Caring for Place: Negotiating World Heritage on Lord Howe Island
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University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2011 Caring for Place: Negotiating World Heritage on Lord Howe Island Lucy Farrier University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/thsci University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. 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For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Caring for Place: Negotiating World Heritage on Lord Howe Island Abstract Lord Howe Island, located 700 kilometres north east of Sydney, New South Wales, is part of the World Heritage listed Lord Howe Island Group. In 1982 the Lord Howe Island Group was listed under the World Heritage Convention for its outstanding ‘natural’ heritage values. Since the listing, the World Heritage Convention has revisited the concept of ‘nature’ as the sole criterion for the designation of World Heritage, by embracing the concept of ‘cultural landscape’. However, this has no retrospective effect and therefore has not affected the listing of the Lord Howe Island Group. Consequently, despite a cultural heritage of over 180 years of European settlement, Lord Howe Island’s ‘cultural landscape’ and ‘intangible heritage’ are not valued in the process of managing it as a World Heritage Site. This thesis explores the consequences of environmental management processes arising from World Heritage listing which presently operate to marginalise, if not silence, Islander knowledge and how Islanders and other residents care for the Island. To do so, the project invited all Island residents, including those employed in ‘environmental management’ positions, to talk about what and how they care for the Island. The project required the development of a methodology that employed mixed-methods, and, crucially, was mindful of the concept of islandness, that is the cultural protocols of island places. Applying a form of narrative analysis, the results explore the differences and similarities between how ‘Islanders’ and other residents, on the one hand, and ‘environmental managers’ on the other, talk about nature, the Island, boundaries, plants, animals and World Heritage. Case studies illustrate how ‘environmental managers’ and other Island residents, particularly ‘Islanders’, draw on different knowledge- making practices to care for the Island and how this often results in disagreement over what should be protected, and what belongs and does not belong on the Island. This thesis suggests contemporary concepts of World Heritage, including ‘cultural landscape’ and ‘intangible heritage’, offer a mechanism whereby the process of environmental management of Lord Howe Island can engage with different knowledges of caring for the Island. Degree Type Thesis Degree Name Bachelor of Science (Honours) Department School of Earth & Environmental Sciences Keywords islanders, cultural, heritage, values This thesis is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/thsci/23 Faculty of Science Caring for Place: Negotiating World Heritage on Lord Howe Island Lucy Farrier This is a Bachelor of Science, Land and Heritage Management Honours Thesis from the University of Wollongong submitted in part fulfilment for the degree of BSc LAHM (Hons). October 2011 The information in this thesis is entirely the result of investigations conducted by the author, unless otherwise acknowledged, and has not been submitted in part, or otherwise, for any other degree or qualification. Signed: .................................... 12th October 2011 2 ABSTRACT Lord Howe Island, located 700 kilometres north east of Sydney, New South Wales, is part of the World Heritage listed Lord Howe Island Group. In 1982 the Lord Howe Island Group was listed under the World Heritage Convention for its outstanding ‘natural’ heritage values. Since the listing, the World Heritage Convention has revisited the concept of ‘nature’ as the sole criterion for the designation of World Heritage, by embracing the concept of ‘cultural landscape’. However, this has no retrospective effect and therefore has not affected the listing of the Lord Howe Island Group. Consequently, despite a cultural heritage of over 180 years of European settlement, Lord Howe Island’s ‘cultural landscape’ and ‘intangible heritage’ are not valued in the process of managing it as a World Heritage Site. This thesis explores the consequences of environmental management processes arising from World Heritage listing which presently operate to marginalise, if not silence, Islander knowledge and how Islanders and other residents care for the Island. To do so, the project invited all Island residents, including those employed in ‘environmental management’ positions, to talk about what and how they care for the Island. The project required the development of a methodology that employed mixed-methods, and, crucially, was mindful of the concept of islandness, that is the cultural protocols of island places. Applying a form of narrative analysis, the results explore the differences and similarities between how ‘Islanders’ and other residents, on the one hand, and ‘environmental managers’ on the other, talk about nature, the Island, boundaries, plants, animals and World Heritage. Case studies illustrate how ‘environmental managers’ and other Island residents, particularly ‘Islanders’, draw on different knowledge- making practices to care for the Island and how this often results in disagreement over what should be protected, and what belongs and does not belong on the Island. This thesis suggests contemporary concepts of World Heritage, including ‘cultural landscape’ and ‘intangible heritage’, offer a mechanism whereby the process of environmental management of Lord Howe Island can engage with different knowledges of caring for the Island. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research would not have been possible without the enthusiastic cooperation of the Lord Howe Island residents who participated in this project. Thank you for your time, trust and hospitality (including the endless cups of tea and Island delicacies!). I feel privileged to have heard your stories. A special thank you to Robyn and Peter Curtin who first introduced me to the wonders of Lord Howe Island and encouraged me to take an interest in its environmental management and social history. I would especially like to thank Daphne Nichols for welcoming me to the Island and making me feel at home during my stay there. I really enjoyed learning about the social history of the Island. Thank you to the staff of the Lord Howe Island Board and the Marine Parks Authority for generously giving their time to participate in interviews and answer other questions relating to the management of the Island, as well as giving me access to documents. Thank you to the Lord Howe Island Museum staff and volunteers, particularly Ian Hutton and Robyn Warner, for assisting me in my search for archival material and other written sources. Michael Adams and Gordon Waitt supervised this project. I will be forever grateful for their help, support and guidance throughout this challenging and sometimes overwhelming honours year. Thank you for the weekly conversations which both inspired me and kept me sane! I could not have hoped for a better pair of supervisors. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their ongoing enthusiasm and encouragement. I would particularly like to thank my parents David and Denise for their help and support and for always believing in me. And thank you to Matt for joining me on this adventure. 4 EXPLANATORY NOTE A better understanding of management policies of Lord Howe Island as a World Heritage designated site is both complex and challenging. This document is a BSc Honours undergraduate thesis, completed in approximately nine months. Within these limitations, it is not possible to engage with and examine all aspects of such complexities and challenges. The research paradigm used in this project is qualitative (not quantitative). This project uses appropriate and rigorous qualitative research methods to