wh theme rationale methodology & approach scoping study ... · morning herald, 1 may, 1939) ......

WORLD HERITAGE THEME: THE EVOLUTION OF CONSERVATION PHILOSOPHY AND PROTECTED AREAS

RATIONALE, METHODOLOGY & APPROACH FOR A FUTURE SCOPING STUDY Final Report 12 May 2016

Prepared for NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

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WORLD HERITAGE THEME SCOPING STUDY — RATIONALE & APPROACH

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Cover Photo: Bushwalkers on the track to South Era, National Park, 1939 (Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 1 May, 1939)

Report Register

This report register documents the development and issue of the report entitled World Heritage Theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas — Scoping Study Justification Report, undertaken by Context Pty Ltd in accordance with our internal quality management system.

Project No.

Issue No.

Notes/description Issue Date Issued to

2089 1 Draft Report 12 April 2016 Olwen Beazley, OEH

2089 2 Revised Draft Report 29 April 2016 Olwen Beazley, OEH

2089 3 Final Report 12 May 2016 Olwen Beazley, OEH

Context Pty Ltd 2016

Project Team:

Dr Anita Smith is the principal author of this report

Geoff Ashley

Chris Johnston

Context Pty Ltd 22 Merri Street, Brunswick 3056

Phone 03 9380 6933 Facsimile 03 9380 4066

Email [email protected] Web www.contextpl.com.au

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CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY V

Findings in relation to a future Thematic Study v Findings in relation to a Scoping Study vi Focus for a Scoping Study vi In Conclusion vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1 1.2 Terminology 2 1.3 Project Genesis: Previous assessments of the potential for the RNP&R to be of Outstanding Universal Value 4

2 RATIONALE FOR INITIATING A SCOPING STUDY 5

2.1 Why is the World Heritage potential of the theme relevant to Australia? 5 2.2 Why complete a Scoping Study prior to seeking support for a full Thematic Study? 6

3 POTENTIAL WORLD HERITAGE VALUE OF THE THEME 7

3.1 Investigating the Global Significance of the Theme ‘The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’ 7 3.2 Relevance of the theme to current World Heritage programs 12 3.3 What gap on the World Heritage List would the theme fill? 13

4 METHODOLOGY: PROPOSED APPROACH FOR THE SCOPING STUDY 15

4.1 Thematic Studies in World Heritage 15 4.2 A Chronological and Thematic Approach in the Scoping Study 16

Chronological Framework 16 Thematic framework 20

4.3 Identifying representative places 21

5 APPROACH: REPRESENTATIVE PLACE EXAMPLES 25

5.1 Introduction 25 5.2 Bialowieza National Park, Poland 25 5.3 Mt Wuyi, China 26 5.4 The Lake District, Great Britain 26 5.5 Antarctica 27

6 NEXT STEPS 29

6.1 Summary findings 29 6.2 Focus for a Scoping Study 29 6.3 In Conclusion 30

7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 31

7.1 Journal articles, books, book chapters, reports 31 7.2 Relevant web sites 34

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In October 2013 the Minister for the Environment announced Australia’s intention to prepare a World Heritage nomination for Royal National Park and Reserves (RNP&R). A series of technical reports were then prepared that, while not providing direct support for the inclusion of RNP&R on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative list, did conclude, in part, that:

There is potential for the World Heritage Committee to look favourably on a transnational serial nomination of places associated with the development and evolution of environmental conservation philosophy and protected areas across the world.

On the basis of that finding the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage commissioned this report to provide a rationale, methodology and approach for a Scoping Study associated with the theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas as a precursor to a full Thematic Study. This report:

demonstrates the potential and relevance of this theme for World Heritage

demonstrates the benefits of preparing a Scoping Study prior to a full Thematic Study

demonstrates the relevance and benefits for Australia in taking the lead in undertaking a Scoping Study

provides illustrative examples of sub-themes and representative places reflecting this potential World Heritage Theme, and

outlines essential elements for consideration in the preparation of a Scoping Study, including consultation and timing.

Should Australia wish to promote and seek support for a Thematic Study, a Scoping Study will provide justification for the World Heritage significance of the theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas.

Findings in relation to a future Thematic Study Thematic studies explore heritage values and their expression in places or sites. In the context of World Heritage, thematic studies provide background information and guidance to assist the World Heritage Committee in their decisions in relation to World Heritage nominations and future inscriptions.

The research presented in this report supports the potential for the theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas to be considered in the context of World Heritage. It also demonstrates the value in exploring this theme, with the support of the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee and relevant States Parties, through a Thematic Study.

The literature review for this report has identified a large number of publications that explore the history of approaches to the protection and conservation of nature at national and international levels and supports a conclusion that the protection of natural areas can be considered a universal human phenomenon. The research undertaken in this report has also found that cultural values associated with the protection and conservation of natural areas are significantly underrepresented on the World Heritage List and, therefore, a Thematic Study is warranted to explore and address this gap.

The literature review to identify places that are representative of the theme confirms that many of Australia’s protected areas have values associated with the theme. A future Thematic Study of the Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas will identify Australian sites that have internationally significant values under this theme and may provide the basis for nomination (or renomination) of protected areas in Australia individually or as a component of a transnational serial World Heritage nomination.

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Findings in relation to a Scoping Study The analysis completed for this report strongly argues that a Scoping Study is warranted to provide greater conceptual clarity around the potential new theme and a solid basis for Australia to promote the value in a future Thematic Study to the World Heritage Committee and Advisory Bodies. A Scoping Study will provide justification for the World Heritage significance of the proposed new theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas.

This research indicates that a Scoping Study would assist in resolving issues around whether there is potential for Royal National Park & Reserves to meet the threshold for inscription on the World Heritage List as part of a transnational serial listing.

Focus for a Scoping Study A Scoping Study would provide a strong foundation for a Thematic Study of The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas, by further elaborating the World Heritage potential of the theme and in particular, in relation to the concept of universal value. To achieve this, a Scoping Study would:

Expand the literature review in Section 3.1 to further emphasise the global relevance of the theme through inclusion of histories of conservation and examples of protected areas that represent all geo-cultural regions and in particular Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Central and South America.

Refine and, if warranted, expand the sub-themes and historical phases of the thematic and chronological framework outlined in Section 4.2 to ensure that the diversity of cultural values associated with, and evolving approaches to, protection and conservation of natural places are recognised within the framework.

Use the methodology proposed in Section 4 to extend and further develop the indicative list of places included in Table 1 and further discussed in Section 5 to illustrate of the diversity of sites and tangible evidence associated with the theme.

To ensure the viability of a draft Scoping Study, the national committees of the Advisory Bodies - ICOMOS and IUCN – through their national committees should be advised of the project at an early stage and presented with the draft for review and comment before finalisation.

It is anticipated that a Scoping Study would take in the order of six months to complete.

In Conclusion A future proposal to the World Heritage Committee for a Thematic Study will require considerable international support. To achieve this, Australia will need to promote the Scoping Study to States Parties with a particular interest in the theme, the international committees of the Advisory Bodies and experts in the history of environmental conservation, cultural landscapes, Indigenous values and World Heritage.

Should the international community and the World Heritage Committee support a Thematic Study, the Committee may request the Advisory Bodies to commission experts to undertake the Study. Alternatively, a State Party may commission the Thematic Study specifically to support a World Heritage nomination. Thematic studies commonly take a year to eighteen months to complete.

Alongside the annual World Heritage Committee meetings, international scientific and academic conferences provide ideal forums to promote the importance of the theme, and the outcomes of the Scoping Study and to build awareness of, and interest in a future Thematic Study.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawai’i in September 2016 would provide an excellent opportunity for Australia to gauge this interest either through a Scoping Study (if complete) or the findings of this report.

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background The Minister for the Environment announced Australia’s intention to prepare a World Heritage nomination for Royal National Park and Reserves (RNP&R) on 8 October 2013. GML Heritage and a team of experts then prepared a Tentative List Submission report in October 2014. Context Pty Ltd was engaged to prepare a Peer Review of the GML Heritage report and a subsequent Additional Review in May 2015.

The Additional Review of the Royal National Park and Reserves (RNP&R) by Context Pty Ltd in 2015 found that:

There is potential for the World Heritage Committee to look favourably on a transnational serial nomination of places associated with the development and evolution of environmental conservation philosophy and protected areas across the world. Further research is needed to justify and demonstrate the case for OUV of the theme and the selection of component sites in a series of sites demonstrating the theme. A Thematic Study would be needed to define and explore the theme and sub-themes and identify the places that in their associations and tangible evidence, best demonstrate key aspects of the theme, and may therefore be considered as components of the transnational serial nomination.

On the basis of that finding the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage commissioned Context to prepare this report to demonstrate and support the need for a Scoping Study as a precursor to a full Thematic Study ‘The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’.

The aim of a Scoping Study would be to demonstrate the relevance of the theme to World Heritage and to gain support for a future full Thematic Study from the World Heritage Committee and the Advisory Bodies. While the above background provides an explanation of the identification of this need, as part of its rationale, this report identifies a number of specific benefits for Australia if it was to take the lead in undertaking a Scoping Study as a first stage in an eventual Thematic Study.

As such, this report provides something akin to a ‘research design’ for a future Scoping Study by:

1. Demonstrating the potential and relevance of the theme for World Heritage

2. Demonstrating the benefits of preparing a Scoping Study prior to a full Thematic Study

3. Demonstrating the relevance and benefits for Australia in taking the lead in undertaking the Scoping Study

4. Providing illustrative examples of sub-themes and representative places reflecting this potential World Heritage Theme, and

5. Outlining essential elements for consideration in a Scoping Study.

This report was prepared by Dr Anita Smith, heritage consultant and Senior Lecturer, La Trobe University with Geoff Ashley, heritage consultant and Chris Johnston, Principal Consultant/Director, Context Pty. Ltd. 1

1 Anita Smith and Geoff Ashley were also authors of the Context Pty Ltd (2014) Peer Review of the Royal National Park and Reserves World Heritage Tentative List Submission, Final Draft Report October 2014, prepared for OEH by GML Heritage. Anita Smith was the principal author of an Additional Review (2015) in association with Geoff Ashley and Chris Johnston of Context.

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1.2 Terminology Protected Area According to the IUCN definition a protected area is

a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values (Juffe-Bignoli, D. et al. 2014:9).

Protected areas take on many different forms, including national parks, wilderness areas, community conserved areas, nature reserves and privately owned reserves. Protected areas also include those specifically identified for their cultural heritage values. Examples include historic sites, such as the historic gold mining town of Hill End north of Bathurst NSW as well as many Aboriginal places throughout NSW. Both of these types of protected places are protected under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NPW Act) for both their tangible and intangible heritage attributes.

