• UN report on climate change impacts on World Heritage sites censored by Australian officials

• Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area suffered worst fires in history over summer

• Great Barrier Reef suffering worst coral bleaching event ever

The Wilderness Society called on the Australian Government to immediately release all censored sections of a United Nations report on the impacts of climate change on iconic Australian World Heritage sites, including the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and the Tasmanian Wilderness.

Media reports confirm that Federal Environment Department officials forced the UN to remove all reference to Australian case studies. Australia was the only inhabited country in the world that receives no mention in the ground-breaking report.

These revelations build the case that the Federal Government is prepared to go to extreme lengths to cover up the impacts of climate change, to the point of blocking reports on its impacts on our most important World Heritage assets.

“Environment Minister Greg Hunt and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull must immediately release the censored sections of this important report to avoid looking like they would go to extreme measures to cover up the impacts of climate change,” said Wilderness Society National Director Lyndon Schneiders.

“Censoring a report does not diminish the threats to tourism from climate change. It makes the Australian Government look petty and ridiculous and hampers transparent debate about climate change in Australia.”

Wilderness Society Tasmanian Campaign Manager Vica Bayley said: “Australians deserve to know the threats facing our World Heritage assets which are so important for our multi-billion-dollar tourism industries, especially for the economies of Queensland and Tasmania, which are increasingly reliant on tourism. Hiding the truth makes it harder to respond to the multiple threats of climate change.

“The Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst bleaching event while the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area experienced its worst fires ever as a direct result from global warming, with more intense lightning strikes in areas suffering from extraordinarily dry conditions.

“Just this summer the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area suffered dozens of fires that burnt out 24,000 hectares including fire-sensitive pencil and king billy pine trees that took thousands of years to grow. The fires also destroyed peat soils that took thousands of years to form and support delicate plant communities that are unlikely ever to recover.”

To access the UN report and a synopsis, visit the IUCN website here: http://www.iucn.org/?22763/New-report-confirms-IUCN-assessment-of-climate-change-as-biggest-threat-to-World-Heritage

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www.wilderness.org.au
Vica Bayley Tasmanian Campaign Manager The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc.