The Tasmanian Government is continuing to constructively engage with the World Heritage Committee and its advisory bodies during the Committee's meeting currently being held in Bonn, Germany.
This is part of our broader process of consultation in finalising a new management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA).
Tasmania is being represented at the meeting by senior Government representative John Whittington, the Secretary for the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment.
The World Heritage Committee, the Commonwealth Government and the Tasmanian Government all want the same thing - to ensure that the Outstanding Universal Values of the TWWHA are being properly protected for the enjoyment of current and future generations of Tasmanians as well as people from all around the world.
We look forward to further constructive discussions this week including confirmation that the technical advisory bodies will take up our invitation to travel to Tasmania so they can see first-hand the efforts being made to responsibly manage the TWWHA as well as affording an opportunity for them to provide further input as we finalise the new management plan.
Importantly, we are not seeking to change the wording of the draft World Heritage Committee's decision but rather we see this week as an opportunity for further constructive engagement with the Committee and the advisory bodies in relation to the new management plan.
We recognise that the World Heritage Committee is concerned to ensure that the new plan is genuinely protective of the extraordinary natural and cultural values of the Area.
We also want to see these values protected. Our objective in developing the new management plan is to enable Tasmania to remain open to new sensitive tourism experiences within the Area while at the same time ensuring its Outstanding Universal Values are being properly protected. In working with the World Heritage Committee we want to enable the Committee to properly understand our genuine commitment to that objective.
We are also determined to ensure that culturally significant sites and values in the TWWHA are properly recognised and protected and that is why we have elevated the importance of Aboriginal cultural heritage values in the draft of the new plan. Again, this is an issue we will be pursuing strongly with the Committee.
This is an ongoing process of consultation and feedback. A process we remain fully committed to. It’s only by consulting widely and being prepared to genuinely listen that we can secure an outcome that achieves the right balance and of which Tasmania can be truly proud.
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