Protected areas or the human protection of ‘natural’ places or environments is recognised as a global or universal phenomenon (Phillips 2009), not confined to a specific culture or region and known to have existed for much of human history

Protected areas provide a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits to people and communities worldwide. They are a tried and tested approach that has been applied for centuries to conserve nature and associated cultural resources by local communities, indigenous peoples, governments and other organizations.2

Communities, societies and cultures have throughout history protected natural resources, places, landscapes and seascapes for diverse cultural and social reasons. In many instances it has been this historical protection and management that has conserved what is now characterised as the biodiversity and ecosystems valued and protected under international and national systems of environmental protection.

This universal phenomenon or theme is not specifically recognised in the OUV of cultural, natural or mixed properties on the World Heritage List even where it is the historical protection of a property that has enabled a property to meet the threshold for inscription on natural criteria.

There now an estimated 200,000 protected areas world-wide (UNEP, IUCN, WCPA 2014) and these cover around 14.6% of the world’s land and around 2.8% of the oceans. Of these only 197 natural properties, 32 mixed properties and around 100 cultural landscapes are inscribed on the World Heritage List, a tiny proportion of what is recognised as the global and arguably universal human phenomenon of valuing, protecting and managing natural places. No property inscribed on the World Heritage List is considered of outstanding universal value as an outstanding or representative expression of, or for its association with, the nature conservation or the environmental movement.

World Heritage Criteria Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List must be considered of Outstanding Universal Value against one or more of the following ten World Heritage criteria. Criteria (i) – (vi) are cultural criteria, criteria (vii) – (x) are natural criteria (that is, they apply to cultural or natural places respectively).

2 http://worldparkscongress.org/about/what_are_protected_areas.html

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The Criteria (i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

(vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

(vii) to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;

(viii) to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;

(ix) to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;

(x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

World Heritage Committee and Advisory Bodies The World Heritage Committee is the decision-making body in relation to World Heritage and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention elected by the UNESCO General Assembly.

The World Heritage Convention names three expert Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee:

ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments and Sites) advises the Committee in relation to nominations on cultural criteria and the conservation and management of properties inscribed on cultural criteria

IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) advises the Committee in relation to nominations on natural criteria and the conservation and management of properties inscribed on natural criteria

ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) provides expert advice on how to conserve World Heritage properties and training in restoration techniques.

Scoping Studies A scoping study is a preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of a future study. Scoping studies include mapping of key concepts underpinning the topic or research area; identification of main sources and types of evidence available; and synthesis and analysis of research and non-research material to provide greater conceptual clarity about the topic and the value of a future study.

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Thematic Studies Thematic studies are research to explore the heritage values of historic, social or scientific themes and the expression of these values in places or sites. In the context of World Heritage, thematic studies provide a background information and guidance to assist the World Heritage Committee in their decisions in relation to World Heritage nominations. Similarly the Australian Heritage Council commissions expert thematic studies to assist the Council in identifying places for consideration for inclusion in the National and Commonwealth Heritage Lists. The aims and methodology for World Heritage thematic studies, and relevant examples are discussed in Section 4.1.

1.3 Project Genesis: Previous assessments of the potential for the RNP&R to be of Outstanding Universal Value The Tentative List submission report for RNP&R (GML Heritage October 2014) and the subsequent reviews of this submission (Context 2014, 2015) have concluded that on current evidence, the RNP & P would be unlikely to meet the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value if nominated alone or as a component of either a national serial nomination on natural criteria (ix) and (x) or as a transnational serial nomination on cultural criterion (vi).

With reference to cultural criterion (vi), Context (2015) concluded that while the values of the RNP&R as one of a series of early National Parks may be articulated under criterion (vi), a serial transnational nomination of early National Parks possibly including RNP&R is lacking on the basis that:

a) early National Parks per se, alone or in a series, are unlikely to be of OUV as evidence of the existence of, or result from, a ‘Global National Parks Movement’ (term suggested by GML October 2014)

b) comparative analysis with other places of similar values would be required to justify the inclusion of RNP&R in such a series.

The review undertaken by Context in 2015 did however identify the potential for the World Heritage Committee to look favourably on a transnational serial nomination under the broader theme of the development and evolution of environmental conservation philosophy and protected areas across the world that could potentially include the RNP&R provided that the relevance of the theme for World Heritage was first demonstrated through a thematic study.

A thematic study would:

define and explore the potential universal values of the theme, and

identify the places that in their associations and tangible evidence, best demonstrate key aspects of the theme, and may therefore be considered as components of a transnational serial nomination.

The review further proposed that an initial Scoping Study of the theme ‘the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas’ be undertaken to explore the relevance of the theme for World Heritage and to provide a sound basis for Australia to gain support from World Heritage Committee, the Advisory Bodies and other States Parties for a full thematic study.

This report finds that completing a Scoping Study prior to a Thematic Study on ‘the evolution of environmental conservation philosophy and protected areas’ within the context of the World Heritage Convention:

1. Would be to Australia’s benefit as it will build a strong argument and justification for seeking national and international support for the full Thematic Study, and

2. The theme is both relevant and timely for consideration by the World Heritage Committee and the Advisory Bodies, ICOMOS and IUCN.

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2 RATIONALE FOR INITIATING A SCOPING STUDY

2.1 Why is the World Heritage potential of the theme relevant to Australia? The theme has particular relevance to Australia and for many Australian protected areas because of Australia’s international leadership in the conservation and management of natural values prior to, and with the establishment of the World Heritage system.

There are more than 10,000 protected areas covering more than 137 million hectares or over 17 per cent of Australia. Of this area nearly 70 per cent of protected area on mainland Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or state and territory governments3. These include the Royal National Park, the world’s second oldest National Park and 16 World Heritage properties 16 that are inscribed on natural criteria; four which are mixed sites, also inscribed on Indigenous cultural values and jointly managed with Indigenous communities/Traditional Owners.

Australia has consistently played a leading role in the protection and management of natural values in the World Heritage system, successfully nominating three natural and one mixed site in the first four years of the World Heritage List including the Great Barrier Reef, the first inscription of a marine property. Australia’s successful renomination of Uluru as an Indigenous cultural landscape (the second World Heritage cultural landscape after Tongariro, Aotearoa/New Zealand) was a milestone in the international recognition of Indigenous custodianship, values and systems of land use and management. The recent IUCN Australia publication Keeping the Outstanding Exceptional: The Future of World Heritage in Australia (Figgis et al 2012) celebrates and signposts Australia’s leadership in best practice in the protection of natural values and highlights the important role of communities in campaigns for World Heritage that ‘define the evolution of modern conservation’ (Boyd and Henry 2012:32).

During Australia’s most recent term as a member of the World Heritage Committee, Australia made an active contribution to policy discussion in many areas (Australian Government n.d.) notably in relation to connecting natural and cultural values, support for thematic studies to identify priorities in the assessment and management of the aesthetic values of places inscribed under Criterion vii (Mitchell et al 2013; Context 2013). Australia has and continues to provide active support for customary and traditional systems of management of protected areas in the Pacific Islands, notably East Rennell World Heritage Area; the first property to be inscribed on natural criteria under customary protection (see Section 3).

A thematic study of the ‘Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’ will identify protected areas in Australia that have internationally significant values under this theme. Along with a number of Australia’s World Heritage properties that are milestones in the development of international approaches to conservation and management of natural values (discussed further in Section 3) previous studies have also identified Royal National Park, South West Tasmania and Australia’s Antarctic Territory as internationally significant in the historical development of the international system of protected areas. There is potential for a thematic study to provide the basis for nomination (or renomination) of protected areas in Australia individually or as a component of a transnational serial nomination. The theme may be especially relevant in recognising potential outstanding universal value in protected areas that do not meet the threshold for inscription on natural criteria but are otherwise internationally significant in relation to the evolution of conservation philosophy.

3 http://www.environment.gov.au/land/nrs/about-nrs/ownership

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2.2 Why complete a Scoping Study prior to seeking support for a full Thematic Study? World Heritage thematic studies are usually prepared by ICOMOS or IUCN with the endorsement of the World Heritage Committee. States Parties may also prepare a thematic study to explore and/or to demonstrate the World Heritage potential of a theme, identify places representative of the theme and provide a framework for comparative analysis in the nomination of a place associated with the theme.

Thematic studies require significant resources. Regardless of whether an Advisory Body or a State Party prepares a thematic study, the future use of the study in the development and evaluation of successful World Heritage nominations will be dependent on generating international and national interest in and support for the study including (at least in principle) that of the World Heritage Committee, the Advisory Bodies, States Parties who may have an interest in the theme and other stakeholders.

A Scoping Study will enable Australia to further explore the World Heritage potential of the theme and generate evidence of its potential to lead to successful nominations prior to seeking broad local and international support for a thematic study. A Scoping Study would provide a platform for engaging and strengthening relationships with the Advisory Bodies and States Parties with an interest in the theme.

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3 POTENTIAL WORLD HERITAGE VALUE OF THE THEME

3.1 Investigating the Global Significance of the Theme ‘The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’ The aim of the Scoping Study would be to provide a solid foundation on which to argue the global significance of the theme, that is that the theme is of universal value and therefore relevant to World Heritage. Clearly a theme that has global significance will be the subject of a large body of literature.

A search of library and journal databases and web sites was conducted to establish the nature and extent of the literature that may be considered in researching the history of conservation philosophy and the appreciation and protection of natural places and landscapes. This search has identified a wide range of publications that are relevant to the theme including an extensive range of histories, reports, and journal articles (see Section 7 Bibliography below). In their scope, quantity and content, these publications provide a very strong argument for the global significance of the theme.

In a Short history of the international systems of protected areas management categories Adrian Phillips (2004), a former Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas argues that the protection of special places is a universal phenomenon, protected areas being ‘cultural artefacts and their story is entwined with that of human civilisation’ (2004:12). He notes that in India royal decrees protected certain areas 2000 years ago while in Europe, rich and powerful people protected hunting grounds for a thousand years and communities in the Pacific Islands and Africa have long protected natural places and resources through such concepts as tapu areas and sacred groves respectively.

Phillips’ (2004) history and his earlier paper with Ian Holdgate, (1999) are concerned primarily with the origin and genesis of IUCN’s international system of classification for protected areas, but as they make clear, both the international system and its defining concept of biodiversity are mid-late 20th century expressions of a far longer history of conservation ideals and practices that reflect changing philosophical approaches to nature, science and the human use of natural resources, particularly since the 18th century.

These evolving philosophical approaches frame or are implicit in many national histories of environmental protection. The focus of individual histories varies, detailing origins of conservation in community activism and appreciation of the natural environment (Boyd and Henry 2012, Rootes 2015); the beginnings and genesis of government programs for conservation and legal protection for natural heritage (Hutton and Connors 1999,); the increasingly scientific approach to conserving the environment in the 20th century and other national milestones or events including successful World Heritage nominations that have changed general attitudes around the appreciation, protection and management of the environment (Boyd and Henry 2012, Bowen and Bowen 2002; Phillips 2004, Sellars 1997).

