Tasmanian Wilderness

• Potential construction of a dam (issue resolved)
• Commercial logging in areas adjacent to the World Heritage property
• Road construction projects 

On 1st February 2010 the State Party submitted a report on the State of Conservation of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). This provided detailed information on issues previously considered by the World Heritage Committee, and as requested in World Heritage Committee Decision 32 COM 7B.41. 

With respect to the issues raised by the World Heritage Committee in its Decision 32 COM 7B.41, the State Party reported as follows:

a) Matters related to the management of the existing World Heritage property

• Stakeholder involvement and monitoring: In collaboration with the Australian Government, the Tasmanian Government is considering a range of options to establish the most appropriate and representative framework to monitor, assess and manage the TWWHA and adjoining reserves for ecological integrity. The roles and arrangements for stakeholder involvement and engagement in TWWHA management are also being considered in the context of a national review of World Heritage advisory committees and executive officers, to be completed in March 2010. A national agreement on the establishment of property specific World Heritge Advisory Committees is being discussed, and the State Party reports that it is envisaged that there will be a bilateral agreement regarding an improved mechanism by June 2010. This is stated to also be a critical consideration in the processes for future monitoring, assessment and reporting on the TWWHA and adjacent areas, including in the context of the next review of the TWWHA management plan.
• Mineral exploration, exploitation and rehabilitation: The State Party states that it considers mining to be inappropriate in the World Heritage property, notes that the Southwest Conservation Area, south of Melaleuca to Cox Bight, should be incorporated into the property as soon as the existing mining leases expire, and that renewal or granting of any new leases should not be considered. It reports that the Governments are working together to resolve other existing exploration license arrangements, such as those in the area of Adamsfield. The State Party reiterates its view that the National Environmental Legislation protects the values of the property from internal and external threats, including mining.
• Resourcing for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage: The State Party notes that additional funds and resources have been made available for Aboriginal cultural heritage identification and management within, and around, the property, and for Aboriginal community capacity building. This support includes an additional AU$ 387,500 from the Australian Government for an Aboriginal heritage project inside the property.
• Aboriginal Cultural Heritage management outside property: Forestry Tasmania have endorsed all recommendations from the 2008 Reactive Monitoring Mission, including enhanced protection measures for archaeological and Aboriginal sites within and adjacent to the TWWHA.
• Logging Roads: The State Party notes that through the application of the Tasmanian Forest Practices Code, and relevant recommendations emanating from the 2008 Second Five Yearly Review of the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement, the ecological integrity and aesthetic values of the property, and possible cultural sites, continue to be taken into account in the planning and management of forest harvesting operations, including logging roads in areas adjacent to the TWWHA. Decisions on the reclamation and rehabilitation of the adjacent logging roads no longer needed for forestry purposes are taken in the context of future recreational opportunities, and the zoning of adjacent areas, within the TWWHA.
• Vegetation Management: The Tasmanian Government is reviewing vegetation management planning for the TWWHA and adjoining forest reserves in the light of several initiatives, including the next review of the TWWHA Management Plan, the management of the expanded TWWHA area (once the above boundary modification is adopted), and initiatives already under way relating to managing the risks to vegetation from fire and climate change.
• Second Five-Yearly Review of Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement: In January 2010 a detailed Joint Australian and Tasmanian Government Response to the “Second Five Yearly Review of Progress with Implementation of the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement” was released. This sets out a range of actions to address each recommendation and their implementation targets.
• Climate Change: The risks of climate change to the property have been identified and assessed, and this information is incorporated in an active monitoring program and risk management strategy.

The World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies note that the State Party report includes information regarding commitments and work undertaken since the last World Heritage Committee Decision. The recognition of inappropriate mining is an important statement, and the commitment to add the Melaleuca-Cox Bight area to the property after mining licences expire is also welcomed. The review of the Tasmania RFA also provides a public statement on improvements sought in relation to the overall management of forestry in Tasmania.

The World Heritage Centre and IUCN have received a number of detailed reports from nature conservation NGOs, and an Australian Senator, one of which was submitted with an indication that it is seen by the NGO as a report to the World Heritage Committee. The reports express concern regarding forestry practices in areas adjoining the property, including the impact of a reported 80 logging coupes within 5km of the property boundary that have been scheduled for exploitation until 2012. Resultant impacts on the integrity of the property are suggested to arise from a variety of factors. These include concern over the reported logging of two coupes that have boundaries that are stated to be contiguous with the property boundary and others near to the boundary, that may expose the area to the risk of “edge effects,” such as vegetation die-back, soil desiccation and increased exposure to wind and sunlight within the property. In addition, the impact of logging on fire risk and water systems; the direct and indirect impacts of associated logging roads as a vector for invasive species and diseases; habitat fragmentation; impacts of logging coupes on views out of and into the property, are amongst other cited concerns. It is reported that, in the past year, a further eleven coupes have been subject to logging, and an additional two, mainly in the Upper Florentine Valley and Styx Valley, have been impacted by road construction and operations. NGO submissions express dissatisfaction regarding the consultations between the State Party and key stakeholders over the last two years regarding the logging of forest surrounding the TWWHA.

