Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service has taken another cut of more than $7 million in this year’s budget, continuing the downward trend in reserve management funding. It leaves the parks manager desperately underfunded at a time when the challenges of booming visitor numbers and climate change creates more work than ever.
These cuts are contrasted against handouts for infrastructure and tourism projects that will leave the parks manager having to do more work, with less funding.
“This budget continues the squeeze on Tasmania’s parks manager and will lead to bad outcomes for the protection of natural and cultural values in Tasmania,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for the Wilderness Society.
“Cutting funding for parks management is totally inconsistent with the glowing rhetoric of Government this year, the 100th anniversary of the creation of key national parks in Tasmania.
“Tasmania now trades on the identity and brand our national parks and wilderness areas gift the state, but this budget demonstrates a government reluctance to properly resource the people charged with protecting, managing and restoring these areas.
“Given the incredible asset our wild areas represent and the massive spike in visitors to our parks and reserves, the Parks and Wildlife Service should be getting additional funding, not cuts.
The budget papers attempt to explain the cuts as a transfer of fuel reduction burn funding to a separate government agency.
“Given the unprecedented fires that devastated parks and reserves, including the World Heritage Area, government should be increasing funding for firefighting and training of remote area teams for rapid firefighting response.
“Shifting funding for fuel reduction burns in parks and reserves away from the land manager itself raises questions regarding the planned burn program and effective protection of natural and cultural values.”
130 Davey St,
Hobart, 7005
www.wilderness.org.au
Vica Bayley Tasmanian Campaign Manager The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc.
