Environmental and First Nations organisations have written to UNESCO, the United Nations body responsible for World Heritage sites, seeking intervention on the growing impacts of feral deer in and around the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA).
An excerpt from the letter:
We are writing about our great concern over the increasing biosecurity threat that invasive species, particularly invasive fallow deer, pose to the natural values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA).
The 2015 IUCN Reactive Monitoring Mission to the Tasmanian Wilderness highlighted biosecurity as a major concern and management priority. However, the actions of Australia (the State Party) and Tasmania (the subnational entity) on biosecurity, and especially deer, in the TWWHA remain inadequate in relation to the extent and severity of the impacts on the Outstanding Universal Values.
While the Tasmanian government has plans to manage biosecurity threats in the TWWHA, we are concerned that these plans and the dedicated resources are insufficient to mitigate the negative impacts posed by deer and other invasive species in the area.
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