The commemorative histories, The National Parks: Shaping the System (US Department of the Interior 2005) and the Europarc Federation’s 100 years of National Parks in Europe (2009) look specifically at the historical development of the national parks from their initial establishment in the late-19th in North America, and early 20th century in Europe as a means to protect natural landscapes and, importantly, to facilitate their use and enjoyment by the public.

This early emphasis on enabling and facilitating visitor experience and enjoyment of the natural landscape is similarly apparent in the establishment of Royal National Park in Australia in 1879 (Mosley 2012). In Australia and North America, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, enhancing the visitor experience, achieved through the addition of paths, built structures and guest houses (such as the famous Banff Springs Hotel in Canada, constructed in 1888 in Northern America’s second national park), gardens, shelters and in some cases the introduction of exotic animals characteristic of the European landscape.

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National park designers not only adopted naturalistic principles and practices but also advances them by forging a cohesive ethic of naturalism which simultaneously applied to the design of structure, the construction of roads and trails and the successful blending of constructed and natural features of the park. Their work was aimed at presenting the scenic beauty of the parks and enhancing the visitors' experience while preserving the natural features (Flint McClelland 1998:18).

While the history of formal protection through the creation of legal frameworks and designated areas, exemplified in the national parks movement has commonalities in Europe and North America, Australia and New Zealand, many histories point to differences in the philosophical approaches to nature, landscape aesthetics and the evolution of traditions of landscape appreciation in Europe and North America (for example Sellars 1997). These differences in turn reflect different national histories, land tenures and land uses. In North America, ‘protected areas were about safeguarding dramatic and sublime scenery; in Europe, landscape protection was more common’ (Phillips 2004:12).

In North America, the European exploration and settlement of the West in the mid-19th century revealed spectacular natural areas, vast landscapes that fuelled appreciation for ‘unspoiled’ nature popularized in landscape paintings such as those of George Caitlin and Thomas Cole and writers such as James Fenimore Cooper and Henry David Thoreau (United States Department of the Interior 2005). Their romantic visions of wilderness as an uninhabited Eden were widely popular (Flint McClelland 1998; Judd 1997). Outdoor enthusiasts argued for these landscapes to be set aside for the benefit and pleasures of vacationing Americans but

[m]ore than ‘great pleasuregrounds for the benefit and enjoyment of the people’4 the first national parks were places where summer pilgrims could go to share their national identity and appreciation for natural beauty . . . Yosemite Valley, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the ragged peaks of the northern Rocky Mountains provided the basic elements of a scenic anthem that praised the grandeur and power of the United States (Spence 1999:4).

Similarly in Australia, an appreciation of nature as wilderness has been associated with the European exploration and settlement of the continent but as Mosley (2012) argues the creation of Royal National Park also reflects European approaches to landscape and recreation, notably the

then widespread belief in England and its colonies that parks and reserves had an important role to play as sanitary measures through the way they could help counter the adverse health effects of urban living conditions and particularly the prevalent miasmas believed to be caused by air and water pollution (2012:24).

In Europe, the Romanticism of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, reflected in the romantic literary tradition epitomised by the writings of William Wordsworth, is directly associated with landscape aesthetics and appreciation in the 19th century (Burchhardt 2002; Darby 2000) and the a growing appreciation of nature, in which the visible landscape symbolises human attributes blending the natural object and human feeling (Lothian 1999:15). Robinson (2011) argues this romantic tradition fed the urban population’s increasing desire to access nature and to experience the landscape for health and recreation and was a direct consequence of increasing industrialisation throughout the 19th early 20th centuries. From romanticism came a celebration of wild nature, from Wordsworth’s presentation of the Lake District during the 19th century to the cultural landscape conservation of the Lake District in the 1950s (Adams and Mulligan 2003:8).

In this way British nature conservation

4 ‘Organic Act’ creating Yellowstone National Park, March 1, 1872 (Culpin 2003)

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inherited both a romantic tradition that has descried the impact of ‘modernisation’ and a scientific rational tradition that seeks to manage nature for human enjoyment and material benefit (Adams and Mulligan 2003:8).

Evans (2002:6) sees the history of nature conservation in Britain as having been moulded by ‘the sportsman and the rambler; the day tripper and the country dweller, the town planner and occasionally the conservationist’.

Community activism features in, and in some cases is the subject histories of conservation, protected areas and the environmental movement. The early national park histories emphasise the central role of naturalists, walking groups, tourists and other community groups in pressuring governments to take formal measures to protect the natural landscape and associating the responsibility for protection of natural areas with national governments and concept of nationalism (Sellars 1997,Europarc 2009; Moseley 2012; Figgis et al. 2012). New Zealand’s first national park, Tongariro National Park, created in 1887, was gifted to the Crown by Maori traditional owners on the provision that that a legally protected area be established there5.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, explorers and scientists had also become major advocates for conservation (Phillips 2004). Scientific expeditions commonly funded by collecting institutions in Europe or North America to the colonies in Africa, South America and Asia were recording and classifying new species and new geological formations but at the same time witnessing their potential extinction through hunting and land clearance and destruction through tourism respectively. Many scientists and lay people became vocal public advocates for preservation and protection of signature species and landscapes, their efforts resulting in the establishment of game reserves in Africa and India including Kruger National Park in South Africa in 1898; the now World Heritage site of Virunga in 1925 in the then Belgian Colony of Congo6; and Hailey National Park (now Jim Corbett National Park) in India in 19367.

Web searches of national parks, reserves and other protected areas in different countries and/or regions provide valuable detail on the histories and values of individual sites and references to other sources of information about the place. These searches revealed and confirmed commonalities in the history of approaches to conservation and especially in relation to national parks in the former colonies in Africa, India and South America.

The focus of many histories describing and/or analysing approaches to conservation and protected areas during the 20th century is the rise of the environmental movement and the development of international systems of the protection of ‘nature’ especially since the Second World War (Christoffersen 1997; IUCN2010; Haq and Paul 2013; Holdgate and Phillips 1997). In essence this is a story of the shift from diverse local community appreciation, use and management of land and natural resources to coordinated national systems of protection and finally a global system of protected areas, that is, from opportunistic protection through community activism and cultural protocol to scientifically informed, targeted and systematic protection and conservation through internationally agreed systems and approaches, intergovernmental agreements and international law.

Conservation [in the 20th century] started from trying to solve the problem of extinction of big inspiring animals . . . now we are more aware of connected ecosystems, wider environments . . . care for the planet as a whole (Europac 2009:6).

5 http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/central-north-island/places/tongariro-national-park/about-tongariro-national-park/history-and-culture/ 6 https://virunga.org/history/ 7 http://www.jimcorbettnationalpark.com/corbett_history.asp

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Importantly, this is also a narrative of growing recognition, especially by the 1960s, of the ‘web or life’ - that everything is interconnected, that humans were rapidly outgrowing the Earth and that rate of destruction was potentially irreversible (Evans 2002:8). By the 1970s the discourse of environmentalism and the need to protect nature to ensure the survival of humanity had become a global discourse (Franco 2013). From this time the ‘environment’ was increasingly seen as belonging to all humankind not individual social classes, cultures or countries with the imperative that protection of the planet is essential to the existence of all people into the future.

The creation of the United Nations in 1945 and UNESCO in 1946 immediately following World War II created the platform for international and intergovernmental cooperation in the protection of the environment through international and multilateral environmental agreements and conventions which now number in the hundreds (Mitchell 2003). Arguably the creation of these institutions (and subsequently the United Nations Environment Programme in 1972) also provided the platform through which scientific basis for conservation was disseminated as the global discourse of environmentalism (see Haq and Paul 2012 for a detailed analysis of Environmentalism since 1945). One of the earliest examples of both the commitment of international cooperation in the post-War era and the recognition of the need to consider protection of the environment when negotiating claims was the landmark Agreed measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora adopted in 1964 as part of the Antarctic Treaty 1959 (Martin 2013 - discussed further in Section 5).

Environmental law emerged as a distinct and separate body of law only in the 1960s. In his historical analysis Lazarus (2006) argues that at that time:

numerous influences converged including a growing awareness of the unity and fragility of the biosphere; increased public concern over the impact of industrial activity on natural resources and human health; the increasing strength of the regulatory state; and more broadly the advent and success of environmentalism as a political movement. [These]coalesced to produce a huge new body of law in a relatively short period of time.

Australia's Environment Protection Act dates to1974.

The 1970s mark the establishment of formal processes for the systematic identification, assessment and protection of scientifically significant natural areas at a global scale. In 1971 UNESCO launched the Man and the Biosphere programme to promote the establishment of biosphere reserves throughout all biogeographical provinces of the world. The aims of the programme illustrate a key shift in approaches to conservation from an ad hoc approach to the creation of protected areas to a systematic approach of scientific classification of ecosystems and targeting of specific areas for protection so as to protect representative ecosystems (Pool-Stanvliet 2013).

This increasingly global approach culminated with publication of the first World Conservation Strategy by IUCN, UNEP and WWF marking what McCormick (1986:177) describes as a fundamental change for the international conservation movement:

It marked a shift from the traditional focus on cure rather than prevention – away from a concentration on wildlife preservation toward a concern for the wider pressure affecting the natural environment – an despite many omissions, if confirmed a growing belief that the assimilation of both conservation and development was the key to a sustainable society.

Many histories of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972 (the ‘World Heritage Convention’) point to the Convention as pivotal in the history of conservation because it identified the protection of both cultural and natural heritage as being the concern of all humanity (see for example Cameron and Rössler 2013a and 2013b). According to the Convention web site8, it was the United States government that

8 http://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/

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in 1965 called for a ‘World Heritage Trust’ that would stimulate international cooperation to protect ‘the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry’. In 1968, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) developed similar proposals for its members. These proposals were presented to the 1972 United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm.

International non-government environmental organisations and scientists concerned about environment impacts were a major influence on and grew alongside the global systems for protected areas. The establishment of IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature) in 1948 under the sponsorship of bought together a union of governments, international organisations and 107 nature conservation organisations (Christoffersen 1997:60). A detailed history of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas is presented in the commemorative volume 50 Years of Working for Protected Areas (IUCN 2010).

Accounts from many different countries highlight the period from the late 1960s to the 1980s as a period of environmental activism. Effective campaigns to prevent further damage to natural places and species and to save pristine areas from impacts notably from mining and to ‘save’ forests from logging bought together diverse scientific and community organisations within and across national boundaries (Bowen and Bowen 2002; Haq and Paul 2012; Hutton and Connors 1999; Rootes 2015; West, P, J. Igloe and D. Brockington 2006). Boyd and Henry (2012) celebrate the history of environmental activism in Australia and note that

World Heritage became central goal of many of the dramatic campaigns . . including the Great Barrier Reef; Fraser Island and the Great Sandy region . . the rainforests of NSW which included such iconic battles as the Border Ranges, Terania Creek, Nightcap Ranges and South east Queensland; Stages two and three of Kakadu including the battle against Coronation Hill . . . the Wet Tropical Rainforests of northern Queensland, including the much disputed Daintree Region; and the ultimate and defining conservation battle of the last century the campaign to stop the damming of the iconic wild Franklin River in the heart of a declared World Heritage Area (2012:32).

