by Liz Gwynn, ABC

The Tasmanian Government is again under pressure over its management of the state’s World Heritage Areas.
A United Nations committee has asked the government to halt tourism development in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) until a cultural assessment is completed.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee said “all proposed tourism developments within the property, regardless of their nature and spatial extent, should be subject to adequate impact assessments prior to being permitted”.

The Liberals called for expressions of interest in tourism developments within the TWWHA when they came to power in 2014.

In 2019, Mr Gutwein — then as minister for environment, parks and heritage — said the government’s plan was for Tasmania to be “the eco-tourism capital of the world”.

Read the full story here.

Featured image above: Dawn cloud, Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Image courtesy Grant Dixon.

Report – WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE, Extended forty-fourth session, 21 June 2021

Tasmanian Wilderness (Australia) (C/N 181quinquies)

Current conservation issues

On 22 November 2019, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, followed by an update on 1 February 2021, both of which are available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/181/documents/.

The State Party also submitted updates on the impacts of 2019-2020 fires on 22 January 2020 and on the proclamation of Future Potential Production Forest Land (FPPFL) and Permanent Timber Production Zone Land (PTPZL) as reserves on 12 February 2021. These reports provide the following information:

• Most of the recommendations of the 2015 joint ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission and other subsequent decisions by the Committee have been or are being implemented;

• Public consultation on the proclamation of FPPFL and PTPZL within the property as reserved land commenced in February 2021;

• Fires affected the property in 2016 and 2018–2019, the latter event affecting approximately 6% of the property. Most fires occurred in the fire-adapted vegetation communities, but some areas of extreme and very high fire sensitivity vegetation were also affected, and recovery could take decades. The loss of approximately half of a relictual population of pencil pines at Crooked Lake and losses of some peat mounds are reported. A number of fire-related projects have been initiated, and it is foreseen to prepare a comprehensive Fire Management Plan for the property. There was no significant loss of fire-sensitive vegetation during the 2019-2020 fire season;

• A ‘Cultural Values Assessment of the 2013 Extension Area to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area’ has been completed and has identified and recorded 132 Aboriginal cultural heritage sites;

• Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania initiated the management and implementation of various projects within the framework of the Detailed Plan for a Comprehensive Cultural Assessment of the property. Progress reported includes the finalisation of the Guide on the Interpretation and Presentation of the Aboriginal Cultural Values of the property, the addition of cultural heritage specialists to the property staff, and the delivery of a cultural awareness training programme to the property staff;

• The engagement with Tasmanian Aboriginal people has improved and resulted in a better understanding and protection of their cultural heritage within the property;

• A dual name for the property to reflect its Aboriginal heritage will be identified in consultation with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community;

• A Tourism Master Plan for the property is undergoing final approval by the Tasmanian Government following public consultation. During this process, the Technical Reviews of the draft by ICOMOS, IUCN and the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme were taken into account. The Tourism Master Plan will consider current and future visitor expectations and demand and will provide additional guidance and policy direction for tourism in the property;

• The critically endangered orange-bellied parrot is reported to have had a very successful breeding season in 2020.

On 20 April 2021, the Advisory Bodies’ latest comments on the draft retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (rSOUV) were transmitted to the State Party for further review and confirmation.

On 3 June 2021, the State Party informed the World Heritage Centre that the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Tourism Master Plan was released on 1 June and can be accessed at the following link: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/conservation/tasmanian-wilderness-world-heritage-area-(twwha)/twwhatourism-master-plan.

Analysis and Conclusions of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies

Progress in implementing the recommendations of the 2015 joint ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission and other decisions by the World Heritage Committee should be welcomed, including progress with the initiated public consultation on the proclamation of FPPFL and PTPZL as reserved land. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to complete this process as a matter of priority.

The completion of the ‘Cultural Values Assessment of the 2013 Extension Area to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area’ is an important achievement and has added 132 registered Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, thereby more than doubling the previous number of registered sites. Requested by the Committee when the extension of the property was approved, this assessment completes the cultural documentation of the extension area and allows for the draft rSOUV to be completed.

