Economy
STATE: Lonely Planet stands by advice … Tassie’s Australian of the Year …
Travel guide publisher Lonely Planet is standing by its latest advice to travellers to visit Tasmania before its wilderness is “compromised”, rejecting suggestions of political interference.
A new book and website urges visitors to make the trip soon due to growing environmental threats to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Tasmania’s World Heritage Area ( HERE ).
“In Tasmania, the peace accord between pro and anti-logging forces has been torn up by the new State Government, keen to unlock old-growth forest for export,” the guide says.
“Now is the time to experience these astounding wilderness areas before compromises are made.”
Premier Will Hodgman has criticised Lonely Planet which listed Tasmania as one of the top 10 places to visit in the world last year.
Mr Hodgman urged it to correct what he dismissed as an “innocent mistake”, but Lonely Planet refused to change its copy.
“There is no doubt that debate surrounds the future of Tasmania’s forests, as this media coverage testifies,” Lonely Planet spokesman Adam Bennett said.
“It is Lonely Planet’s obligation to travellers to remind them of the fragile nature of many of the world’s greatest natural wonders in order to encourage responsible travel.”
• Joan Rylah: Greens selling out Tasmania yet again
• Nick McKim: Lonely Government Called Out Over Logging The TWWHA
• Bryan Green: Premier’s mixed messages damaging Tasmanian industries
• Cassy O’Connor: Liberal Greenwash Won’t Fool Lonely Planet
• phill Parsons in Comments: It’s so Tasmania focused. To get a clearer view remember that Lonely Planet also referred to the Great Barrier Reef. No wild area is safe under the current business as usual and the proposed reductions in emissions flagged for the Paris COP later this year. Sea and sky islands will be severely compromised if not disappear, coral reefs will undergo massive die offs if not collapse under the pressure of ocean acidification and forests will retreat across the landscape as drying and changed fire frequencies add extra pressure to the balance that sustains them. Indonesia’s fires not only affect the terrestrial they also compromise coral reefs affecting the protein flow to humans onshore. Are we too stupid and greedy to learn and change direction. I hope not but experience tells me otherwise.
• Peg Putt: Lonely Planet correct …
AND …
• Will Hodgman: Tasmanian Australian of the Year
• Vica Bayley: Wilderness Society congratulates Tasmanian Australian of the Year Jane Hutchinson