It has been many years of hard work and continued efforts by many conservation groups and activists including Miranda Gibson who became an instant celebrity when she climbed a tree in December 2011 and vowed not to come down until the threatened forest was protected. On June 24, 2013, the UN World Heritage Committee officially approved the extension of the state’s forest into its World Heritage List, therefore protecting 170,000 hectares of forests.
The decision was passed in a meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, when the 21-nation committee unanimously accepted the nomination. In fact, the committee members from Germany, Malaysia, India, Serbia, Albania and Estonia all spoke in strong support of the decision as reported by Asiancorrespondent.com.
The UN’s decision means thousands of hectares of contiguous tall eucalyptus wild forests, endangered species habitat, wild rivers and ancient karst systems are finally protected and recognized as UN heritage sites and therefore offering protection for outstanding forests such as Styx, Weld and Upper Florentine Valley.
The outcome is greatly acknowledged to be also because of the work done by the Australian and Tasmanian Governments and the signatories to the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.