The World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies note the progress towards the establishment of a monitoring mechanism that could involve all relevant stakeholders, and that the completion of such a mechanism can be anticipated following the conclusion of the national review of World Heritage governance and advisory Committees in June 2010. They consider that an agreed, objective system is essential to underpin the assessment of the degree to which adjoining activities impact or have the potential to impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. Such arrangements could, over time, lead to enhanced dialogue and a better consensus on the balance of land uses between logging and provision for conservation in the forests that surround the property, including those areas that have previously been noted as having potential for eventual addition to the property. IUCN considers that logging coupes close to or contiguous with the property boundary could pose avoidable risks to its integrity, and is concerned at continued reports of such logging.

b) Statement of Outstanding Universal Value

The State Party has prepared a draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for the Committee’s consideration that, it considers, better reflects all the values of the property, and the cultural landscape elements. The World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies welcome the submission of the draft, which will be carefully reviewed in collaboration with the State Party, for presentation to the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee for adoption.

c) Boundaries of the property

The State Party report includes a proposal that would add a total of 23,873 hectares to the property, which already extends to 1.38 million hectares, or 20% of the area of the State of Tasmania. Supported by a map illustrating the boundary modification, this proposal – which will be considered as a “minor modification” by the World Heritage Committee under the corresponding item - responds to the recommendations from the 2008 Reactive Monitoring Mission to include adjacent reserves, provides for a more coherent management regime, and increases the representation of tall eucalyptus forest in the TWWHA. When mining licenses have expired, the State Party also proposes to add the area of Melaleuca to Cox Bight to the property.

The State Party was requested by the Committee, in Decision 32 COM 7B.41, to consider, at its discretion, a potential extension of the property to include additional areas considered by IUCN and ICOMOS to have potential to demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value. Apart from the addition of the 21 adjacent formal reserves, and the Southwest Conservation Area south of Melaleuca to Cox Bight, the State Party does not propose to further extend the boundary of the TWWHA. It considers the addition of the 21 adjacent formal reserves sufficiently representative of tall eucalypt forests, and cultural sites of significance to the Aboriginal community, in the property.

The reports received from NGOs and other conservation interests consider that the 21 adjacent formal reserves are not sufficiently representative of tall eucalypt forests, and identify areas they consider should be added as a further extension to the property. The extent of areas they consider meet World Heritage criteria could extend to 806,000ha, including areas currently managed as part of the TWWHA Management Plan. Biodiversity surveys recently conducted by NGOs report evidence of vulnerable and endangered species in coupes scheduled for logging in the Upper Florentine Valley. The reports strongly recommend that the TWWHA boundaries be extended to include the surrounding high conservation value forests, and request the World Heritage Committee to call on the State Party to implement an immediate moratorium on all forest operations within 2km of the TWWHA boundary, noting that logging of these areas clearly limits the possibility to include them in any possible extension of the property.

IUCN carefully considered the above issues in the advice it provided in the State of Conservation Report to the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee. It considered the evidence of ecological surveys of the area, the information provided by the State Party at the time of inscription and extension of the property, and the different expert missions to the property. IUCN reiterates its position, as reported to the 33rd session, regarding the potential of areas adjoining the property to demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value. IUCN acknowledges that it is a matter for the State Party to consider whether to proceed with any extension, but regrets that a more positive approach of the State Party to considering the request in the previous decision of the World Heritage Committee has not been forthcoming to date, and that areas with potential for addition to the property have continued to be subject to logging. As the property is a mixed property, ICOMOS notes that any proposal for extension would need to consider the relevance, within the added area, of the same cultural criteria used for the inscribed property. This would have to be based on archaeological evidence resulting from adequate surveys and documentation.

In summary, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies recognize the progress made in the management of the property in response to the last Committee decision whilst noting the continued lack of agreement between the State Party, logging and conservation concerns over the management of the adjacent forest reserves and the management of the impacts of adjacent logging on the integrity of the property. The conclusion of an agreed monitoring framework involving all stakeholders, as previously requested by the World Heritage Committee appears to remain highly important to resolving these issues.