The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community
land above the snow line, rugged terrain, and a severe and unpredictable climate. Aboriginal
people came to the region at least 21,000 years ago and to the area that is now national park
4,000–5,000 years ago (Mulvaney and Kamminga, 1999). By the 1820s, pas toral ists were
taking cattle and sheep into the higher alps. Payable gold was discovered at Kiandra in
November 1859, creating the first alpine gold rush. Mining became more highly capitalized
during the 1880s with the introduction of hydraulic sluicing and dredging, which remained in
operation until the 1930s. The area was also used for logging of native timber, harvesting of
eucalyptus oil, and establishing forestry plantations. Skiing, introduced by miners at Kiandra in
the 1860s, has developed into a major industry, along with other types of outdoor recreation,
especially bushwalking.
Recognition of the unique qualities of Kosciuszko inspired research in many fields almost
from the beginning of European exploitation of the area (Scougall, 1992). Two developments
occurred in the 1940s – the creation of Kosciusko State Park (later expanded into Kosciusko
National Park) and the initiation of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme – that
brought great physical and social change to the area. Recent evidence indicating higher levels
of Aboriginal use of the alpine country provides important information about human adaptation
to this ancient landscape. The traditional European emphasis on scientific (archaeological)
research and on the role of men in Aboriginal society has left a legacy of biased recording and
analysis of Aboriginal cultural heritage which has yet to be redressed. This bias led to
misunderstanding and downplaying some aspects of Aboriginal culture in the park, and an
emphasis on archaeological sites at the expense of broader landscapes (Lennon, 2002).
Pastoralists used prior Aboriginal land use patterns and every explorer and squatter of note
in the alpine district was assisted by at least one Aboriginal guide. By the early 1850s, most of
the Australian Alps had been nominally occupied by pastoralists though the severe winters of
the high country checked permanent occupation and grazing there (Sullivan and Lennon,
2002). The sub-alpine landscape has been affected by this pastoral phase in national develop -
ment and presents continuing evidence of this era in impressive cultural landscapes, vegetation
change, a changed fire regime, the presence of wild horses and other introduced species, and
distinctive erosion patterns. Much of this evidence constitutes damage to the pre-European
environment, but it also has significant historic and scientific value. This is true also for
evidence of mining, timber-getting, water-harvesting and recreation.
Concentration on nature conservation has also had its costs. Removal of stock from the high
country has been demonstrated as an ecological necessity, but there was initially insufficient
recognition of the loss of way of life and treasured traditions and the impact of severing strong
emotional ties to the land, which resulted from the cessation of grazing in the high country
excluding both pastoralists and Aborigines (Read, 1996). The zeal to restore a ‘pristine’
environment initially ignored the long Aboriginal heritage of the park, and also led to the
destruction or damaging neglect of valuable historic heritage fabric, most notoriously at
Kiandra, the goldfields village. This in turn has led to protest, lobbying, and research by
heritage conservationists, and a gradual revision of policies to better protect cultural heritage.
Cultural landscape zones have not been formally delineated even though management
guidelines have been prepared for obvious areas such as Currango and Kiandra (Lennon and
Mathews, 1996). Currango is of national historic significance, being the largest and most intact
pastoral settlement above the snowline in Australia with 25 remaining buildings and ruins
spanning 150 years of European occupancy (Sullivan and Lennon, 2000). The physical setting
of pastoralism is of national aesthetic significance, having been used for over a century by
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