Submission
Tasmania’s 2030 Visitor Economy Key Directions Paper was recently available for public comment. The TNPA welcomes the acknowledgement of the finite capacities of our natural areas and recommendations for research to understand “carrying capacity, cumulative impact, limits and thresholds”. Our major concern is the disconnect between this call for evidence-based planning and the unchallenged emphasis throughout the rest of the Key Directions Paper on growing visitor numbers. This is the issue that underlies most of TNPA’s concerns about management of our natural areas – the ever-increasing demand for visits to Tasmania’s magnificent national parks needs a more considered response than the provision of ever-increasing amounts of infrastructure. It is crucial that the natural experience sought by visitors is maintained.
Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park. Photo: Kip Nunn
The Tasmanian National Parks Association offers an independent voice for Tasmania’s national parks and reserves, to ensure they are managed for the conservation of the values for which they were proclaimed.