Tasmanian Wilderness WORLD HERITAGE AREA (AUSTRALIA) Property ID 181Bis
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Tasmanian Wilderness WORLD HERITAGE AREA (AUSTRALIA) Property ID 181bis SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION to the Proposal For A Minor Boundary Modification FOR SUBMISSION BY 28 FEBRUARY 2013 In Response to World Heritage Committee Decision 36 COM 8B.45 paragraph 4 The Denison Rain CrayfishOmbrastacoides ( denisoni), has been recorded in the Weld-Snowy Range (section 11 on Map 1). This species is more closely related to crayfish in Madagascar than to other Australian species1. Photo: Courtesy Alastair Richardson. 1 Toon, A., M. Perez-Losada,Schweitzer, C.E., Feldmann, R.M., Carlson, M. & Crandall, K.A.(2010). ‘Gondwanan radiation of the Southern Hemisphere crayfishes (Decapoda: Parastacidae): evidence from fossils and molecules.’ Journal of Biogeography 37: 2275-2290. Tasmanian Wilderness WORLD HERITAGE AREA (AUSTRALIA) Property ID 181bis SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A MINOR BOUNDARY MODIFICATION For submission by 28 February 2013 In Response to World Heritage Committee Decision 36 COM 8B.45 paragraph 4 Tasmanian © Commonwealth of Australia 2013 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Public Affairs, GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 or email [email protected] Front cover photo: Tall eucalypts in the upper reaches of the Styx Valley, snow-capped Mt Mueller in the background, some logging disturbance (Rob Blakers) Inside front cover photo: The Denison Rain CrayfishOmbrastacoides ( denisoni) (Alastair Richardson) 2 TASMANIAN WILDERNESS WORLD HERITAGE AREA (AUSTRALIA) Property ID 181bis Wilderness Australia is pleased to provide this supplementary information to support the proposal for a minor modification to the boundary of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The supplementary information was foreshadowed in the dossier provided by 1 February 2013. This document, together with the dossier Four additional maps are provided (Maps A, B, provided by 1 February 2013, is submitted for C and D) (refer to discussion in parts 3.1, 4.1 and review by the relevant Advisory Bodies and the 4.2) as well as new versions of Maps 1 and 2 (refer consideration of the World Heritage Committee part 7). These show the delimitation of the at its 37th session. original and proposed property boundaries and reflect minor refinement of the proposal. This supplementary information should be read in conjunction with the dossier. To assist this, Information is presented on the contribution to the supplementary information is presented the maintenance of the Outstanding Universal here using numbering that follows the format Value for each of the 14 sections as labelled on used in Annex 11 of the Operational Guidelines Map 1 (part 4.1). Supplementary information on for the Implementation of the World Heritage attributes of Outstanding Universal Value from Convention, and as used in the dossier. spatial analysis of data held by the Australian Government, including information on tall eucalypt forests, important habitats and species information, is presented in 4.2 together with extra information on glacial heritage. Supplementary information to the proposal for a minor boundary modification For submission to World Heritage Committee // 28 February 2013 3 Tasmanian 1. AREA OF THE PROPERTY (IN HECTARES) The dossier gave a range for the area of 170,000–174,000 hectares. Further work has been done to provide a more accurate indication of the area that now takes into account exclusions discussed below in the description of the modification. The extension to the property is 172,050 hectares. 4 TASMANIAN WILDERNESS WORLD HERITAGE AREA (AUSTRALIA) Property ID 181bis Wilderness 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE MODIFICATION The dossier provided a table of the proposed Table 1 indicates the current tenure and sections of the addition with names identifies the areas of existing forest reserve that corresponding to the labels shown on Map 1. were recommended for addition to the World More detail of the component areas within these Heritage property through the Tasmanian Forest sections, including their area has been provided Agreement 2012 (abbreviated as ‘TFA areas’). in an updated Table 1. TABLE 1: DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ADDITION Number on Map Name of Section Components Current tenure Area (hectares) 1 Nelson Falls Part of Princess River Conservation Area 2 1,116 2 Dove River TFA areas 1 2,819 Dove River Conservation Area 2 862 Swift Creek Conservation Area 2 462 Dove River Forest Reserve 3 2,415 3 Upper Mersey TFA areas 1 5,462 Borradaile Forest Reserve 3 255 4 Mole Creek Karst TFA areas 1 3,028 Mersey River Forest Reserve 3 133 Additional parts of Mole Creek Karst 2 790 National Park: Great Western Tiers Conservation Area 2 2,593 (from Mole Creek Karst NP to Meander Forest Reserve) Column 4 key to numbers: 3. Existing reserve under the Forestry Act 1920 managed by 1. Tasmanian Forests Agreement (State