Since the 1990s a number of critical histories of the conservation movement and have focused on the relationships between the formal and global system of protected areas and European colonialism; colonisation and decolonisation (Adams and Mulligan 2003), rights of indigenous peoples (Burnham 2000; Hendlin 2014) and the removal of Indigenous and other communities in the establishment of protected areas (Spence 1999; Vernizzi, 2011); Sacred cultural landscapes and biodiversity (UNESCO-MAB 2006); and the need to better integrate culture, communities and sustainable livelihoods in the management of protected areas (IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2005; IUCN (G. Finke) 2013; West, Igoe and Brockington 2006)

While these histories are important in themselves, in the context of the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy they are indicative of the current phase on this process in which community, social and cultural values are increasingly the informing both the assessment and management of the environment. The cultural landscape category of World Heritage site, analyses of the social benefits and impacts of protected areas (Oldekop et al 2015, Thorsall and Sigaty 1998; West et al 2006) and current international programs seeking to reintegrate the assessment and management of cultural and natural values (IUCN 2005, 2013) in landscape (IUCN 2005, 2013) illustrate this shift. Importantly in relation to the history (and future) of protected areas are an increasing number of recent publications that reflect on and give credit to historical, traditional and Indigenous land use practices being the source of the biodiversity (Adams and Mulligan 2003; Hendlin 2014; Rotherham 2010; UNESCO-MAB 2006).

Ideas of conservation and biodiversity become mixed with implied issues of ‘wilderness’ and of ‘nature’ and ‘naturalness’. But it is increasingly recognized that much of the biodiversity which we may hope to conserve is in fact the result of a long interaction between people and nature. It is a ‘cultural ecology’, the product of the environment, history and tradition. Indeed, much of the ecology which we now value is present as a result of the continuity of traditional management approaches over hundreds and sometimes thousands of years (Rotherham 2010:1).

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In conclusion: The very large number and diversity of publications relevant to the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas is in itself evidence of the international significance of the theme. The publications mentioned in this report provide only a very limited indication of the extent of this literature.

Overall the publications reviewed for this report present a consistent historical narrative of the evolution of conservation philosophy as reflected in changing approaches and practices in the identification, use and management of protected areas albeit interpreted through a range of cultural, social and political lenses.

Within this narrative, it is possible to generalize a number of historical phases. These are periods of change or innovation in philosophical approaches to nature and conservation that have precipitated the creation of new or new types of protected areas or new ways of defining the values of, and managing protected areas.

The key characteristics of these historical phases are summarised in the following Section 4 and provide a framework for further investigating ‘the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas’ in a Scoping Study.

3.2 Relevance of the theme to current World Heritage programs The ‘Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’ is particularly relevant to the current programs of the World Heritage Committee and Advisory Bodies to more successfully integrate culture and nature in the values, evaluation and management of World Heritage properties and recognise the protection of biodiversity through traditional land use practices.

Connecting Practice: Linking Culture and Nature This joint initiative between IUCN and ICOMOS was launched in 2013 to ‘explore, learn and create new methods that are centred on recognizing and supporting the interconnected biocultural character of the natural, cultural and social values of highly significant landscapes and seascapes’. The project report ‘Connecting Practice Project Final Report’9 was released by IUCN/ICOMOS in 2015.

The outcomes and recommendations of the project will be advanced during the forthcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawai’i (September 2016) in a joint IUCN/ICOMOS conference stream: Connecting Natural and Cultural Heritage practice that will includes sessions on ‘Cultural and spiritual significance of nature in protected area management’ and ‘People-centred approaches to conserving natural & cultural heritage.’

Cultural Landscapes program The cultural landscape category introduced by the World Heritage Committee in 1992 specifically recognises the interactions of people and the natural environment, especially where the continued existence of traditional forms of land-use supports biological diversity. Recent relevant publications include:

Linking Landscapes: Exploring the relationships between World Heritage cultural landscapes and IUCN protected areas. IUCN 2013

Conserving Cultural and Biological Diversity: The Role of Sacred Natural Sites and Cultural Landscapes UNESCO 2006

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community. IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, 2005.

9 http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/connecting_practice_report_iucn_icomos_.pdf

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Thematic Initiative on Astronomy and World Heritage Of relevance for the Scoping Study the World Heritage Committee’s Thematic Initiative on Astronomy and World Heritage established in 2003. An aim of the initiative was, , within the context of World Heritage values, to link scientific and traditional community knowledge of astronomical observations across different geographical regions10. A Scoping Study and future Thematic Study of the Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas will similarly bring together scientific and culturally diverse approaches in this case to the protection of natural areas.

The Astronomy and World Heritage initiative progressed through a wide-ranging consultative phase until in 2008 a meeting of the International Expert Working Group on World Heritage and Science and Technology recommended that a thematic study of Astronomy be undertaken as the first thematic study to recognise that science and technology are defining characteristics of human culture, and their existence, in historical and contemporary terms, is of fundamental importance to humanity in the past, present, and the future. The thematic study was completed in 2010 (ICOMOS and IAU 2010). The Expert Working Group was strongly of the view that the heritage of science is insufficiently recognised on the List (see below). Thematic Study found that sites under the theme could be inscribed under criterion (vi) which could be interpreted to cover scientific heritage although Criterion (vi) should usually, and preferably, be used in conjunction with one or more other criteria.

The Thematic Initiative on Astronomy and World Heritage provides a model for progressing a future thematic study as it similarly explores the evolution of scientific thought and practice in astronomy as a cultural theme, the cultural and historical diversity of approaches to astronomy and cultural associations with the night sky as a global human phenomenon.

3.3 What gap on the World Heritage List would the theme fill? ‘The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’ is a cultural theme that may be considered as an aspect of the heritage of science and more broadly the protection of natural places and resources as a human phenomenon.

The Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List provides a framework for the World Heritage Committee to identify values, regions and site types that are under-represented on the World Heritage List, that is ‘gaps’ in the List, and to support nominations coming forward that will address this under-representation11.

In 2005 as part of the Global Strategy, ICOMOS completed an analysis of the World Heritage List to identify gaps in the representation of cultural values on the World Heritage List. The analysis found that Philosophy and Science, a sub-theme of ‘Expressions of Society’, is under-represented on the World Heritage List (ICOMOS 2005).

In 2007 the World Heritage Committee endorsed an initiative ‘World Heritage: Science and Technology’ under the banner of the Global Strategy in recognition that the history of science and scientific discovery is under-represented on the World Heritage List despite

‘science and technology being defining characteristics of human culture, and . . . in historical and contemporary terms, of fundamental importance to humanity in the past, present, and the future’ (WHC 2008 WHC-08/32.COM/INF.1A Para 6).

A thematic study of ‘The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas’ will identify a wide range of properties that have the potential to demonstrate outstanding universal

10 Note: the stages in promoting for Astronomy as World Heritage theme provides a useful model for gaining support for any future thematic study of ‘The evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas’ See: http://whc.unesco.org/en/astronomy/ 11 http://whc.unesco.org/en/globalstrategy/

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value and contribute to filling the gap that has already been identified in the representation of the history of science on the World Heritage List.

Perhaps more importantly, the theme has the potential to fill the ‘gap’ between cultural and natural properties created by the process of nomination and inscription and reinforced by the World Heritage criteria. Currently there is little opportunity through the nomination and inscription process to recognise that the outstanding universal value of many of the properties proposed for or already inscribed under criteria vii, ix and x is a direct or indirect outcome of the protection afforded these places through local, community and subsequently national actions that pre-date or are unrelated to scientific understanding of the concepts or significance of biodiversity and ecosystems. For example, the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for Yellowstone National Park does not mention that this was the World’s first National Park.

It is only a very recent phenomenon that the need for protection of natural places has been framed by a global imperative to protect the planet and humanity from environmental destruction and led by global scientific research classifying and identifying places that are representative and important (outstanding) for their natural values. For most of human history natural places and their values have been protected through other diverse cultural, social and political processes. Many of the places now identified as having significant natural values that warrant protection have these values only because they have historically been managed or protected for cultural reasons and/or as a consequence of diverse land and resource uses and practices.

The application of cultural criterion (vi) and nomination under the category of cultural landscape has provided potential pathways for the recognition of the wider values of these areas for humanity and the diverse cultural and historical reasons underlying human the desire to protect natural places.

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4 METHODOLOGY: PROPOSED APPROACH FOR THE SCOPING STUDY

4.1 Thematic Studies in World Heritage The Operational Guidelines to the World Heritage Convention (UNESCO 2015 Paragraph 56) and guidance from the Advisory Bodies, ICOMOS and IUCN, and the World Heritage Centre (UNESCO et al 2011) promote the use of thematic studies as a tool for understanding Outstanding Universal Value and to assist in exploring and articulating the values of a property. Although thematic studies are usually prepared by ICOMOS or IUCN, States Parties may prepare a thematic study specifically to assist with the nomination of a particular property. Thematic studies provide a framework for the comparative analysis required in the nomination (or re-nomination) of places on values associated with the theme and, importantly, may also identify places for consideration as components of future serial nominations.

The Advisory Bodies suggest that research into a specific theme should:

first assess whether the theme has universal significance and if so,

explore its various aspects or sub-themes and how these are reflected in places and finally

identify representative properties that strongly relate to the theme.

ICOMOS further suggests that:

exploration of the theme [should include] various research frameworks - thematic, chronological-regional and typological as appropriate (WHC et al 2011:57).

The effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated in a number of recent thematic studies and World Heritage nominations. ICOMOS, in their guidance on developing World Heritage nominations (WHC et al 2011), points to several examples of thematic studies undertaken by States Parties as illustrative of good practice in providing justification and evidence in support of nomination. These include:

Heritage Sites Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the Context of the World Heritage Convention: A Thematic Study (ICOMOS and IAU 2010:5) took as a starting point a set of principal themes related to a broad chronology of the major human cultures and different types of astronomical discovery, knowledge and practice, including but not confined to recognisable stages in the development and use of modern scientific astronomy. The framework was then used to identify (through local experts) sites that would be representatives of different themes across all major geo-cultural regions. The study looked at both the development of modern scientific astronomy and the close and perpetual interaction between astronomical knowledge in all its forms and its role within different cultures.

A thematic study of the development of ports in relation to global expansion of trade from the 18th – early 20th centuries included in the World Heritage nomination of Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (United Kingdom). The study analyses Liverpool’s role in global trade through several historical period such as the period of growth in the British Empire following the Industrial revolution and in relation to several sub-themes including the mass movement of people and the innovation of port construction, technology and systems (Liverpool City Council 2002).

