Code of Management of Wilderness Areas

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A Wilderness Society Policy Document

Adopted c. 1993, currently under review.

(from: Robertson, M., Brown, A.J. & Vang, K, 1992, Wilderness in Australia: Issues and Options: 114-118)

1 Objectives of Wilderness Management

a) To maximise the wilderness quality (remoteness and naturalness) of wilderness areas, and in particular,

i) to prevent further disturbance by modern technological society and to rehabilitate disturbed areas;

ii) to maintain their natural systems and ecological processes; and

iii) to allow indigenous plants and animals to evolve in their natural communities

b) To enable Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders to maintain, restore and protect their relationships with their country

c) To provide opportunities for research, solitude, self-reliant recreation and aesthetic enjoyment in wilderness areas, where such activities do not have an unacceptable impact on wilderness quality.

2. Wilderness Management Strategies

To accomplish these objectives, managers will ensure that the following prescriptions are met;

2.1 General

a) Incompatible uses and structures will be excluded.

b) Management operations will be carried out in a manner consistent with the maintenance of wilderness quality.

c) Exceptions to (a) and (b) will be limited to emergency and essential management operations (see 2.9) and will meet the following requirements:

i) the number and extent of operations will be minimized

ii) the operations will be clearly identified and justified in the management plan for the area; and

iii) where there is impact restoration will begin as soon as possible.

d) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples with traditional attachment to a wilderness area are to be involved in the development of the management plan for that area. Depending on the circumstances of the plan, an ongoing decision-making role in interpretation and implementation, management responsibility, and involvement in day-to-day management will be open to them.

e) A management plan, including a public comment process, will be prepared for a wilderness area within two years of its designation as a wilderness area. The plan will provide clear direction for protection and management, including:

i) management objectives, and actions required to achieve these;

ii) a statement of priorities and target dates for implementing the actions;

iii) the desired environmental conditions, visitor experiences and cultural values to be maintained in the wilderness area and the indicators to be used to monitor these conditions, experiences and values;

iv) a process and timetable for reviewing the plan and assessing its implementation;

v) fulfillment of requirements under 2.1(c).

f) Land around a wilderness area will as far as possible be managed to buffer the wilderness area from the impacts of external activities and degrading edge effects.

g) Where possible management activities essential to the maintenance of wilderness quality of a wilderness area will be conducted outside a wilderness area.

h) Community awareness of the value wilderness, proper use of wilderness areas, and an understanding of wilderness management principles and practices will be promoted.

2.2 Access and Transport

a) Existing vehicle tracks will be closed and rehabilitated as soon as possible. An exception must be justified in terms of why maintaining the track is more important than its removal. An exception will be considered only if it is for: fire protection where rapid vehicle access is considered vital for the protection of wilderness area or human life; maintaining Aboriginal law and culture; or control of introduced plant and animal species.

b) The use of motorized or wheeled transport will not be permitted except for specific emergency and essential management (see 2.9), and where required by Aboriginal people to enable Aboriginal cultural responsibilities to be fulfilled as agreed in the management plan for the area.

c) Environmental and social impacts of vehicle tracks and use of vehicles in accordance with 2.2 (a) and (b) will be monitored closely and remedial actions taken as soon as impacts occur.

d) There will be no construction of permanent vehicle tracks. The construction of a temporary track, or the use of heavy machinery in an emergency fire situation will be permitted only where:

i) it is the only way of preventing greater long-term loss of wilderness quality, particularly biophysical naturalness; or

ii) it is a response to an extreme hazard to human life, where no there are no alternative measures with less impact on the wilderness quality of the area.

e) Existing airstrips and helipads will be rehabilitated as soon as possible. The only exception will be where the use of a helipad is justified for control of introduced plant and animal species; or where its use for fire management reduces the likelihood of greater impact from alternative measure such as heavy machinery.

f) No new airstrip will be constructed in a wilderness area. A new helipad may be constructed only in the course of an emergency and will be rehabilitated as soon as possible.

g) Helicopters or light aircraft will land in a wilderness only during emergency or essential management operations.

h) Over-flying at less than 5000 feet above ground level will be strongly discouraged except for emergency and essential management operations (see 2.9). Over-flying at more than 5000 feet will be discouraged and excluded where possible.

i) Entry and use of non-indigenous animals (e.g. horses, dogs and camels) will be prohibited.

2.3 Recreation

a) The management plan for a wilderness area will include a visitor management strategy specifying acceptable activities and intensity and timing of visitor use.

b) Aboriginal and Islander traditional owners will be involved in planning of recreation access, and interpretation of cultural heritage.

c) The amount and type of visitor use and conduct will be monitored and regulated where necessary, to maintain the desired environmental conditions, visitor experience and to protect cultural values.

d) Organized tours will be permitted if they are consistent with the maintenance of wilderness quality and operated in according to a minimal impact code. Permitted tours will be monitored and regulated where necessary to prevent adverse impacts on wilderness quality and opportunities for solitude.

e) Management action will be taken to minimize environmental degradation caused by track and campsite use. Preference will be given to visitor control measures such as education, zoning, establishment of quotas, and use of permits, over upgrading of tracks and campsites.

f) No new walking tracks and campsites will be provided, and no signs, track markers and other management devices will be used unless it is to minimize visitor impact by relocating existing sites and tracks or controlled use. The formation of ad hoc tracks and campsites will be monitored, and discouraged.

g) Visitors will be encouraged to comply with a minimal impact code appropriate to the particular environment being visited.

h) Publication of guide books with explicit route guides to wilderness areas will be discouraged.

