The Maze - Recounting over a decade of work towards World Heritage Listing of the Blue Mountains

One of the recurring themes is the difficulty in having a commitment carried through at both State and Federal levels simultaneously - something required for submitting a World Heritage proposal to the international committee.

At all times over this period, the Colong Foundation for Wilderness filled the role of spearhead group for the campaign. Relying solely on donations from their members, the foundation commissioned a report entitled ‘Blue Mountains for World Heritage’ by Dr Geoff Mosely, which was submitted to State and Federal Governments in 1989.

This document was well received by the NSW Government and opposition of the day, however the culture of demarcation between the work of government versus non-government bodies, meant that further assessment was called for by the main environment agencies.

Hence a four year hiatus followed while NSW waited for commitment of Federal money towards further studies. With a very minimal Federal contribution, an assessment finally proceeded in 1994, with the National Herbarium briefed to examine and report on the World Heritage values of the Blue Mountains and further areas of dissected sandstone bushland in the Sydney Basin.

This comprehensive report supported the case for World Heritage values under criteria including cultural heritage and landscape evolution, but most particularly for the area’s representation of eucalypt forest diversity. The report also favoured the inclusion of several surrounding plateau areas such as Morton, Budawang, Yengo and Goulburn River National Parks and the Metropolitan water catchments.

At around the same time as this work was carried out, the significant discovery of the rare and distinct conifer the Wollemi Pine was made in a moist sheltered gorge of Wollemi National Park. This find gave a further boost to the area’s credentials as an example of stages of biological evolution, as the pine represents a relic of the dominant flora prior to the succession by sclerophyll (drought adapted, hard leaf) species.

The Fahey State Government chose to order more assessments rather than act on the report, perhaps due to elements of anti-conservation within the Coalition parties. After a change of Government in 1995, the incoming Environment Minister Pam Allan committed to seek a nomination to be submitted to the World Heritage bureau by mid 1996.

Once again, delays at the Federal level were encountered. Having put little resources into the earlier assessments, the Federal Minister decided to appoint an expert panel to give further advice. This provided little if any new information and some of its equivocal output regarding the degree of geomorphological significance led to the June 1996 nomination being missed.

At the more grass roots level, a community reference group was established by the member for Blue Mountains the Hon Bob Debus. Although yet another process, this forum allowed community groups a significant input into the ultimate development of a nomination document.

In 1998 the opportunity to submit a nomination very nearly passed by again. State and Federal agencies had decided to undertake further review work, in part because the predominant theme being pursued of eucalypt diversity was something being worked on for other forest areas of the Australian mainland and Tasmania.

The community groups however declared that ‘enough was enough’ (it had been ten years in the maze of assessment and reassessment by this time). A commitment was gained from minister Pam Allan, who instructed the NPWS to ensure a nomination was prepared for the June deadline. The one drawback of this was that the nomination area was rationalised to exclude most of the surrounding plateau areas identified in the Herbarium report.

Finally a nomination was submitted by Senator Robert Hill as Australia’s Environment Minister. And out of the domestic maze into the international one. Among the complicating factors facing the Blue Mountains nomination was the dispute over Australia’s management of the Kakadu World Heritage area due to creating excisions for uranium mining.

The international body also queried whether Australia could conceivably present an expanded nomination covering the most significant eucalypt forest areas of all of the eastern States and Western Australia. A casual look at our constitution and the various levels and shades of government that would need to cooperate for this to occur, shows that such a nomination will only work in incremental stages if at all - ie following on from a Blue Mountains listing with other suitable areas like the Alps and South-East Forests over time.

It appears this practicality was ultimately appreciated, as was Australia’s case that our diverse and unique eucalypt forests are World Heritage material, because the nomination was finally accepted in November last year.

Making up Australia’s twelfth World Heritage property are Wollemi, Yengo, Gardens of Stone, Blue Mountains, Kanangra Boyd, Nattai and Thirlmere Lakes National Parks and the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Area.