A thematic study and comparative analysis undertaken to support the nomination the Historic Port Town of Levuka, Fiji (Smith 2005). To identify both the universal value of historic port towns and the potential outstanding universal value of Levuka, the comparative analysis for the nomination was framed by a global thematic study of European maritime colonisation and the various roles of port towns in this history. The port towns were analysed according to the period in which they were established, their role in colonisation, and the similarities and differences in their tangible attributes across geo-

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cultural regions. In 2007 the World Heritage Committee noted that the study was exemplary and a model for future comparative analysis (WHC 2007).

4.2 A Chronological and Thematic Approach in the Scoping Study The aim of the Scoping Study is to illustrate the potential of a full thematic study to demonstrate the significance of the theme for World Heritage and the potential for places to be considered of outstanding universal value under this theme. To achieve this, the Scoping Study should adopt the methodology similar to that promoted by the Advisory Bodies for thematic studies, to further explore the theme and produce a draft list of representative places that will have sufficient breadth and detail to argue that a full thematic study is warranted.

In Section 2 (above) it was argued that the large volume and diversity of literature directly relevant to the theme ‘the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas’ is in itself evidence of the universal significance of the theme. The literature strongly suggests that a chronological and thematic approach or methodology provides the appropriate framework in which to further explore the World Heritage potential of the theme and should be adopted in the Scoping Study.

Chronological Framework A chronological framework is a research framework in which historical processes may be analysed by first identifying significant historical phases in that process that are characterised by particular ideas, events, or contexts that influence the nature and outcomes of the process. The literature reviewed in developing this Scope of Works clearly indicates that a number of historical phases can be identified in the development of an international system of protected areas that correlate with periods of innovation and change in philosophical approaches to conservation and designation and management of protected areas. With further elaboration and detailing, these historical phases will provide a framework for investigating how approaches to the conservation of natural places have evolved, how this may be reflected in changing values, drivers of, and systems for protection of natural places and the protected areas that are representative examples of each phase.

As a starting point the Scoping Study should consider the following historical periods and expand and elaborate on the associated characteristics that have been derived from the literature review in Section 3:

Late 18th to mid-19th century

Global exploration and recording together with other scientific discoveries in the late 18th century were essential precursors and stimulants to the interest in nature that followed in the 19th Century – for example the voyages of Cook and the recordings of Banks and the scientific work of Humboldt and Gauss that had a large impact on a later appreciations and understandings of nature.

The impacts of increasing industrialisation and urbanisation on natural areas in Europe and exploration into the west of North America create a new appreciation of nature and interest in natural landscapes in Europe, and wilderness areas in Northern America.

Romantic, aesthetic and poetic responses to nature in poetry and literature are widely read including poets such as Wordsworth and writers including Thoreau in North America. In Europe landscapes are characterised as ‘picturesque’ and in America wilderness areas as ‘sublime’.

Native Americans are envisaged by writers and landscape painters such as Thomas Cole as part of the natural landscape.

In 1864 Yosemite becomes a State Park under Californian law.

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In Australia during the early to mid-nineteenth century, scientific observation and recording followed closely on the heels of exploration. The phase of scientific observation and recording stimulated an appreciation of the values of important places and assisted their later protection. An example is the work of Ferdinand von Mueller, the first director of the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, who undertook the first botanical surveys near Mt Kosciuszko in 1855. His work led to subsequent investigations including Richard Helms in 1889 who surveyed alpine flora and glacial features and first warned of the potential impacts from stock grazing (Good 1992: 137).

Late 19th to early 20th century

Improved and new transport systems, especially rail, and changing working conditions provide urban dwellers, in particular the rapidly growing middle class, with leisure time for recreation and tourism and the ability to travel to natural areas.

Experiencing natural places is increasingly associated with health benefits.

Many community groups promote the benefits of nature and experiencing the natural environment such as Sweden’s Association for the Promotion of Outdoor Life, established in 1892.

Natural places are modified to improve the experience of visitors and to provide access and accommodation.

The impacts of tourism and use of natural resources and increasing industrialisation leads to increasing calls from writers, artists, scientists and others for their protection in Europe and Northern America.

In Northern America the protection of natural places is increasingly seen as the responsibility of government and associated with nationalism. Yellowstone is declared a National Park in 1872 followed by Royal National Park in Australia (1879) and Tongariro (Aotearoa/New Zealand (1887).

Game, bird and forestry reserves are established under Theodore Roosevelt.

Sweden establishes the first National Parks in Europe in 1909 with a series of nine parks and creation of the first National Parks system

Scientific and collecting expeditions in the European colonies of Africa, Asia and South America witness the loss and looming extinction of signature species especially through hunting and lobby Colonial governments and scientific and collecting institutions to limit hunting. The first game reserve in Africa, Sabie Game Reserve (later Kruger National Park) is declared in 1898.

The ‘Heroic Period’ of Antarctic exploration c1890 – 1914 where expeditions first started to map record and explore the continent.

Native American groups are removed from Yellowstone National Park creating a ‘wilderness’ without human intervention.

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In Australia the ‘leisured classes’ were a powerful group who, following the earlier scientific expeditions, were themselves keen to ‘discover nature’ and influenced government decisions to invest in transport and accommodation networks to these natural areas. Examples of this influence includes the establishment of the National Park (later Royal National Park) in 1879 for recreation and ‘acclimatization’ of exotic plants, the construction of rail and road networks to assist access to the ski fields in the Kosciuszko area (and accommodation for those lucky enough to be able to use these facilities) and also the similar examples of access and accommodation to the caves systems at Jenolan in the Blue Mountains and Yarrangobilly in the Kosciuszko region. It is also likely that this early tourism in Australia led to broad community appreciation and later support for protection of these places for their natural values (Ashley 2001).

Inter-war years of the 20th century

Increasing global recognition of extinctions especially of large signature species through hunting and loss of habitat. A large number of game reserves and wildlife sanctuaries are established in Africa and Asia.

The concept of the National Park continues to spread across regions, especially the European colonies. Virunga National Park in Africa is established in 1925, and Hailey National Park in India in 1936.

Reserves and national parks are created to protect landscape features and geological formations from the impacts of increasing tourism for example Grutas de Cacahuamilpa National Park, Mexico is created in 1935 to protect the cave system.

Naturalist and ecological societies and activist groups established in America and Europe such as the Ecological Society of America in 1915, International Committee for Bird Protection (late BirdLife International).

During the inter-war years in Australia the activities of individuals and private groups had a strong influence on the establishment of the first protected areas and strongly influenced the later creation of the agencies such as NPWS and the National Parks protected areas system. Myles Dunphy, for example, first focused on self-reliant bush walking in establishing the (male only) Mountain Trails Club and later the Sydney Bush Walkers (which allowed women members). Later Dunphy and the Sydney Bush Walkers were responsible for the lease of the Blue Gum Forest to protect it from logging and this led to the creation of the Blue Mountains National Park. They were also active lobbyists on uses and activities in the National Park. Dunphy was also associated with the private National Parks and Primitive Areas Council that had a role in the creation of Garrawarra Primitive Area (Hutton and Connors 1999).

Post-World War II – 1980s

Debates about nature conservation become globalised through the scientific discourse of environmentalism and environmental destruction threatening the future of the planet.

The focus of national and international conservation efforts shifts from alleviation of impact to prevention through systematic survey and management and from wildlife preservation to protection of the wider environment. The first World Conservation Strategy is released in 1980.

An intergovernmental system for the protection and conservation of nature and the environment is established through the United Nations and international Conventions and Programmes including World Heritage Convention (1972); United Nations Environment Programme (1972); Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1971), the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme (1971).

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Environmental protection is associated with international co-operation through activities such as the International Geophysical Year in 1957 and through territorial negotiations and obligations that resulted in the Antarctic Treaty (1961).

Environmental protection through legislation is increasingly the responsibility of and enacted by national governments.

International non-government conservation organisations are established by scientists and other community members to campaign for conservation including IUCN (1948), Nature Conservancy (1951), World Wide Fund for Nature (1961), Friends of the Earth (1969).

Community campaigns to protect natural places and resources draw on the support of national and international non-government environmental conservation organisations.

The concept of ‘wilderness’ and its protection through restricted human access and use is promoted.

Defining and protecting ecosystems is a priority. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is the first marine property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981.

In NSW community activists in groups such as the National Parks and Primitive Areas Council agitated not only for the creation of specific protected areas but also for a State government agency to provide broad control of (and funding for) these areas rather than the State Park Trusts that relied on local funding through leases and licences. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service was established in 1967.

In the 1980s the combination of community activism with Commonwealth Government action is evidenced by the Franklin below Gordon Dam protests in Tasmania. Initial non-violent community protest of a dam proposed in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area led to the Commonwealth Government successfully testing the use of its external powers under the Constitution in the High Court in 1983.

Late 20th century

The concept of biodiversity is enshrined as the framework for international environmental conservation efforts through in the Convention for Biological Diversity (1993).

Programs to identify and mitigate the impacts of climate change become a focus of international environmental organisations.

The World Heritage Committee introduces the cultural landscapes category recognise the interaction of humans and nature. Tongariro National Park is reinscribed as the first World Heritage cultural landscape (1992).

Indigenous land rights and traditional indigenous systems of land management are increasingly recognised in the ownership and management of protected areas.

Tourist experience of the natural environment is increasingly connected to environmental conservation through tourism activities and the revenue generated.

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Thematic framework The literature review also indicated a number of sub-themes that have relevance across all the phases of the historical narrative presented above. These are general social factors and cultural values and play out in the creation, management and use of protected areas in different ways and in different parts of the world and are drivers for protection.

The sub-themes afford significance to places as being representative of aspects of the broader theme of ‘the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas’ and include:

Traditional and Indigenous approaches to and systems of land and resource use, management and protection that pre-date and continue throughout the historical development of the international system of protected areas (see Table 1: Garphyttan National Park, Mt Wuyi, East Rennell Islands)

Social change (including industrialisation, nationalism, colonisation and decolonisation) and community activism as drivers for protection (Indigenous, local, scientific) (see Table 1: Galapagos, Lake District, Great Barrier Reef, Tongariro National Park)

The desire to experience natural places being driver for protection (aesthetic appreciation tourism and recreation) (see Table 1: Lakes District, Yellowstone, Great Barrier Reef, Royal National Park)

The association of places and landscapes with the spiritual and the sacred (see Table 1: Osun Osogbo Sacred Groves, Tongariro National Park)

Scientific exploration, discovery and research leading to protection or innovation in conservation practice for species, resources, landscapes (see Table 1: Bialowieza, Virunga, Grutas de Cacahuamilpa, Antarctica).

Table 1: Indicative Places and Preliminary Analysis lists examples of protected areas that are representative of historic phases and the sub-themes listed above. Table 1 illustrates how a framework of historical phases and sub-themes may apply and be applied to a range of sites from different regions that range of values that can be considered within the theme ‘the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas’. Many protected areas may be considered representative of more than one historical phase and/or one or more sub-themes although their primary significance within the overall theme may be closely aligned with a specific period or sub-theme.