While noting the submission of the draft Tourism Master Plan for the property, a number of concerns should be raised, including the scope of the document, taking into consideration the current situation with international travel; the lack of clarity in practical and legal terms of its relation with the 2016 Management Plan for the property; the lack of more specific guidance on how exactly the wilderness values of the property should be considered in decision-making processes related to tourism management; and how the preparation of the Plan considered the parallel Expression of Interest process for tourism development projects, and how this process may be affected by the Plan, once finalized. Furthermore, the Plan reflects an imbalance by mainly focusing on the Aboriginal community and leaving out other cultural heritage elements. While it is noted that the comments provided by the Advisory Bodies had been considered by the State Party, it will need to be ensured that these concerns have been fully addressed in the revised version. It should also be emphasized that all proposed tourism developments within the property, regardless of their nature and spatial extent, should be subject to adequate impact assessments prior to being permitted. This is of particular importance since currently not all cultural heritage values of the property (e.g. Aboriginal cultural landscape values) are identified. The Committee may wish to take note of the finalization and release of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Tourism Master Plan on 1 June 2021 and request the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to review this Plan in light of their earlier comments.

In accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, the State Party should also be reminded to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, details of any project that may affect the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).

It is noted with concern that the 2018-2019 fires negatively affected parts of the property and that localized impacts and losses have been recorded, particularly of some fire-sensitive vegetation communities. The response by the State Party, particularly the commitment to developing a comprehensive Fire Management Plan for the property, are welcomed and should be further sustained.

The progress towards a more inclusive approach to the protection and management of the property is also welcomed. The advances of the Detailed Plan for a Comprehensive Cultural Assessment are additional positive steps, but it is of great importance to conclude this process before any further development (e.g. tourism development) takes place at the property.

Draft Decision: 44 COM 7B.75

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B.Add,

2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 7B.61, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),

3. Welcomes the State Party’s further progress with the implementation of the recommendations of the 2015 joint ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission, but notes that some of these recommendations remain to be fully implemented, and reiterates its request to the State Party to finalize, as a matter of priority, the on-going process to designate Permanent Timber Production Zone Land (PTPZL) and Future Potential Production Forest Land (FPPFL) within the property as reserves;

4. Commends the State Party for the completion of the ‘Cultural Values Assessment of the 2013 Extension Area to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area’ that more than doubles the number of registered Aboriginal sites in the extension area, and also reiterates its request to the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre details of how the cultural values of the additional areas relate to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;

5. Also takes note of the finalization and release of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Tourism Master Plan and requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to review this Plan in light of their earlier comments, and in particular to verify whether this Tourism Master Plan:

a) Is fully aligned with the 2016 Management Plan for the property,

b) Includes more specific guidance regarding the protection of the OUV of the property, including more details on how the wilderness values of the property should be considered in decision-making processes related to tourism management,

c) Considered the parallel Expression of Interest process for tourism development projects and how the latter may be affected by the Plan, and

d) Advances the implementation of the Detailed Plan for a Comprehensive Cultural Assessment in order to be able to take into account all relevant expressions of cultural heritage, including those not yet identified;

6. Notes with serious concern the impacts of the 2018-2019 fires at the property, including localized losses of some vegetation types, and urges the State Party to develop, in line with its commitment, a comprehensive Fire Management Plan for the property as a matter of priority;

7. Also urges the State Party to avoid any development at the property before the Detailed Plan for a Comprehensive Cultural Assessment is implemented, reminds the State Party of the importance of carrying out impact assessments, and to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, details of any project that may affect the property’s OUV, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;

8. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2022, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for review by the Advisory Bodies.

 

Media release – Jacquie Petrusma, Minister for Parks, 23 June 2021

World Heritage Committee Statement

The Tasmanian Government welcomes the World Heritage Committee’s (WHC) acknowledgement of progress towards implementing their requests for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in its draft decision released yesterday.

There are however some elements of the draft decision that do not reflect the latest information, or will be impractical to implement.

The concerns expressed about the Tourism Master Plan (TMP) in the draft decision relate to previous drafts of the TMP, and are not warranted.

