Australian authorities yesterday said there would be no logging in the World Heritage-listed Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, following recommendations in a report submitted to UNESCO.
One of the last expanses of temperate wilderness in the world, the forest in Tasmania covers about 20 percent, or 1.4 million hectares, of the southern island state.
The conservative federal government in 2014 controversially tried, but failed, to have UNESCO revoke World Heritage status for parts of the wilderness to allow more access to loggers.
It was the first time a developed country had asked for a delisting.
“Today we confirm that we accept the recommendation of the monitoring mission that special species timber harvesting should not be allowed anywhere in the world heritage area,” Tasmanian Minister for State Growth, Energy, Environment, Parks and Heritage Matthew Groom said in a statement.
“It was important that the mission experts had the opportunity to hear all sides of the debate and, having done so, their clear advice to the World Heritage Committee is that there should no timber harvesting in the world heritage area, including for specialty timbers,” he said.
The report was compiled by experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the International Council on Monuments and Sites after they visited the site in November last year.
Australian Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt yesterday said the federal government would respond to the report’s recommendations ahead of the World Heritage Committee’s July meeting on the state of the wilderness’ conservation.
The announcement came days after Australia’s parliamentary upper house said it would hold an inquiry into bushfires in the forest to investigate the impact of global warming on fire frequency and on measures to protect the area.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
RSS