Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

• Ground transport infrastructure (proposed cableway) (issue resolved)

Following significant bushfires that affected the property, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party on 23 November 2019, requesting information on this matter. The State Party responded on 6 December 2019, noting that bushfires were still burning in several components of the property, that firefighting operations were ongoing, and that therefore an assessment of impacts on the property would only be possible at a later stage, once safe access to the burnt areas can be assured.

The State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property on 23 April 2020 and an update on 1 February 2021, both of which available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/368/documents/ and report the following:

• In the Australian spring and summer of 2019-2020, extensive fires affected approximately 53% of the property according to initial fire mapping as of February 2020. However, ground truthing has shown varied fire severity in the burnt areas. Detailed impact assessments are being undertaken to better understand the extent of the fire impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and the recovery prospects;
• Specific post-fire assessment reports have been prepared for a number of the property’s components. Assessments confirm significant impacts on some habitats and some of the components comprising the property, including Gibraltar Range National Park (90% of this component of the property was affected), Werrikimbe National Park (96%) and Mount Royal National Park (99%). Overall, the observed fires are considered unprecedented both in the size of individual fires and in their scale across the property;
• An assessment of the ecological impacts is underway, and a preliminary mapping of impacts on some species has been undertaken. A provisional list of 113 animal species identified as the highest priorities for management interventions has been released. Many of these species are specifically recognized as part of the property’s OUV and some may have been significantly affected, such as the brush-tailed rock wallaby. Encouraging signs of recovery and resilience in some areas are reported, including confirmed presences of certain rare and endangered species in the affected areas;
• A scientific workshop convened in 2018 identified climate change as the key threat to the property. A project is under development to understand projected changes in habitats and species range as a result of climate change, which includes a specific risk assessment for the property’s OUV;
• Areas recently affected by fires are also reported to be susceptible to other threats, such as spreading of invasive weeds and risk of introduction of pathogens, e.g. myrtle rust;
• The State Party’s response includes an AUD$ 50 million (approximately USD 35 million) programme to support habitat and wildlife recovery across all affected areas, including World Heritage properties in Australia. Immediate management responses have also already started in many components of the property, including activities such as weed management and supplementary feeding of the significantly affected brush-tailed rock wallabies. In the long-term, data will continue to be collected to inform longer-term recovery actions. Additional funding of AUD$ 150 million has been committed to sustain long-term recovery;
• The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements established in response to the 2019-2020 bushfires made a number of recommendations, and the State Party is undertaking a set of reforms to strengthen emergency management and climate and natural disaster risk reduction. This includes the establishment of a national resilience, relief and recovery agency and the establishment of Climate and Resilience Services Australia (CaRSA) with a mandate to connect and leverage the Australian Government’s extensive data, information and capabilities to manage climate and natural disaster risk and support national preparedness, response, relief, recovery and resilience efforts.

The unprecedented scale of fires that affected this property, which contains sensitive ecosystems not adapted to fires, is of utmost concern. It is also of concern that some components of the property appear to have been burnt almost in their entirety and that some attributes of the property’s OUV, including some species with restricted range, have been significantly affected. The additional information provided by the State Party one year after the fire events, while reporting encouraging signs of recovery in some areas, also confirmed significant impacts on some habitats and species across the property.

The comprehensive information provided by the State Party regarding the immediate management responses, the preliminary assessment and mapping of impacts, as well as funding commitments and strategies to ensure longer-term recovery is welcomed. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to provide to the World Heritage Centre an update on the process of assessing the impacts of fires on the OUV of the property and the recovery prospects for the affected attributes, as soon as any significant new information becomes available.

As acknowledged by the State Party, climate change is a key threat to the property and there is a high likelihood that droughts resulting in catastrophic fires will become more and more frequent in the future in this and other properties. It is recommended that the Committee welcome the efforts of the State Party to build understanding of projected changes as a result of climate change in relation to the property’s OUV, while undertaking reforms to strengthen climate and disaster resilience.

Acknowledging that two World Heritage properties in Australia were particularly affected by the 2019-2020 bushfire season, i.e. the Gondwana Rainforests and the Greater Blue Mountains Area, the efforts made through the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements to look at lessons learned and to develop recommendations on how to strengthen emergency management and climate and natural disaster risk reduction and implement reforms based on the experience are appreciated.

The State Party should be encouraged to share the lessons learned with other States Parties facing similar threats (also see Section II.F of Document WHC/21/44.COM/7), promoting knowledge exchange on fire management strategies for natural World Heritage properties.