Stronger protection for World Heritage

Committee decision requests implementation of stronger protection for World Heritage and stakeholder negotiations on tourism plan

• Tasmanian Government’s 2015 draft management plan weakened protections
• Committee wants better wilderness protection, fire management and strict tourism criteria
• Environment and Aboriginal groups to be included in Tourism Master Plan development

The World Heritage Committee will ask the Australian and Tasmanian Governments for better protection of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) after a draft decision, published recently (below), is ratified by the Committee at its July 10 meeting.

The World Heritage Committee sent a mission to Tasmania last year after the state government released a draft management plan in 2015 that allowed commercial logging and weakened wilderness protection to allow controversial tourism development including new helicopter access and built tourist accommodation in wilderness areas.

The committee will request the government implement all of the mission’s recommendations to improve protection for the TWWHA, retain the existing Wilderness Zone, and establish strict criteria for tourism developments. The mission’s recommendations were accepted in full by the Australian and Tasmanian governments, and they now are expected to implement them. The committee has requested a follow-up report in late 2017.

“This draft decision reinforces the recommendations of the UN mission and requests Government to implement them. This includes stronger protection for wilderness, strict criteria for tourism development assessment and the retention of the existing Wilderness Zone,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for the Wilderness Society.

“This decision explicitly identifies that the proposed Tourism Master Plan for the TWWHA is to be ‘elaborated…based on consultation and negotiation with relevant stakeholders’. As one of many stakeholders, we look forward to involvement in the elaboration of this plan and call on Government to outline the proposed process to deliver the Tourism Master Plan and how stakeholders will be consulted and negotiated with.

Following the devastating fires of the 2016 summer, there is welcome acknowledgement in the draft decision of the devastating potential of climate-induced wildfires and a request that the new Management Plan for the TWWHA reflects fire research and management issues.

“Government has several critically important steps to complete before it finalises the controversial Management Plan for the TWWHA. This includes reinstating fire-management protocols, principles and planning and developing a ‘Strategic Management Statement’ to outline how it proposes to manage unreserved areas like the Great Western Tiers.”

The draft decision is below or downloadable in document WHC/16/40.COM/7A.Add here: http://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/40com/documents/

Vica Bayley