The feedback as published in the Draft Decision was taken into account in the final version of the TMP and the Government believes that the TMP addresses the concerns of the WHC.

In relation to development in the TWHHA, the Government is also concerned that the WHC has published a Draft Decision that is impractical, and potentially is outside the functions of the WHC.

In response to this, the Tasmanian Government will be working with the Australian Government in recommending to the WHC a realistic, practical and common-sense alternative.

Subjecting all developments, potentially including any works by the Parks and Wildlife Service in providing facilities, maintaining existing infrastructure, or safety for visitors, to another layer of approvals does not acknowledge that we have an approved management plan in place and a robust assessment process at both state and commonwealth level.

The Australian Government already reports to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on projects that may cause a significant impact to World Heritage properties, such as the Tasmanian Wilderness, on a quarterly basis. This more than fulfils the requirements of the World Heritage Committee.

Media release – The Wilderness Society Tasmania, 23 June 2021

UNESCO calls halt on tourism developments in Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area

In UNESCO’s new State of Conservation report on World Heritage properties, the World Heritage Committee has expressed multiple concerns (from p70) about the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) and has called for an effective moratorium so that a long-called-for Aboriginal cultural assessment can take place “before any further development (eg tourism development) takes place at the property”.

“The Wilderness Society Tasmania backs UNESCO’s effective call for a moratorium on any further ‘development’ of the Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) so that an Aboriginal cultural values survey, with the support and active involvement of the palawa, can be completed first,” said Tom Allen of the Wilderness Society Tasmania.

Commonwealth and State governments have repeatedly promised to honour all 20 recommendations of the 2015 ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring Mission to lutruwita/Tasmania but have dragged their feet, partially implemented or failed to implement them, including Recommendation 13 that required a “comprehensive cultural survey” of Aboriginal values for and with the Aboriginal community by 2017.

“In a few years time, if the TWWHA, the world’s highest-rated World Heritage wilderness, continues to be mistreated, privatised and ‘developed’, it could join the Great Barrier Reef on the World Heritage in-danger list. It’s not too late for the Tasmanian Government to change its policies that are causing these problems.

“The World Heritage Committee has made a number of requests and expressed “a number of concerns” about the Gutwein Government’s Tourism Master Plan, as well the ongoing tourism Expressions of Interest process, however, just like local Tasmanian communities, we expect that UNESCO – the ultimate stakeholder – will be ignored too.

“The World Heritage Committee also said that “all proposed tourism developments” should be subject to adequate environment impact assessments” and yet the opposite is the case: the Gutwein Government continues to help Wild Drake get its helicopter-accessed bad idea up, despite the government’s own Parks agency finding it would degrade nearly 5,000 hectares of the highest-rated World Heritage wilderness in the world.

“We agree with UNESCO that the logical approach would be to conduct the cultural assessment first and pause any further tourism development but believe that this logic will be ignored because, in reality, the Gutwein Government has a development-at-any-cost approach and its talk about conservation and ‘sensitive development’ is essentially meaningless,” said Mr Allen.

For further comment: Tom Allen, 0434 614 323

The Wilderness Society Tasmania responds to specific points in the ‘State of Conservation’ report:

In response to the item about “most of the recommendations of the 2015 joint ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission”:

“Tasmania’s and Australia’s governments have repeatedly pledged to honour all 20 recommendations in the Mission’s report but the Tasmanian Government is reneging on recommendation 11. Instead of creating the national parks it said it would, the Tasmanian Government is proposing the lowest level of conservation it can get away with.” (Namely Conservation Areas and Regional Reserves instead of National Parks. Details about this reneging can be found here.]

In response to the item on the fires that “affected the property in 2016 and 2018-19”:

“The report suggests that recovery of impacted vegetation “may take decades” to recover but there is a real risk that palaeoendemics hit by bushfires, such as Huon pine, deciduous beech, King Billy pine and pencil pine, will never return. Our report Significant Concern: State of Conservation Report on the Tasmanian Wilderness to IUCN, ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre (April 2019) made clear that: “If burnt in a severe fire, this type of vegetation will not regenerate.” The plight of the world’s highest-rated World Heritage wilderness is comparable with the Great Barrier Reef because both are threatened by Australia’s failure to take the climate and extinction crises seriously.”