2.4 Research

a) Research which contributes to wilderness management including research which increases under-standing of natural ecosystems and processes, and which is of low environmental impact, will be encouraged.

b) Environmental research which cannot be carried out elsewhere and which is of low environmental impact, may be permitted.

2.5 Cultural Heritage

a) Wilderness areas will be systematically surveyed for the existence of sites, structures and artifacts of cultural significance.

b) Places and artifacts of significance to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples are to be protected under relevant legislation, and, through the management plan for the area, managed by the relevant Aboriginal or Islander people wherever possible.

c) Sites, structures or artifacts on non-Aboriginal origin, listed or being considered for listing, as cultural heritage by either Sate, Territory or Commonwealth government heritage bodies, or National Trusts, will be assessed in accordance with the principles of the Burra Charter, and as appropriate conserved, using access and methods compatible with maintaining wilderness quality, or allowed to deteriorate.

d) Non-Aboriginal sites, structures and artifacts which do not qualify for listing as cultural heritage by either Sate, Territory or Commonwealth government heritage bodies, or National Trusts, will be removed or allowed to deteriorate.

e) Where Aboriginal use of wilderness areas for the purpose of maintaining Aboriginal law and culture impacts on wilderness quality of an area (e.g. use of motorized access; establishment of permanent settlement), ways to minimize this impact will be considered in the preparation of the management plan and/ or in consultation with Aboriginal traditional owners.

f) Hunting and gathering by Aboriginal people in their ancestral lands, including the use of firearms in the context of traditional hunting practices, will be permitted. Any conflicts that may arise from these activities will be resolved in the preparation of the management plan and / or in consultation with the Aboriginal traditional owners.

2.6 Nature conservation

a) Maintenance, and where possible restoration, of natural processes and communities will be a management priority.

b) Management intervention will be permitted if necessary to maintain nature conservation values.

c) Management of threatened species and fire-sensitive species and communities will, as far as possible, be consistent with maintaining wilderness quality.

2.7 Introduced plant and animal species

a) Action will be taken to prevent the introduction and establishment of exotic plant and animal species.

b) Introduced species will be controlled or where possible removed from a wilderness area. Control or removal programmes will:

i) where possible, be integrated programmes where more than one introduced species is present;

ii) avoid non-target species to the greatest extent possible, and minimize the effect on natural systems and wilderness quality;

iii) be carried out through consultation and negotiation with Aboriginal people and adjacent landowners.

2.8 Fire

a) Fire management will be based on continuing research into fire ecology and ecological systems of the wilderness area. If possible, the fire regime:

i) to which the area's biota appears to have adapted; and

ii) that is now required for survival of the biota;

will be identified.

Specific action plans to replicate this regime are to be prescribed in the management plan.

b) Traditional Aboriginal burning practices will be maintained or implemented where appropriate, wherever possible through the employment of Aboriginal people.

c) Where information on the fire regime under which the biota of the area has evolved is unavailable:

i) Planning fires will be used only in emergency situations and essential management operations (see 2.9);

ii) Any other human-caused fires will be extinguished, where practicable consistent with maintaining wilderness quality;

iii) Naturally caused fires will only be extinguished when:

- in view of the direction, intensity and extent of the fire and the fire suppression techniques available, they pose an unacceptable threat to human life;

- on conservation grounds, it is considered undesirable that a wildfire burns all or a major portion of the wilderness area; or

- threatened flora and fauna are at risk.

Fires described in (i) and (iii) will be monitored frequently and controlled as appropriate.

d) Where ever possible, fire management practices designed to protect land adjacent to a wilderness area, or to prevent an undesirable fire entering the area, will be conducted outside the wilderness area.

e) Any suppression operations will employ, to the greatest extent practicable, techniques which least affect wilderness quality, and any area disturbed by such activities will be rehabilitated.

2.9 Emergency and essential management operations

a) Actions which may have an impact on wilderness quality but are considered necessary for emergency or essential management operations may be permitted. The only specific situations recognized in this Code are:

i) control or removal of introduced species;

ii) conservation of threatened species and communities;

iii) protection of fire-sensitive species and communities

iv) restoration of natural process and communities;

v) research;

vi) management of visitor use and its impacts;

vii) management actions or use of devices to mitigate extreme hazard to human life;

viii) maintenance of sites and artifacts forming part of the area's cultural heritage.

b) All emergency and essential operations will be carried out with the least possible impact on wilderness quality. Where degradation has occurred as a result of these activities, rehabilitation will be undertaken as soon as possible.

2.10 External influences

a) Adverse impact on the wilderness quality of an area resulting from activities and infrastructure outside the area, will, to the maximum extent possible, be avoided.

b) Where a wilderness area does not comprise a whole catchment, effort will be made to ensure that the water quality and flow regimes of that part of the catchment upstream of the wilderness area are maintained s close as practicable to their natural state.