The Wilderness Society, Australian Conservation Foundation and Environment Tasmania have made the attached submission on the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Draft Management Plan.
Key submission points include:
• The Draft Plan should be withdrawn and redrafted because of its comprehensive failure to meet the requirements of the World Heritage Convention, Australian World Heritage Management Principles or the Operational Guidelines of the World Heritage Committee. A new management plan should be prepared under the auspices of the Parks and Wildlife Service.
• The protection of the Outstanding Universal Values and integrity of the Tasmanian Wilderness should form the foundation of a new management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness.
• Protection, maintenance and enhancement of wilderness must be explicitly reinstated as the primary means for protecting the natural and cultural values of the World Heritage Area.
• Logging of the forests of the Tasmanian Wilderness will destroy Outstanding Universal Value associated with rainforests and tall eucalypts and threaten Aboriginal cultural values. Logging should be explicitly prohibited in the entire Tasmanian Wilderness.
• Mining should be explicitly prohibited within the entire Tasmanian Wilderness
• Underlying tenure that permits or countenances logging and/or mining should be upgraded to national-park status.
• Actions that seek to better identify, present, protect, preserve and transmit to future generations Aboriginal cultural heritage are recognised and welcomed.
• The proposed and foreshadowed increases in commercial tourism and aircraft landings threaten the ecological integrity of places of Outstanding Universal Value. Current restrictions on aircraft landings and built commercial accommodation should be retained and no new permanent structures for commercial tourism should be erected outside of the Visitor Services Zones.
• Amendments to the boundary of the Wilderness / Remote Recreation Zone made to accommodate possible commercial tourism developments should be rescinded and the 1999 boundary restored (for the pre-2013 parts of the property).
• Jet skis should be prohibited across the entire property.
• The Plan should draw a distinction between the respectful ‘presentation’ (involving education and interpretation) required by the Convention and the contentious, intrusive, commercial tourism developments promoted by the Draft Plan.
• Determining ‘sustainable use’, ‘commercial opportunities’, ‘access’ and ‘recreation opportunities’ is a mammoth area of power and responsibility. This is clearly designed to prioritise tourism development as an objective of management at the expense of conservation of natural and cultural heritage. The provisions and power of the Tourism Master Plan could therefore override the actual Management Plan itself as well the protection of Outstanding Universal Value.
• To rectify this situation, the central role of the Parks and Wildlife Service as management agency should be explicitly recognized and the funding to the service should be substantially increased.
• The statutory management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness must remain the key document. Responsibilities should not be devolved to other administrative instruments.
• Fire, as well as being an important tool of management, is also one of the biggest single threats to Outstanding Universal Value. A precautionary approach to the use and treatment of fire is absolutely essential. The Management Plan should explicitly aim to protect rainforest and high-altitude vegetation (such as King Billy and pencil pines) from wildfires.
• The Management Plan should explain far more clearly the rationale and criteria applying to the varying forms of fire management, including suppression policies, prescribed burning and Aboriginal burning.
Download submission:
TWS,_ET,_ACF_-_DRAFT_TWWHA_MP_Submission.pdf
• Luke Martin: Striking a Balance in our World Heritage Areas … “The Tasmanian tourism industry strongly endorses the approach adopted by the Tasmanian Government in further opening the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area to the innovation and investment of commercial tourism,’ Mr Martin said. “We strongly welcome the long overdue recognition of the outstanding cultural values of the TWWHA, and the exciting opportunity for Tasmania to share its Aboriginal heritage and stories with visitors from across the globe.” …
• Jenny Weber: Bob Brown calls for Eco-Resort and Facilities Commission
• Christine Milne: Tasmanian Government can’t be trusted on wilderness Senator Milne’s submission to the management plan consultation: • Shows a dramatic drop in the state government’s funding for the Wilderness World Heritage Area over the past ten years, from over $8 million in 2005-06 to just $3.5 million in 2013-14. • Identifies where the management plan breaches the World Heritage Operational Guidelines. • Criticises the Australian and Tasmanian governments for misleading the World Heritage Committee in the February 2015 State Party Report, and not releasing the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value. • Opposes private infrastructure development and expansion of motorised transport. • Calls on the Tasmanian Government to rezone land to prevent mining, withdraw logging plans, and properly consult with the Aboriginal community to support it to research, protect and interpret cultural heritage.
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