Although several of the sites in Table 1 are already inscribed on the World Heritage List for their natural and in some cases cultural values, each site included in Table 1 has been selected because it is a well-known and representative example of values under this theme but not for any potential a site may have to demonstrate OUV under the theme.

In 1994 the World Heritage site of Uluru-Kata Tjuta was re-inscribed on cultural criteria, becoming the second cultural landscape to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. I n Uluru –Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Park, Australia pioneers the governance and joint management of World Heritage sites by Indigenous traditional owners and government

In 1979, Australia ICOMOS adopted the Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance known as the Burra Charter (1979), that sets out principles and procedures for the conservation for the conservation of heritage places. Become an international standard

The Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) came into force in 2000 providing comprehensive protection for places of national heritage significance through an integrated approach to the protection of natural and cultural (including Indigenous) heritage values.

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The Scoping Study should:

expand the literature review to further explore and refine the historical phases, and associated sub-themes the drivers for protection and regional variation in each phase and

expand and further detail the indicative list of representative sites.

4.3 Identifying representative places As has been our experience in preparing this report, further refinement and elaboration of a chronological and thematic framework during the Scoping Study is likely to highlight a large number places that may be considered representative of phases or sub-themes in the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas. The Scoping Study should not aim to be exhaustive in identifying representative sites or evaluate their potential to be of outstanding universal value.

In selecting protected areas to extend the list of indicative places in Table 1, the Scoping Study should consider the tangible evidence or attributes of places in relation to the values for they are significant within the theme, in particular the values that people have sought to protect.

The Scoping Study should include representative sites that most clearly and strongly argue for the relevance of the theme for World Heritage. These should include:

internationally recognised protected areas, in particular sites that are inscribed on the World Heritage List or included on Tentative Lists, that have a clear association with the evolution of conservation philosophy and practice and

other protected areas that illustrate each historical phase and sub-theme and have a wide geographic distribution to demonstrate the global significance of the theme and the potential for new World Heritage nominations.

Examples of both kinds of sites have been included in Table 1.Those sites shaded in the table are discussed in further detail in Section 5.

The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas.

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Table 1: Indicative Places and Preliminary Analysis

Site State Party World Heritage Significant Period/Phase

Associated Sub-Theme/s Values within the theme Reference/s

Lake District Great Britain Included on Tentative List. Draft Criteria (ii) and (vi)

18th and 19th centuries

Pleasure recreation and access to natural places

Aesthetic value (picturesque)

Rural landscape and farming traditions; development of the Picturesque aesthetic; the cradle of Romanticism; and the landscape conservation movement.

The unique role played by the Lake District in the development of ideas and beliefs about landscape formed the pattern both for valuing this type of cultural landscape and the political movement for their conservation. This has had a strong and continuing international influence on approaches to landscape conservation.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5673

Robinson 2011

Burch, J. 2002

Evans, D. 2002

Yellowstone National Park

USA Inscribed 1978 as a natural site on criteria (vii) (viii) (ix) (x)

Late-19th century

Creation of the first national parks

Protection of the natural environment associated with nationalism

The desire to experience natural places (aesthetic appreciation tourism and recreation)

Exploration, scientific discovery and research leading to protection or innovation in conservation practice for species, resources, and landscapes.

Yellowstone is the first protected natural area to be called a ‘National Park’, formally declared a National Park in 1872, to help preserve the wildlife and showcase the unique geothermic features throughout the Park.

Following declaration as National Park, Native American communities were expelled.

Sellars 1997

Flint McClelland, L. 1998

Culpin 2003

United States Department of the Interior 2005

Spence 1999

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/28

Royal National Park

Australia Not in World Heritage system-

Late-19th century




Australia’s first National Park and following Yellowstone was the second protected area to be declared a ‘National Park’

Mosley 2012

Garphyttan National Park

Sweden Not in World Heritage system-

Late-19th - early 20th centuries




Traditional land use practices protecting biodiversity

One of 9 the Swedish national parks declared simultaneously in 1909, the first national parks in Europe and creating the first national system of park management in the world.

The Park includes former farmland where traditional hay- making created the meadows. The practice is continued to maintain the meadows.

Europarc 2009 P.11

Virunga National Park

Democratic Republic of Congo

Inscribed 1979 as a natural site on criteria (vii), (viii), (x)

Late-19th to early 20th century


Associated with European colonialism

Scientific discovery and research leading to protection for signature species

Scientific community activism leading to protection.

The first protected area to be declared a National Park in Africa. The park was created in 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium primarily to protect the mountain gorillas. Following a gorilla collecting expedition to Virunga in 1921, scientist and taxidermist Carl Akeley from the American Museum of Natural History led a public campaign lobbying King Albert to establish a National Park to protect the gorillas.


https://virunga.org/history/

Bialowieza National Park

Poland Inscribed 1979

As a natural site on criteria (ix), (x)

Early – mid 20th century

Traditional protection of the forest through traditional use as a hunting ground.

Community activism leading to protection.

Scientific research and innovation in conservation of signature species

Park founded in 1921 following appeals by scientists and naturalists.

Forest was traditionally protected as hunting ground by kings and tsars. Beginning in 1929, European bison were reintroduced in an active breeding program to save the bison from extinction. The forest is of exceptional conservation significance due to ‘several ages of protection’


Europarc 2009

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Site State Party World Heritage Significant Period/Phase

Associated Sub-Theme/s Values within the theme Reference/s

Grutas de Cacahuamilpa National Park

Mexico Not in World Heritage system--

Early - mid 20th century

Scientific discovery – Speleology

Colonialism

Cave ‘discovered’ by German scientists in 1866, mapped and opened to public in 1922. Following a scientific expedition and recording in 1935 to protect the cave from damage caused by increasing visitation it was declared a national park in 1936

Simonian, L. 1995

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grutas_de_Cacahuamilpa_National_Park

Antarctica Australia, New Zealand, France, United Kingdom, Chile Argentina, Norway

Not in World Heritage system-

Mid 20th Century

Post-war intergovernmental cooperation associated with protection of the environment

Exploration and scientific research leading to protection

International community and scientific environmental campaigns

The Antarctic Treaty of (1959) 1961 was a milestone in intergovernmental cooperation between countries claiming territory in the Antarctic. Appended to the Treaty in 1964 were ‘Agreed measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora’, the first multilateral agreement for cooperation in the protection of the environment.

Martin 2013

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/law-and-treaty/our-treaty-obligations

Galapagos Ecuador Inscribed 1978 as a natural site on criteria (vii), (viii), (ix) (x)

Mid- late 20th century

Establishment of International systems for cooperation and legal protection of the environment

International scientific and environmental campaign for protection

The Galapagos Islands was the first natural site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List.

This was the outcome of a major international campaign of scientists and other interest groups to have the islands protected. The campaign and led by IUCN following their mission to the Islands in 1955, and a UNESCO expedition in 1957. The islands were declared a national park by Ecuador in 1959. Charles Darwin’s 1835 visit to the island is mentioned in the Statement of OUV.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1.

Great Barrier Reef Australia Inscribed in 1981 as a natural site on criteria (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)

Mid- late 20th century

Establishment of International systems for cooperation and legal protection of the environment.

Increasing emphasis on scientific values in conservation and management


Community activism as a driver for protection

Research and innovation in conservation practice leading protection

The Great Barrier Reef was the first marine site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List and a milestone in the international environmental conservation through an ecosystems approach.

The property was inscribed after a long community and scientific campaigns to the have the reef protected.

Bowen and Bowen 2002

Context 2013

http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr

East Rennell Island

Solomon Islands

Inscribed in 1998 as a natural site on criterion (ix)

Late 20th century

International recognition of traditional approaches to land use and management in the protection of biodiversity.

Traditional Indigenous land use and management

East Rennell was the first site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List on natural criteria under customary ownership and management. This was a milestone in the Convention because it recognised co-existence of communities and natural values and Indigenous systems of land management systems sustaining biodiversity


Osun-Osogbo Sacred Groves Nigeria

Nigeria Inscribed in 2005 as a cultural site on criteria

(ii), (iii), (vi)

Multiple,

Late 20th century

Sacred/Spiritual places

Long-term protection through cultural practices

Forest is protected as the spiritual abode of the goddess Osun and as a result is now one of the last remnants of primary high forest in Nigeria.


Tongariro National Park

New Zealand Inscribed in 1987, re-inscribed as a mixed site and cultural landscape in 1993.

Criteria (vi), (vii), (viii)

Late 19th century

Late 20th century

Early National Park

First World Heritage Cultural Landscape

Sacred/spiritual place

Indigenous land management and protection

Indigenous community activism leading protection

Tongariro was gifted by Maori Traditional Owners to the Crown in 1887 on the condition that a protected area be established there. It became New Zealand’s first National Park in 1894. The Park was re-inscribed as the first cultural landscape on the World Heritage List in 1993 as sacred Maori landscape under Criterion (vi)


UNESCO-MAB 2006

Mosley 2012

Mt Wuyi China Inscribed in 1999 as a mixed site on criteria (iii) (vi) (vii) (ix)

Multiple

Late 20th century

Traditional protection and resource management

The environment of Mount Wuji has been protected through prohibitions on the use of natural resources for over 1000 years.


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5 APPROACH: REPRESENTATIVE PLACE EXAMPLES

5.1 Introduction Four examples of protected areas are highlighted in Table 1. In this Section the significance of these sites within the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas is further highlighted to provide indicative examples for the Scoping Study.

The four sites have been selected to include properties that are, and are not inscribed on the World Heritage List and which illustrate different ways in which the application of the theme would extend or strengthen understanding of the recognised values of each site.

Two sites, Bialowieza National Park, Poland and Mt Wuji, China are inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Lakes District is included on the Tentative List of Great Britain. The biological and geological significance of Antarctica is recognised in its protection under a number of intentional agreements and conventions but not the World Heritage Convention.

5.2 Bialowieza National Park, Poland Bialowieza National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a natural site under Criteria (ix) and (x) in 1979 and extended in 2014 to become a transboundary property with Belarus.

The Statement of Outstanding Universal Value describes the property as

. . . . a complex of lowland forests that are characteristics of the Central European mixed forests terrestrial ecoregion. The area has exceptionally conservation significance due to the scale of its old growth forests, which include extensive undisturbed areas where natural processes are on-going . . . The property protects a diverse and rich wildlife [including] the iconic symbol of the property is the European Bison: approximately 900 individuals in the whole property which make almost 25% of the total world’s population and over 30% of free-living animals. . . The presence of extensive undisturbed areas is crucial to its nature conservation values. . . . . [T]hanks to several ages of protection the Forest had survived in its natural state to this day.12

The Polish Government created the Bialowieza National Park in 1921 in response to appeals by scientists and naturalists to protect this last fragment of undisturbed lowland forest following a scientific expedition to the forest in 1919 to look for the European Bison. The forest had been protected for several centuries by kings and tsars as a hunting ground. No Bison were found in 1919 and so in 1929 a small number of individuals established a pioneering Bison breeding program in the Park using animals brought from zoos. This breeding program is credited with having saved the European Bison from extinction (Europarc Federation 2009:19-20).

