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A geopark in an Antarctic gateway city? The case for a Wellington geopark in Tasmania, Australia
Citation
Williams, Mark and McHenry, M, A geopark in an Antarctic gateway city? The case for a Wellington geopark in Tasmania, Australia, 8th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks: Geoparks and sustainable development, 8-14 September, Trentino Province, Italy (2018) [Conference Extract]
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Abstract
Tasmania is an Australian island state with incredible geodiversity, second only to Scotland. State
geoheritage conservation frameworks recognise over 1100 geosites of from sub-regional through to
international significance. Tasmania is famous for hosting the world‘s largest exposure of dolerite, providing
substantial evidence of continental drift and plate tectonics through its occurrence in the former Gondwanan
supercontinent. Mount Wellington and the encompassing Wellington Park (250 km2) is a well expressed and
accessible representation of a significant doleritic landscape typical of the Tasmanian landscape, and lies on
the edge of Tasmania‘s largest city, Hobart. It provides the most extensive and well developed high altitude
periglacial terrain in Tasmania unaffected by glaciation. The landscape evolution of the park has resulted in
numerous dolerite boulder fields, talus slopes and rock columns including the well-illustrated columnar-jointed "Organ Pipes" sill immediately below the summit of Mount Wellington. Additionally, the Wellington
Park features string bogs, extensive Jurassic sandstone cliffs and outcrops, Permian mudstones with
extensive fossil deposition, all within relatively accessible locations relative to the Mount Wellington summit
drive. Additionally, the geodiversity of the Wellington Park supports the most biologically diverse area in
Tasmania due to marked variation in climate and soils. Despite the educational deficit of Tasmania‘s 500,000
citizens relative to the rest of Australia, Tasmanians have a strong sense of place and very good awareness
and understanding of the value of the landscape, and particularly strong environmental intelligence. For
instance, Tasmanians in general are aware of the broad geology of the Wellington Park as a ‗Dolerite
landform‘ and can identify significant features with ease. Tasmanians have a strong connection to the
outdoors, and spend substantially more time in natural and remote places than other Australians. Thus - the
notion of a Geopark in Tasmania is one that is expected to be embraced by the public at large, and can be
used to provide meaningful context to the surrounding landscape. A successful UNESCO Geopark
designation would provide significant social and economic benefits for Tasmanians through educational and
tourism opportunities. Notably, a Tasmanian Geopark would be the only Geopark in Australia. Currently,
over 300,000 people visit the Wellington Park each year and this is managed by a state management body of
rangers and scientists. Local indigenous people are actively involved in the management of the park to
ensure that culturally significant sites are interpeted and appreciated. The annexation of a Geopark would
involve a network of trails, both new and existing, to access a number of geosites that provide educational
and recreational experiences for a wide range of people while conserving the landscape for future
generations. This would have flow on effects to local communities surrounding the park, presenting
additional opportunities for 'natural tourism‘ which currently attracts 2 million tourists per year. Here we
outline a suitability analysis for the Wellington Park using geoheritage, geospatial and vulnerability
assessment as well as stakeholder analyses so as to present a case for admission to the Asia Pacific Geoparks
Network and as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
Item Details
Item Type: | Conference Extract |
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Keywords: | Wellington Park, GIS, geoheritage, conservation, dolerite, periglacial, Gondwana, Australia, geotourism |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Physical geography and environmental geoscience |
Research Field: | Physical geography and environmental geoscience not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Commercial Services and Tourism |
Objective Group: | Tourism services |
Objective Field: | Tourism infrastructure development |
UTAS Author: | Williams, Mark (Mr Mark Williams) |
UTAS Author: | McHenry, M (Dr Melinda McHenry) |
ID Code: | 141686 |
Year Published: | 2018 |
Deposited By: | Geography and Spatial Science |
Deposited On: | 2020-11-10 |
Last Modified: | 2021-06-04 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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