Forest) Forestry Tasmania 2. Existing reserve under the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Act 4. Private land managed for conservation purposes 2002 managed by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service 5. Hydro Tasmania owned and/or vested land Supplementary information to the proposal for a minor boundary modification For submission to World Heritage Committee // 28 February 2013 5 Tasmanian Number on Map Name of Section Components Current tenure Area (hectares) 5 Great Western Tiers (Northern) TFA areas 1 6,858 Great Western Tiers Conservation Area 2 5,421 (2 parts) Jackeys Creek Forest Reserve 3 213 Quamby Bluff Forest Reserve 3 945 Liffey Falls State Reserve (part outside 2 85 existing property) Bush Heritage Australia Liffey River Reserve 4 105 Bush Heritage Australia Coal Mine Creek 4 20 Reserve Tasmanian Land Conservancy Liffey reserve 4 15 5 Great Western Tiers (Eastern) TFA areas 1,5 15,736 Great Western Tiers Conservation Area 2 6,480 (3 parts) Great Lake Conservation Area (part only) 2 4,011 Jones Rivulet Conservation Area 2 64 6 Upper Derwent TFA areas 1,5 16,921 Tasmanian Land Conservancy 4 1,649 private reserve: Skullbone Plains (plus Kenneth Lagoon) Travellers Rest block (within Cradle 2 2.5 Mountain—Lake St Clair National Park) Derwent Bridge block (within Cradle 2 0.9 Mountain—Lake St Clair National Park) 7 Florentine TFA areas 1 3,952 Column 4 key to numbers: 3. Existing reserve under the Forestry Act 1920 managed by 1. Tasmanian Forests Agreement (State Forest) Forestry Tasmania 2. Existing reserve under the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Act 4. Private land managed for conservation purposes 2002 managed by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service 5. Hydro Tasmania owned and/or vested land 6 TASMANIAN WILDERNESS WORLD HERITAGE AREA (AUSTRALIA) Property ID 181bis Wilderness Number on Map Name of Section Components Current tenure Area (hectares) 8 Mount Field TFA areas 1 8,445 Mt Field National Park 2 15,809 Mariotts Falls State Reserve 2 135 Junee Cave State Reserve 2 22 Lady Binney Forest Reserve 3 379 9 Mount Wedge—Upper Florentine TFA areas 1 12,923 Mt Wedge Forest Reserve 3 11 Boyd Forest Reserve 3 10 Stringybark Forest Reserve 3 33 10 St y x-Tyenna TFA areas 1 14,460 North Styx Forest Reserve 3 4,224 Big Tree Forest Reserve 3 112 Styx Tall Trees Forest Reserve 3 337 11 Weld-Snowy Range TFA areas 1 8,710 South Weld Forest Reserve 3 47 12 Huon-Picton TFA areas (inc Warra Long Term Ecological 1 11,260 Research site) Arve Loop Forest Reserve 3 944 13 Hartz-Esperance TFA areas 1 7,234 Hastings Caves State Reserve 2 113 14 Recherche TFA areas 1 3,948 Recherche Bay Nature Recreation Area 2 482 TOTAL 172,050 Column 4 key to numbers: 3. Existing reserve under the Forestry Act 1920 managed by 1. Tasmanian Forests Agreement (State Forest) Forestry Tasmania 2. Existing reserve under the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Act 4. Private land managed for conservation purposes 2002 managed by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service 5. Hydro Tasmania owned and/or vested land Supplementary information to the proposal for a minor boundary modification For submission to World Heritage Committee // 28 February 2013 7 Tasmanian Areas not included in the FORESTRY OPERATIONS proposed addition The Warra LTER site of 15,900 ha was In preparing the proposal for the boundary designated in 1995 to encourage long-term modification the Tasmanian Government ecological research and monitoring in wet forests raised a number of issues with existing land uses in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Government contained within the proposed boundary: the requested that parts of the site be excluded from Warra Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) the proposed addition to maintain its continued site, hydro power infrastructure and electricity viability as an ecological research area. transmission lines, existing gravel quarries, The Warra LTER Site is also an integral part forestry plantations and transitional logging of a single tract of forest extending up three coupes (please refer to page 6 of the dossier). adjacent river valleys—the Picton, the Huon and MINING the Weld. The Silvicultural Systems Research Area: parts The Australian Government has a policy of not of the Warra LTER (249 hectares) which are allowing mining in World Heritage Areas. This is subject to some form of logging activity, either consistent with the World Heritage Committee’s selective, clear fall or selective island retention approach. Therefore all land parcels subject to were excluded. These areas will lie outside any existing or committed mining activity, which the perimeter of the proposed addition if it in Tasmanian legislation includes existing gravel is approved. quarries used for road construction, have been excluded from the proposed addition. As discussed on page 21 of the dossier, a small number of coupes are required to be harvested Some of these quarries have been associated with after June 2013 under transitional arrangements.