Implications of Climate Change for Australia's World Heritage ...

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IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES: A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT 3.2 Potential impacts on cultural heritage values 3.2.1 Potential impacts on properties listed as meeting any/all cultural heritage listing criteria (iii) to (vi) Australian World Heritage properties that meet any/all criteria (iii) to (vi) (Box 3) include: • Kakadu National Park • Willandra Lakes Region • Tasmanian Wilderness • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Box 3. Cultural heritage listing criteria (iii) to (vi) Criterion (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. Criterion (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. Criterion (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. Criterion (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 preservation of unique cultural values including Aboriginal middens, sea cave deposits and archaeological sites (e.g. Pleistocene and Holocene burial sites) is highly dependent on the maintenance and protection of their underlying landforms from climate change impacts. Particular spiritual values, for example, appear to be timeless and the loss of sacred sites can be devastating to a community. Some cultural expression would appear to be directly threatened by climate change; if hunting is a key activity, any substantial reductions in fauna populations associated with climate change will erode cultural values. Chemical and physical changes to the coastal zone Apart from their intrinsic geomorphic values, the coastal regions of Kakadu National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness contain significant Aboriginal cultural values. These unique values are reflected in features such as middens and sea cave deposits. Their preservation is dependent on the maintenance and protection of their underlying landforms from climate change impacts (i.e. excessive erosion, sea level rise and storm-surge events). Clearly, these non-renewable cultural features will require significant considerations regarding their management. 27
IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES: A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT Rainfall and extreme weather events Climate change projections indicate an increase in extreme weather events and flash flooding that will affect Australia’s World Heritage properties containing unique cultural values. Although erosion is a natural process, accelerated erosion (wind, stream and sheet erosion) may be detrimental to cultural heritage, including archaeological sites (e.g. Pleistocene and Holocene burial sites in the Willandra Lakes Region). An increase in severe storms, flash flooding and cyclones could also affect access to sacred sites. Indirect impacts—fire Fire behaviour is likely to change as result of global warming, resulting in more extreme fire danger days. During the dry season, wildfires create large quantities of smoke, dust and black ash that contaminate the atmosphere and result in the formation of highly acidic rain during tropical storms (Watchman 1991). Proper fire control strategies can help to reduce the destructive force of wildfires. Fire control programs in Kakadu involve traditional owners at all stages, including planning, execution and monitoring. Programs now are very much influenced by Indigenous burning practices (a World Heritage value—the ongoing, active management of the landscapes by Aboriginal people through the use of fire). While ongoing monitoring in Kakadu National Park has shown that past fire management practices have not been optimal for the environment, this information has contributed significantly to improved fire management practices. 3.2.2 Potential impacts on properties listed as meeting either/both cultural heritage listing criteria (i) and (ii) Australian World Heritage properties that meet either or both of these cultural heritage listing criteria (i) and (ii) (Box 4) include: • Kakadu National Park • Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens • Sydney Opera House. Box 4. Cultural heritage listing criteria (i) and (ii) Criterion (i): To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. Criterion (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. These last two cultural criteria relate to ‘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’ (i.e. Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens in Melbourne) and ‘a masterpiece of the creative genius’; namely Sydney Opera House and rock art in Kakadu National Park. CSIRO climate change projections for Sydney and Melbourne indicate a 0.5–1.1 °C increase in temperature by 2030 and a decline in annual rainfall. Projections also indicate that there is the likelihood of extreme weather events and prolonged drought (CSIRO 2006). For Kakadu National Park, there is also a tendency for more extreme storm events with an increase in the frequency of severe droughts (CSIRO 2006). Projections indicate that tropical cyclones are likely to become more intense with higher wind speeds (5–10% increase) (CSIRO 2006). 28
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