Whither forests of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area?

摘要

As Tim Bonyhady concluded over two decades ago: Forests declared as national parks ... can be stripped of these protections ... Because government cannot be trusted to protect even those areas identified as the common heritage of mankind, conservationists are destined to fight again and again for places they believe worth keeping. The Abbott Government's early approach to World Heritage properties, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Tasmanian forests, demonstrates Professor Bonyhady's foresight. This article briefly explains how Australia has asked the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to excise forests from the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA), in order to reopen them for forestry. In particular, the article summarises: 1. the addition to the TWWHA of iconic Tasmanian forests World Heritage listed in June 2013; 2. the Abbott government's requested excision of 74,000 ha of these forests in January 2014; 3. the World Heritage Convention process for boundary modification; and 4. the legal consequences of the excision effort.