[June 24, 2014]
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The United Nations has
unanimously rejected an Australian proposal to revoke
the heritage status of 74,000 hectares (183,000 acres)
of Tasmania's rainforest and enable them to be reopened
to logging.
Added to the World Heritage List in 1982, the Tasmanian Wilderness
'constitutes one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the
world', says U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, and sprawls over more than
one million hectares (2.47 million acres), or a fifth of the island.
At a meeting in Doha, Germany, Colombia and Portugal were among the
members of the U.N. agency's World Heritage Committee to argue
against the proposal to waive protection for some areas, Australian
media said on Tuesday.
"The justifications presented for the reduction are, to say the
least, feeble," Fairfax Media quoted the Portuguese delegation as
saying.
"Accepting this de-listing today would be setting an unacceptable
precedent impossible to deny in similar circumstances in the
future."
The area is part of the 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) added to
the World Heritage Area in 2013 by Australia's previous federal and
state Labor governments in a deal between environmentalists and the
timber industry, which forms a key part of Tasmania's economy.
"This is a great win for the forests, for wildlife and for
Tasmania," Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne said in a
statement, adding that Prime Minister Tony Abbott should now commit
to funding to look after the site.
In its 2013 election campaign, Australia's ruling Liberal National
Party pledged to ask UNESCO to reduce the extension, arguing that
the area had already been disturbed by prior logging and
degradation.
The Australian government was disappointed by the U.N. decision and
would study it before taking the next step, Prime Minister Tony
Abbott told reporters in Canberra.
"We're disappointed with the decision, but the application that we
made to remove from the boundaries of the World Heritage listing
areas of degraded forest, areas of plantation timber - we thought
was self-evidently sensible," Abbott said.
"We'll be carefully looking at the decision and deciding what's best
now."
The delisting move had roused domestic opposition, Greens leader
Milne added.
"We've seen thousands of Australians hit the streets in support of
these forests and a Senate inquiry into the delisting proposal
received thousands of submissions against it."
UNESCO annually inscribes sites on its World Heritage List in
recognition of their outstanding universal value to humanity and to
encourage citizens and states to preserve them for future
generations.
A country may also receive advice and financial support from UNESCO
to preserve a World Heritage site.
Last week, the agency deferred until next year a decision on whether
to rate as endangered another world heritage site in Australia, the
Great Barrier Reef, over planned coastal developments, including the
building of ports and natural gas facilities.
(Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
