by
Rauleigh Webb
Numerous
high profile conservation issues currently exist within Western Australia –
here’s a few.
I
have held the position of ASF Conservation Co-Convenor for all but two years
since 1983. I have at all times
remained focused on one goal - the conservation of caves and karst.
Since that time I have seen the pressures on caves and karst in Australia
increase about 20 fold. These
pressures come from cavers, cave managers and the general population in the form
of developers, casual cavers and vandals of all descriptions.
The introduction of a
Minimal Impact Caving Code for Australia would, I had hoped, improve the general
caving habits of cavers and that they would consider their impacts generally
using a minimal impact approach. I do not believe this has occurred or is likely to occur in
my lifetime.
However I now believe that it is time for other cavers to remove there head from the sand and understand the impacts that cavers and the population as a whole is having on caves. As cavers you need to take a new approach.
This is my final
report as an ASF Conservation Co-Convenor as I am resigning as of the Bathurst
Conference in December 2000. I had
hoped to “train” a successor however that was not meant to be.
Finally, a big “Thank You” to all of those cavers who have provided
support over the years.
Finesky Holdings Pty Ltd initially and then
Learmonth Limestone (a company formed between Finesky Holdings Ptd Ltd and
Barminco) applied to the Wardens Court to convert 10 Exploration Licences into
10 Mining Lease applications. The 10 leases are all located in high conservation
value karst areas that contain many known caves and aquifers.
The northern most lease contains the water filled portion of Wanderers
Delight the longest known cave at Cape Range with 6.5km of surveyed passage.
The court proceedings covered 5 days of witnesses, a site visit and a final summary by lawyers from both sides. This proved to be an enormous amount of work for the ASF’s lawyers, the Environmental Defenders Office of WA (Sandy Boulter and Michael Bennett being the two lawyers). I cannot stress how much work was undertaken by the lawyer’s and their staff in the preparation and execution of this case. The copying bill for documents used and entered as evidence in the case amounted to over $1,000. Their work was excellent and at all times with 110% effort. I would also like to thank all of the witnesses who gave so freely of their time and without whom the ASF would have had no case. They were:- Andy Spate, Elery Hamilton-Smith, Bill Humphreys, Stefan Eberhard, Kate Morse, David Sutton, Peter Poole, and Frank Batini. Darren Brooks also assisted by conducting a cave survey of the proposed mine site, although he appeared as a witness for the mining company.
The
Warden will make recommendations to the Minister for Mines, who will have the
final decision, regarding the granting of the mining leases.
This should occur approximately mid December 2000.
Preliminary
information regarding the fauna collected from drill holes placed on the
proposed mining lease indicate several possible new species.
However it will take time before the samples have been fully identified.
Whatever
the outcome of this case the ASF will have to continue to oppose limestone
mining on the Cape Range peninsula and with a change of state government in
Western Australia press for World Heritage Listing for Cape Range.
Approaches
were made to the NPNCA who currently control the management of lands held by
CALM. The lack of procedures
relating to development on karst in management plans was stressed and
suggestions on how the planning processes could be improved were conveyed.
The NPNCA indicated that the appointment of a State Karst Officer was
being considered. Further
approaches should be made to whatever the “new” NPNCA is to be called
following the division of CALM into “Forestry” and “National Parks”.
Improvement
of development procedures on karst is critical if simple mistakes such as
placing toilets above active stream caves or buildings adjacent to/on stream
caves are to be avoided.
After almost 12
months of no action on the route and track marking in Nannup and Dingo caves the
then WASG president John Cugley led a party to remove the track markers glued
directly to cave formations. These
markers were replaced with more appropriate markers not directly attached to
formations.
The loop route in
Nannup Cave was also closed by management after considerable criticism by cavers
about the impact of the route on the cave. Finally, after considerable debate, the Cave Management
Advisory Committee realised that a mistake had been made and the loop
route was removed.
A number of caves
and karst features have suffered considerable damage as a result of climbers
bolting them for climbing purposes. These
“climbers” are considered not to be members of organised groups as this
“vandalism” has been condemned by climbing clubs.
However the ASF
should consider providing information to ALL climbers via climbing magazines
about the impacts of bolting on karst features.
The installation
of detection devices at features under threat should also be recommended to
management authorities.
The Main Roads
department in Western Australia has been planning for a lengthy period of time
to widen Caves Road in the South-West of Western Australia.
This road has become the major access road to many of the key features of
the the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park as well as tourist facilities such as
Lake Cave, Mammoth Cave and the Cave Interpretive Centre.
It also passes over a number of known caves and lies very close (less
than 10m) to a number of others. This
issue has only just (Dec 2000) appeared as an article in the Margaret River
Times newspaper. Hence the full
details of the proposal are unknown to the Conservation Commission.
Latest
information is that no widening of Caves Road will occur in National Parks but
may do so if the road passes through private property. The full details of
the proposal are to be supplied by Main Roads.
The
election of the Liberal government placed the proposed listing in limbo.
No new developments have occurred since the WA Liberal government was
elected. Same status as 1994.
