Given the TNPA has reached another milestone — twenty-five years of speaking out on behalf of Tasmania’s national parks and other reserves – the first article reflects on the formation of TNPA and the issues that have defined our campaigns over the years. Prominent among those issues is the increasing emphasis by the state government and hence the PWS on national parks as tourist hot-spots but, as another article notes, the tension between conservation and visitation has been with us since the first parks were declared in 1916. Another article provides an overview of the areas protected in our parks and reserves, both terrestrial and marine and on private land, pointing out the need for review of reserve classes and for the redesignation of a number of reserves. A final article looks at PWS funding over the years, concluding that funding and staffing levels have not kept pace with increased visitation to Tasmania’s national parks.
