation” and that problems associated with gravel roads and disturbances would require prompt attention. Also, the Proposal illustrates an example of these small pockets of logging impact with a photo on its front cover.

These small pockets of degradation can, and should, be rehabilitated by the Australian Government in accordance with the Management Plan and in compliance with the World Heritage Convention.

There has been no further degradation to this Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area modification since its inclusion in June 2013. However, what has changed is the election of a new Australian Government in September 2013. The new Australian Government’s proposal to excise just over 74,000 hectares from the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area makes clear their future intention to allow logging in these pristine, old growth, world heritage forests.

We implore the World Heritage Committee not to agree to this new proposed modification, but instead to place the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area on the World Heritage in Danger List.

Yours sincerely,

Elizabeth Perey
President (Florentine Protection Society Inc)

The Florentine Protection Society is an apolitical, not-for-profit community organisation aiming to preserve Tasmania’s ancient forests, including the forests of the Upper Florentine Valley. Further information about the Society, our policies and campaign can be found on our website – www.florentine.org.au

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