The members of Lake Pedder Restoration Inc are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the Lake Pedder National Park on 8 March 1955. You are invited to join them at Site 9, Waterworks Reserve, Hobart between 11am and 3pm on Sunday 8 March 2015.
“The original Lake Pedder was the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of our World Heritage: its unique ecosystem made it world famous, and restoration is not just possible but will enhance Tasmania’s standing on the global stage”, said spokesperson Dick Friend.
Background:
On 8 March 1955, 24,000 hectares of South-West Tasmania including the isolated and beautiful Lake Pedder was proclaimed as the Lake Pedder National Park. This entire area is now part of the much larger Southwest National Park within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area but the original lake (approximately 3 by 4 kilometres) now lies 15 metres below the much larger hydro impoundment of the same name.
The original lake was inundated in August 1972. But it has not been forgotten. Committees of Enquiry in 1973 and 1995 both found that restoration was likely to be feasible but would involve significant cost. Edward St John Q.C., a member of the 1973 enquiry, independently added “there is very fortunately … an opportunity to repent … if not we ourselves, the day will come when our children will undo what we so foolishly have done”.
Restoring Lake Pedder would confirm Tasmania’s international reputation for wilderness and establish Tasmania as a centre of excellence in environmental restoration. Fifty years after the decision to flood Lake Pedder, a new draft management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area proposes to relax controls on tourism development and disregards the wilderness qualities of the area. Surely we can learn from the Pedder story and refrain from making further decisions that will be soon be regretted and ultimately need to be rectified.
http://www.lakepedder.org/
https://lakepedder.wordpress.com/
Dick Friend