In response to the report’s multiple concerns about the relationship between the TWWHA Management Plan, the tourism master plan and the tourism EOI process:

“On UNESCO’s multiple concerns about how the Tourism Master Plan relates to the statutory Management Plan and the tourism EOI process, the essential point is surely that the tourism EOI process knowingly invites tourism proposals that breach the statutory Management Plan, which is ethically, legally and ecologically contentious, as the Tasmanian Audit Office has previously noted (para 3.6).”

On that request that “details of any project that may affect the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV)” be provided to the World Heritage Committee:

“The Tasmanian Government has not, to our knowledge, informed the World Heritage Committee or the wider public that its own Parks and Wildlife Agency has undertaken a wilderness impact assessment into the proposed Lake Malbena proposal and found that it would degrade nearly 5,000ha of the world’s highest-rated World Heritage wilderness. This would fundamentally weaken the property’s OUV, as would the pipeline of developments the Government wants to see happen, but the World Heritage Committee has been kept in the dark.

On the item about engagement with the Tasmanian Aboriginal people:

“The raft of proposals* identified in the 2016 statutory Management Plan of the TWWHA intended to empower the palawa have not been progressed by the State Government and the Aboriginal community continues to be ignored in its opposition to developments at Lake Malbena, on kunanyi/Mt Wellington, on off-road tracks along the takayna/Tarkine coast over Aboriginal cultural heritage and on its proposed and historic Kooparoona Niara (Great Western Tiers) National Park. It’s pretty cynical to add yet more similar proposals to the Tourism Master Plan, despite failing to progress those in the 2016 Management Plan.” [Details on this proposed national park can be found here.]

*Measures in the 2016 plan included:

  • a Community Agreement Plan with the Aboriginal community

  • “governance arrangements… for a non-government Aboriginal organisation in the joint management of Aboriginal cultural values of the TWWHA”

  • “A comprehensive survey of the TWWHA… to ascertain all Aboriginal values”

  • Active participation of Aboriginal people in management of the TWWHA on further tourism development

Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader and Parks spokesperson, 23 June 2021

Gutwein Deaf to UNESCO Calls for Wilderness Protection

On the same day UNESCO declared the Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’, the World Heritage Committee delivered a hefty smack to the Liberals’ Expressions of Interest process for development in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, the Liberals development-at-any-cost chickens are coming home to roost.

When we asked the Premier about it in Parliament this morning, he said he hadn’t read UNESCO’s draft decision. Despite that, unsurprisingly, he still had plenty to say about it.

The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is a priceless and globally-significant wilderness area.

It’s the jewel in Tasmania’s crown, and the Premier couldn’t even be bothered reading the World Heritage Committee’s report highlighting growing concerns within UNESCO about the Liberals’ ‘management’ of wilderness and cultural values in the TWWHA.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee put the Liberals on notice. Their draft decision makes it clear they have concerns about the State Government’s exploitation agenda for Tasmania’s extraordinary South West wilderness.

It’s clear the World Heritage Committee’s concerns about the EOI process have not been assuaged by the government’s Tourism Master Plan. In fact, far from it.

Rather, they have cited further concerns and requested any development that impacts upon the World Heritage Area’s Outstanding Universal Values be referred back to them.

Of course they don’t trust the Gutwein Government, why would they?

We would expect the Lake Malbena heli-tourism proposal is on its way to the World Heritage Committee right now, given its significant wilderness impacts which have been confirmed by the Parks and Wildlife Service itself.

UNESCO have been clear – the wilderness values of the TWWHA should be considered in all decisions related to this unique place. They want an end to the EOI process.

Tasmanians from across the island and from all walks of life are angered by the Liberals’ privatisation and development agenda for the TWWHA. They have been ignored, while developers are given the red carpet treatment. Peter Gutwein can’t ignore the World Heritage Committee.