Mining Heritage of the Australian Alps - Australian Alps National Parks

5. RECOMMENDED STRATEGY FOR CONSERVATION AND
MANAGEMENT
5.1 CONSERVATION
5.1.1 CONSERVATION OBJECTIVES
The conservation objectives that apply to mining cultural heritage in the Alps are:
• Protect and preserve historic mining sites and landscapes within the Alps, using the
principles and guidelines of the Burra Charter;
• In general, conserve the mining sites within the Alps as ruins, where their sense of
abandonment is given by their condition and the surrounding regrowing forest;
• Where adequate conservation & protection measures can be applied, use mining sites and
landscapes for the appreciation of visitors and as a resource for cultural research and
education;
• Assist conservation, by promoting further investigation into both the history of mining in
the Alps, and the mining cultural assets of the Alps.
5.1.2 CONSERVATION PROCESSES
(Terms as defined in the Burra Charter)
Preservation
(Maintaining the fabric of the place in its existing condition and retarding deterioration)
Preservation will be the main conservation process applied to historic mining places in the Alps.
Because most sites will be managed as ruins, the objective will be to retard the deterioration of the
places. For generic alluvial diggings, reef mining workings, tracks etc, this will simply involve
avoidance of management practices that would otherwise cause damage (eg inappropriate trackwork
etc). For more complex or fragile sites with machinery and huts, it may involve specific and minor
interventions, such as removal of a destabilising influence (eg a particular tree). Rarely, for presented
sites or highly significant artefacts, it may involve application of preservative processes (eg rustproofing
etc).
Restoration
(Returning the existing fabric of a place to a known earlier state, by reassembling components or
removing accretions, without the introduction of new materials)
Restoration will not be a major focus of conservation of historic mining sites and landscapes in the
Alps. The principal use of restoration may be as a response to any future damage at presented sites,
resulting from vandalism, accidental damage or natural events. It would be confined to restoration of
machinery, huts & other structures, etc, if appropriate in the particular case.
Reconstruction
(Returning a place as nearly as possible to a known earlier state of the fabric)
Reconstruction will not be a major focus of conservation of historic mining sites and landscapes in the
Alps. Maintenance of existing values through preservation will generally apply, and reconstruction,
as defined in the Burra Charter, will be limited to activities such as mining hut maintenance (reroofing,
replacing bearers etc) where required.
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