This is what I
said last year (with the date changed):-
As at November
2000 none of the proposed National Parks or reserves in the Nullarbor region
have been declared. The required
legislation is STILL LOST in government mumbo jumbo!
This has now worsened as a result of the Mabo and Wik decisions.
We can now only
describe the situation on the Nullarbor as a case of gross neglect by the WA
Government and its agencies. The
management plan for the area is almost due for renewal and NONE of the proposed
National Parks or reserves to protect caves have been declared.
John Watson the
regional manager for this area provides the following quotation:-
“No further
progress on SC Regional Management Plan recommendations for theNullarbor but
please note this is the situation for most of the recommendations in the whole
region ie this is not specific to the Nullarbor. The delays are caused by
clarification of Native Title issues and the need for clearance by the Minister
for Mines/Dept Minerals and Energy. I doubt that any progress will occur in the
short term..but the fact that these are in the plan means that we do get consulted about several types of
activity that might otherwise not have come our way. In other words the
recommendations have not been entirely wasted effort..”
Last year I reported on the work being undertaken by Lex Bastian and other WASG and SRGWA members on a privately owned block at Carabooda. Unfortunately the land owner and developer did not consider the importance of caves during the development of this land.
Overall 23 caves and karst features were located, explored and documented on the land proposed for development. During the first works carried out on the land, which involved the creation of roads, power lines and fencing five cave entrances were destroyed. Two beneath roads one beneath power lines and two more beneath fences. Quite clearly environmental laws in Western Australia leave a little to be desired when land owners can blatantly “destroy” caves in this way with acceptance by supposed responsible authorities.
Letters have been dispatched to appropriate authorities indicating the impact of development on caves and calling for the environmental assessment processes to be changed to ensure that such gross damage can not occur again in the future.
Many thanks to Lex Basitian for his attempts to draw notice to this matter with authorities responsible for this damage.
The
Tokyu Corporation has received approval to proceed with developments which the
ASF provided submissions on earlier this year.
The poor standard of environmental decision making in WA was highlighted
by this case where “cavers” were not allowed access to the caves to make
appropriate comment on potential impacts on the caves and karst.
Submissions
were made with generalities, as first hand knowledge of the caves in question
could not be obtained. Developers 1
– Caves 0.
The
land clearance adjacent to the National Park took place during this year.
As a result of the furore caused by this land clearance ALL further
applications for land clearance have been placed “on hold” by the
Environmental Protection Authority.
The
impact of the land clearance in Old River Cave has not been investigated to my
knowledge.
A
meeting between the ASF Co-Convenors and CALM discussed the removal of large
quantities of concrete blocking solution pipe cave entrances and the
construction of a new gate for Drovers Cave.
This proposal has been dispatched to CALM and we are awaiting there
decisions. It is hoped that both of these acts will restore airflow to the cave
and possibly attract back the bats that once resided in the cave.
It
is with some concern that I draw this matter to the Federations attention in
this report. Since the adoption of the Minimal Impact Caving Code (MICC)
in 1992 by the ASF I have monitored the attitudes of cavers both in Western
Australia and from other states. Unfortunately
I can say that I have not perceived any significant modification to caving
practises since the adoption of the MICC.
Cavers
seem unwilling to undertake even the slightest extra effort in caving practises
to assist caves by minimising their impact on the cave environment.
I
can relate specific instances of this attitude but consider that it is
preferable to be critical in a general way in the hope that ALL cavers will
start to reconsider every caving trip they make.
Think of (invent!) ways of reducing your own or others impacts on caves
and karst. For if we as cavers
cannot do this the caves that we visit and enjoy will not remain in the
condition that we have enjoyed for very much longer.
Simple
attitudes such as not re-surveying the same cave over and over just to get a
“perfect” map. When you do
survey – track/route mark as you go to reduce the impact of your survey on the
cave. If you are conducting research or working in a cave find ways
to reduce the number of trips you need to make into the cave to collect the data
that you require. This may mean
better long term planning or purchasing equipment to collect more data so that
the number of trips that you require is reduced.
The
ASF proposal to develop a Karst Index Database (KID) and place it on the WWW IS
a cave conservation issue and should be discussed at length by the Bathurst
Council meeting.
I
personally cannot agree with this approach as it is very likely that any
information of this quantity will be hacked unless it is placed on a secure
database server. I doubt that the
ASF has the necessary funds to pay the annual fees for such a server and
therefore cannot condone such actions. Remember
that if this data is hacked and published the impacts that WILL result on caves
is irreversible and the data will be in the public domain for all time!
Creating
a browser interface to the KID does not mean that the database has to reside on
a server on the WWW. PC based
systems are VERY capable of handling the KID data without storing the complete
dataset on the WWW.
The
KID concept should also be re-examined as GIS systems are now readily available
and are used by the majority of government departments in the assessment of
environmental data. We need to be
able to provide this data to government departments in a form that they can use
to ensure cave conservation as development increases dramatically on karst
regions. Lets rethink where we are
headed with the KID proposal.