This cultural history underpins the values for which the property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. This is currently unrecognised in the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for the property.

Under the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas Bialowieza National Park may be considered a representative and possibly outstanding example of:

Traditional land use practices (in this case aristocratic hunting grounds) protecting ecosystems and biodiversity

Early recognition of the loss of natural areas and the impending extinction of species and public advocacy for their protection in late-19th and early 20th centuries, and

Pioneer breeding programs to ensure the survival of species.

12 http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/33

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5.3 Mt Wuyi, China Mt Wuyi was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a mixed site and cultural landscape under Criteria (iii), (vi), (vii) and (x) in 1999.

The Statement of Outstanding Universal describes the property as

. . . the most outstanding area for biodiversity conservation in south-east China and a refuge for a large number of ancient, relict species, many of them endemic to China. The serene beauty of the dramatic gorges of the Nine Bend River, with its numerous temples and monasteries, many now in ruins, provided the setting for the development and spread of neo-Confucianism, which has been influential in the cultures of East Asia since the 11th century . . .

The environment and landscape of Mt Wuyi has been protected by protective edicts issued by provincial and central government for more than 1000 years and this is recognised in the values under Criterion (iii) which states that Mount Wuyi is

a landscape of great beauty that has been protected for more than twelve centuries . . .

and in the Statements of Integrity and Authenticity that respectively describe Mount Wuyi as having

a long history of management as a protected area

and a remarkable degree of authenticity

. . . largely owing to the strict application over more than a millennium of the 8th century ban on fishing and forestry operations13.

Mt Wuyi is clearly an outstanding example of a landscape where long-term cultural and political practices of land and resource management have given rise to the property’s very high biodiversity in the present. This is discussed in detail in the nomination dossier for Mt Wuyi.

Under the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas Mt Wuji may be considered a representative and possibly outstanding example of:

Traditional protection and management of landscape and natural resources.

5.4 The Lake District, Great Britain The Lake District was included on Tentative List of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland as ‘England’s Lake District’ in 2012 as a cultural property under Criteria (ii) and (vi).

The Justification for Outstanding Universal Value states that

The OUV is expressed in four principal themes: rural landscape and farming traditions; development of the Picturesque aesthetic; the cradle of Romanticism; and the landscape conservation movement . . . its natural environment and unique character of its farming culture inspiring the writers and artists to show how the landscape could appeal to the higher senses and be open to all. This led to the development of a conservation movement to protect this cultural landscape.

In 1951 the Lake District became the second national park to be designated in the United Kingdom. This followed a long history of attempts to protect the landscape by community groups and organisations. The picturesque qualities of the landscape have been promoted, popularised and celebrated by poets, most famously Wordsworth, and artists since the late 18th century and it is closely associated with the Romantic movement in Britain and the time was seen as the increasing destruction of nature and natural places through industrialisation and urbanisation. In the 19th century the Lake District became a popular destination for city

13 http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/911

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dwellers increasingly in search of leisure and inspiration, relaxation though appreciation and experience of natural world (Burchardt 2002).

Publications such as one by Wendy Joy Darby Landscape and Identity (2000) provide a strong argument for the long, complex and at times fractious course leading to the identification and protection of the Lake District. In this book Darby addresses the Lake and Peak Districts in three broad sections: the first, the literary and artistic roots of landscape as an idiom for materialising culture; the second where these landscapes became sounding boards of national sentiment that exposed different claims to history and finally an ethnographic focus that shows (using walkers and walking groups as examples) that social relations are spatialized and how spatial relations are socialised creating a powerful attachment to landscape place

The values proposed under Criterion (vi)

The moves to protect this highly-valued cultural landscape have subsequently had a world-wide influence in two ways: the development of landscape stewardship through responsible ownership (the National Trust model) and landscape protection through special measures of public policy (the Protected Landscape model)14.

The OUV proposed in the tentative list submission has yet to be evaluated through the World heritage nomination process. Nevertheless, under the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas the Lake District would be a representative example of:

late 18th and 19th century values of nature and landscape for picturesque qualities

19th and early 20th century advocacy for the protection and use of landscape for health, recreation.

5.5 Antarctica Antarctica has been identified as the world’s greatest surviving wilderness15. The territory of Antarctica is claimed by nine different nations. In the post-war era, to reduce tensions between the nations claiming sovereign rights and others with a strong interest in the Antarctic, and to create a framework for scientific cooperation, the Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 nations in 1959 and entered into force in 1961. The Treaty requires countries active in Antarctica to consult on the uses of a whole continent.16

The Treaty also includes recommendations relating to protection of the Antarctic environment; conservation of plants and animals; preservation of historic sites and the designation and management of protected areas; and notably Agreed measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora adopted in 1964 that provide overall protection of endemic animals and plants and provide for areas of outstanding ecological interest to be set aside as a Specially Protected Area.

A further Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, also known as the Madrid Protocol was finalised in 1991 and entered into force in 1998. The preamble states that ‘protection of the Antarctic environment and ecosystems is in the interest of mankind as a whole’. The Protocol draws on and updates the Agreed Measures and amongst a large number of provisions, designates Antarctica as a 'natural reserve, devoted to peace and science' and establishes environmental principles to govern the conduct of all activities.

Australia was one the earliest nations to seriously explore and record the natural values of Antarctica during the Heroic Period of Antarctic exploration 1897-1917. Geologist Sir Douglas Mawson with Edgeworth David were Australian members of Ernest Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-1909. Mawson then led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of

14 http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5673/ 15 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-18/an-antarctica-world-heritage-wrap/4076580 16 http://www.antarctica.gov.au/law-and-treaty/our-treaty-obligations

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1911-1914 and BANZARE 1929-1931. In the immediate post War period Australia created the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) and established bases on Macquarie and Heard Islands in 1947 with three continental Antarctic bases established later. Australia has been a leader in conservation research and action in Antarctica. Over 42% of the Antarctica land mass is the Australian Antarctic Territory with this claim being suspended under the Antarctic Treaty, for which Australia was one of the original signatories.

The history of Antarctica that led to its protected area status shows that, like many other place of global natural significance, the values now protected are result of a complex and significant history involving a ‘dance’ between the concepts of national territorialism, and resources exploration on one hand with scientific observation and the romance of the landscape qualities of the place itself (and now expressed through tourism) on the other.

The Madrid Protocol 1991 is an example in relation to Antarctica of non-States bodies putting pressure on State bodies to do more. In this case Greenpeace establishing a base in Antarctica was one factor that resulted in the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection – this designates Antarctica ‘as a reserve dedicated to peace and science and establishes environmental guidelines for all human activities’ (Martin 2013:29).

Under the theme of the evolution of conservation philosophy and protected areas the Antarctica would be significance be a representative and potentially outstanding example of:

Post-World War II rise of environmentalism as a global discourse

An early and outstanding example of international cooperation in, and global approaches to the protection of the environment.

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6 NEXT STEPS

6.1 Summary findings In relation to a future Thematic Study: The research presented in this report clearly supports the potential for the theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas to be considered in the context of World Heritage and the value in exploring this theme through a Thematic Study with the support of the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee and relevant States Parties.

The literature review has identified a large number of publications that explore the history of approaches to the protection and conservation of nature at national and international levels and supports a conclusion that the protection of natural areas can be considered a universal human phenomenon. The research undertaken in this project has also found that cultural values associated with the protection and conservation of natural areas are significantly underrepresented on the World Heritage List and therefore a Thematic Study is warranted to explore and address this gap.

The literature review and research to identify places that are representative of the theme confirms that many of Australia’s protected areas have values associated with the theme. A future Thematic Study of the Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas will identify Australian sites that have internationally significant values under this theme and may provide the basis for nomination (or renomination) of protected areas in Australia individually or as a component of a transnational serial World Heritage nomination.

In relation to a Scoping Study: The research and analysis completed for this report strongly argue that a Scoping Study is warranted to provide greater conceptual clarity around the theme and a solid basis on which to promote the value in a future Thematic Study to the World Heritage Committee and Advisory Bodies.

This research indicates that a Scoping Study would assist in resolving issues around whether there is potential for Royal National Park & Reserves to meet the threshold for inscription on the World Heritage List as part of a transnational serial listing.

The report provides a clear rationale for, and methodology and approach to completing a Scoping Study to further explore the theme of the Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas.

6.2 Focus for a Scoping Study A Scoping Study would focus on providing a strong foundation for a Thematic Study of The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas, by further elaborating the World Heritage potential of the theme and in particular, in relation to the concept of universal value.

To achieve this the Scoping Study would:

Expand the literature review in Section 3.1 to further emphasise the global relevance of the theme through inclusion of histories of conservation and examples of protected areas that represent all geo-cultural regions and in particular Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Central and South America.

Refine and, if warranted, expand the sub-themes and historical phases of the thematic and chronological framework outlined in Section 4.2 to ensure that the diversity of cultural values associated with, and evolving approaches to protection and conservation of natural places are recognised within the framework.

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Use the methodology proposed in Section 4 to extend and further develop the indicative list of places included in Table 1 and discussed in Section 5 to illustrate of the diversity of sites and tangible evidence associated with the theme.

To ensure the viability of a draft Scoping Study, the national committees of the Advisory Bodies - ICOMOS and IUCN – through their national committees should be advised of the project at an early stage and presented with the draft for review and comment before finalisation.

It is anticipated that a Scoping Study would take in the order of six months to complete.

6.3 In Conclusion Should Australia wish to promote and seek support for a Thematic Study, a Scoping Study will provide justification for the World Heritage significance of the theme The Evolution of Conservation Philosophy and Protected Areas.

A future proposal to the World Heritage Committee for a Thematic Study will require considerable international support. To achieve this Australia will need to promote the Scoping Study to States Parties with a particular interest in the theme, the international committees of the Advisory Bodies and experts in the history of environmental conservation, cultural landscapes, Indigenous values and World Heritage.

Alongside the annual World Heritage Committee meetings, international scientific and academic conferences provide ideal forums to promote the importance of the theme, and the outcomes of a Scoping Study and to build awareness of, and interest in a future Thematic Study.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawai’i in September 2016 would provide an excellent opportunity for Australia to gauge this interest either through a Scoping Study (if complete) or the findings of this report.

Should the international community and the World Heritage Committee support a Thematic Study, the Committee may request the Advisory Bodies to commission experts to undertake the Study. Alternatively, a State Party may commission the Thematic Study specifically to support a World Heritage nomination. Thematic Studies commonly take a year to eighteen months to complete.

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7 BIBLIOGRAPHY

7.1 Journal articles, books, book chapters, reports Adams, W.M. and M. Mulligan (eds). 2003. Decolonizing Nature: Strategies for Conservation in a Post-colonial Era. London: Earthscan Publications.

