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

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements iii
Preface by the Australian Government v
Executive summary xi
PART 1—SYNTHESIS OF IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR
AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES 1
1. Introduction 3
1.1 Scope of the report 3
1.2 What is a World Heritage property? 4
1.3 Climate change scenarios for 2030 7
2. Important aspects of climate change for World Heritage properties 9
2.1 Australian impacts 9
3. Summary of potential impacts of climate change on Australia’s World Heritage properties and values 21
3.1 Potential impacts on natural heritage values 21
3.2 Potential impacts on cultural heritage values 27
4. Flow-on effects for industry and society 31
5. Adaptation to impacts 33
6. Key findings and recommendations 35
6.1 Opportunities for mitigation 35
6.2 Adaptation and management 35
6.3 Creating and sharing knowledge 36
7. Bibliography—Executive Summary and Part 1 39
PART 2—SYNTHESIS OF IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR EACH OF
AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES 43
8. Climate change impacts on Australia’s World Heritage properties 45
8.1 Kakadu National Park 45
8.2 Great Barrier Reef 53
8.3 Willandra Lakes Region 65
8.4 Lord Howe Island Group 70
8.5 Tasmanian Wilderness 79
8.6 Gondwana Rainforests of Australia 95
8.7 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park 103
8.8 Wet Tropics of Queensland 106
8.9 Shark Bay, Western Australia 119
8.10 Fraser Island 125
8.11 Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte) 130
8.12 Heard and McDonald Islands 133
8.13 Macquarie Island 140
8.14 Greater Blue Mountains Area 146
8.15 Purnululu National Park 153
8.16 Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens 157
8.17 Sydney Opera House 161
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