Ashley, G. 2001. Discovering Nature: the Beginnings of Alpine Recreation in Australia in Cremin, A (ed), 1901 Australian Life at Federation, An Illustrated Chronicle, Sydney: UNSW Press.

Australian Government. nd. Australia’s 2007-2011 World Heritage Committee term. Canberra: Department of Sustainability, Environment, Ware, Population and Communities http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/07-11-whc-term.html

Bowen, J. & M. Bowen 2002. The Great Barrier Reef: history, science, heritage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Boyd, D and D. Henry 2012. ‘Celebrating the role of World Heritage in Australia’s environmental and cultural history’. In Figgis, P., Leverington, A., Mackay, R., Maclean, A., Valentine, P. (eds). Keeping the Outstanding Exceptional: The Future of World Heritage in Australia. Australian Committee for IUCN, Sydney. pp.30-35.

Brulle R.J. 2010. From Environmental Campaigns to Advancing the Public Dialog: Environmental Communication for Civic Engagement. Environmental Communication. 4:1, 82-98,

Burchardt, J. 2002. Paradise lost: rural idyll and social change in England since 1800. London; New York: I.B. Tauris.

Burnham, P. 2000. Indian Country, God’s Country: Native Americans and the National Parks. Washington DC: Island Press.

Cameron, C. and M. Rössler, M. 2013a Many Voices, One Vision: The Early Years of the World Heritage Convention (Farnham: Ashgate,) pp. 1-330.

Cameron, C. and M. Rössler. 2013b. The shift towards conservation: early history of the 1972 World Heritage Convention and global heritage conservation.’ Understanding Heritage. Perspectives in Heritage Studies, Marie-Theres Albert, Roland Bernecker, Britta Rudolff eds.(Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter), pp. 69-76.

Christoffersen, L.E. 1997. IUCN: A bridge-builder for Nature Conservation. Green Globe Yearbook 1997. Oxford University Press, 6th edition. Pp.59-69

Cronon, W. (1995). The trouble with wilderness: Or, getting back to the wrong nature. In W. Cronon (ed.). Uncommon ground: Toward reinventing nature. New York & London: W. W. Norton. pp. 69.

Committee on the Evaluation, Design, and Monitoring of Marine Reserves and Protected Areas in the United States. 2001 Marine Protected Areas: Tools for Sustaining Ocean Ecosystem National Academies Press http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9994/marine-protected-areas-tools-for-sustaining-ocean-ecosystem.

Context 2013. Defining the aesthetic values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/defining-aesthetic-values-great-barrier-reef-world-heritage-area-february-2013.

Context 2014. Royal National Park and Reserves World Heritage Tentative List. Peer Review. Prepared for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW. Context Pty. Ltd.

Context 2015. Royal National Park and Reserves World Heritage Nomination Proposal. Additional Review. Prepared for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW. Context Pty. Ltd.

Darby, W. J. 2000. Landscape and Identity: Geographies of Nation and Class in England. London: Berg.

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Evans, D. 2002. A history of nature conservation in Britain. London and New York: Routledge.

Figgis, P., Leverington, A., Mackay, R., Maclean, A., Valentine, P. (eds). 2012. Keeping the Outstanding Exceptional: The Future of World Heritage in Australia. Australian Committee for IUCN, Sydney.

Flint McClelland, L. 1998. Building the National Parks, Historic Landscape Design and Construction. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

Franco, J.L 2013. The concept of biodiversity and the history of conservation biology: from wilderness preservation to biodiversity conservation. Historia (Sao Paulo) 32(2):21-48.

Glacken, C. 1967. Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought, From Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century Berkeley, California.

GML Heritage 2014. Royal National Park and Reserves World Heritage Tentative List Submission Final Draft Report. Prepared for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW.

Good, R. 1992. Kosciusko Heritage: The Conservation Significance of Kosciusko National Park. Sydney: NSW NPWS.

Haq, G. and A. Paul 2012. Environmentalism since 1945. Oxon and New York: Routledge

Hendlin, Y. H. 2014. From Terra Nullius to Terra Communis: Reconsidering Wild Land in an Era of Conservation and Indigenous Rights. Environmental Philosophy 11(2):141-174.

Holdgate, M. and A. Phillips 1999. Protected Areas in Context. In M. Walkey, I.R. Swingland and S. Russell (eds) Integrated Protected Area Management. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers,

Hutton, D. and L. Connors 1999. History of the Australian Environment Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

ICOMOS 2005. The World Heritage List: Filling the Gaps – an Action Plan for the Future. Paris : ICOMOS

ICOMOS and International Astronomical Union, 2010. Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Paris: International Secretariat of ICOMOS.

IUCN 1974. Classification and Use of Protected Natural and Cultural Areas, IUCN Occasional Paper No. 4, Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.

IUCN (1994) Guidelines for Protected Area Management Categories. Gland: IUCN.

IUCN (G. Finke) 2013. Linking Landscapes: Exploring the relationships between World Heritage cultural landscapes and IUCN protected areas. IUCN World Heritage Studies 11. Gland: IUCN.

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2005 The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community, Gland and Cambridge: IUCN.

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2010. 50 Years of Working for Protected Areas. A brief history of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. Gland, Switzerland : IUCN

IUCN, UNEP and WWF 1980. World Conservation Strategy. Gland, Switzerland : IUCN

Judd, R. W. 1997 Common Lands, Common People: the Origins of Conservation in Northern New England. Cambridge MA. Harvard University Press.

Juffe-Bignoli, D., N.D. Burgess, H. Bingham, E.M.S. Belle, M.G. de Lima, M. Deguignet, B. Bertzky, A.N. Milam, J. Martinez-Lopez, E. Lewis, A. Eassom, S. Wicander, J. Geldmann, A. van Soesbergen, A.P. Arnell, B. O’Connor, S. Park, Y.N. Shi, F.S. Danks, B. MacSharry and N. Kingston 2014. Protected Planet Report 2014. UNEP-WCMC: Cambridge, UK.

Lazarus, R. 2006. The Making of Environmental Law Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Leroux, S. M. Krawchuk, F. Schmiegelow, S.G. Cumming, K. Lisgo, L.G. Anderson and M. Petkova. 2010. Global protected areas and IUCN designations: Do the categories match the conditions? Biological Conservation 143:609al C.

Liverpool City Council 2002. Nomination of Liverpool - Maritime Mercantile City for Inscription on the World Heritage List. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1150/documents/

Lothian, A. 1999. Landscape and the Philosophy of Aesthetics: Is Landscape Quality inherent in the Landscape or in the Eye of the Beholder? Landscape and Urban Planning 44 : 177-198

Martin, S. 2013 A History of Antarctica, State Library NSW Press

McCormick, J. 1986. The Origins of the World Conservation Strategy. Environmental Review 10(3):177-187.

Mitchell, N, L. Leitão, P. Migon, S. Denyer. 2013. Study on the application of criterion (vii): considering superlative natural phenomena and exceptional natural beauty within the World Heritage Convention. Gland: IUCN.

Mitchell, R. 2003. International Environmental Agreements: A Survey of Their Features, Formation, and Effects. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 28: 429-46

Mosley, G. 2012 First National Park. A natural for World Heritage. Sutherland : Sutherland Shire Environment Centre.

Oelschlaeger, M. 1991. The idea of wilderness: from prehistory to the age of ecology. New Haven : Yale University

Oldekop, J.A, G. Holmes, W.E. Harris, and K. L Evans. 2015. A global assessment of the social and conservation outcomes of protected areas. Conservation Biology 30(1):133-14.

Phillips 2004 History of the international system of protected areas management categories. Parks 14 (3):4-14

Phillips, A. 2009. A Short History of the International System of Protected Area Management Categories WCPA Task Force on Protected Area Categories.

Pool-Stanvliet, R. 2013. The history of the MAN and the Biosphere Program in South Africa. South African Journal of Science. 109(9/10):1-6.

Robinson, 2011. A sort of national property…Managing the Lake District National Park: the first 60 years. Kendal: Lake District National Park Authority

Rootes, C. 2015. Exemplar and Influences: Transnational flows in the environmental Movement. Australian Journal of Politics and History: 61(3): 414-431.

Rotherham, I.D. 2010 History of Conservation and Biodiversity. History of Conservation and Biodiversity Series. UNESCO/EOLSS.

Ruggles, C. and M. Cotte 2010. Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Paris: ICOMOS.

Salmon, G. nd. Background and history of development of the conservation estate in New Zealand. A report for Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Ecologic Foundation, 2013.

Sellars, R.W. 1997. Preserving Nature in the National Parks. New Haven : Yale University Press.

Culpin, Mary Shivers. 2003. ‘For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People’: A History of the Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966. Wyoming: National Park Service, Yellowstone Centre for Resources

Simonian, L. 1995. Defending the Land of the Jaguar: A History of Conservation in Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press.

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Smith 2005. A Comparative Analysis of Levuka Port Town. A Report to the Government of Fiji. Suva : Department of Culture

Spence, M. D. 1999. Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press.

Thorsall, J. and T. Sigaty. 1998. Human Use of World Heritage Natural Sites: A Global Overview. Gland, IUCN.

UNEP, IUCN, WCPA. 2014. Protected Planet Report. Cambridge: UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

UNESCO-MAB 2006. Conserving Cultural and Biological Diversity: The Role of Sacred Natural Sites

and Cultural Landscapes Proceedings of Symposium, Tokyo 30 May – 2 June 2005. Paris :

UNESCO Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences.

UNESCO 2008. Science and technology, an expert workshop within the framework of the global strategy for the global, balanced and representative World Heritage List. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Committee. WHC-08/32.COM/INF.10 A.

UNESCO WHC 2007. Draft Summary Record 31st Session of the Committee, Christchurch, New Zealand, 23 June the framework of .07 /31.COM /INF.24.

UNESCO 2011 Preparing World Heritage Nominations, 2nd Edition. Paris UNESCO WHC

United States Department of the Interior 2005. The National Parks: Shaping the System. (Produced by Harpers Ferry Center National Parks Service) Washington D.C., US Department of the Interior https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/shaping/index.htm

Vernizzi, E.A. 2011. The Establishment of the United National Parks and the Eviction of Indigenous People. California State University. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1070&context=socssp

West, P, J. Igloe and D. Brockington. 2006. Parks and People: the Social Impacts of Protected Areas. Annual Review of Anthropology 35:251-277.

7.2 Relevant web sites Banff National Park http://www.gotobanff.com/history.php

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Banff_National_Park#History

Library of Congress Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 source materials

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/conservation/history.html

Environmental aesthetics http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/environmental-aesthetics/#EigCenAesNat

https://www.moore.org/materials/white-papers/Ecosystem-Services-Seminar-1-Background.pdf

Library of Congress History of Conservation. The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/conservation/history.html

Galapagos – international campaigns http://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/history/human-discovery/the-conservationists/

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wh theme rationale methodology & approach scoping study ... · morning herald, 1 may, 1939) ......

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