Teorías evolutivas científicas

This section describes the values associated with Aboriginal heritage, historic activities, and natural and landscape values in the Bay. Social value in terms of popular opinions and shared community perceptions in current society is outlined.

Heritage value

The Bay is unique and exceptional for its Aboriginal and historical uses. Aboriginals have lived in Tasmania about 40,000 years and the coastal area from Southport Lagoon to Recherche Bay was seasonally inhabited by the Lyluequonny band of the South Eastern Tribe (Australian Heritage Database 2011b). The site also bears a rich layer of historic activities since European settlement in Australia, with nineteen European heritage features mapped at the Bay (Kitchell 2007). This is the place where the first white woman set foot in Tasmania and the island’s first European burial occurred, and where the last full-blood Aboriginal in Tasmania was born (Huon Valley Council 2007).

The northeast peninsula in the TLC Recherche Bay Reserve (AHD 2005b) and Recherche Bay and Surrounds (AHD 2011 b) are listed as National Heritage for their unique values. The National Heritage List is designed to recognise and protect places of outstanding heritage to the nation. The Reserve meets four of the nine National Heritage List criteria. For Criterion A (Events, Processes), the site was a landing place of the 1792 French Bruni d’Entrecasteaux expedition, which aimed to find the missing explorer Jean Francois de Galaup de La Perouse who disappeared in 1788. The

expedition set sail in two frigates, the Esperance and the Recherche, returning in 1793, and the first and friendly meetings between the French and local Aboriginal

Lyluequonnytribe occurred on the northeast peninsula. Criterion C (Research) shows the association with the French scientific achievements. Their records of contact with the Indigenous inhabitants are important in understanding Tasmanian Aboriginal society prior to European settlement. Archaeological research value resides in the French

garden built as a gift from the French people to the natives of the new land and an observatory site. The French scientific achievements in geomagnetic measurement at the Bay satisfy Criterion F (Creative or technical achievement). That geomagnetism varied with latitude was proven there, and constituted the first European scientific experiment undertaken on Australian soil. Members of the 1792 and 1793 French expedition are significant people, thus meeting Criterion H: Elisabeth Paul Edouard

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de Rossel (geoscientist) and Jacques Julien Houtou de Labillardiere (botanist, whose work here resulted in the first publication of general flora of Australia, 1804-06).

Social value

The Bay also encompasses social value, defined under National Heritage Criterion G of “outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s strong or special

association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons” (AHD 2005b). Social value arises from shared community perceptions based on a continuous association with places over considerable periods of time (Johnston 1992). The wide range of social values are the result of early settlements associated with whaling (c1832-c1850), timber harvesting (1833-1952), fishing and boat building (1840- 1960), settlement and agriculture (c1840-present), and coal mining (1830-1940)

(Kostoglou 2000). More recently, other elements also have an impact on the social values, including recreational activities, shack culture, lifestyle, the conservation movement, and the logging industry. The Bay is a popular family-oriented holiday destination due to its safe and sheltered coastal area. The proximity to the sea reduces the incidence of frost and moderates temperature fluctuations while the low altitude (less than 300m) allows for warmer temperatures (TPWS 1994a). This provides a range of recreation activities for people of different ages and interests, such as boating, fishing, camping, day and

overnight bushwalking and other beach activities. According to the Far South Profile Tasmanian Visitor Survey conducted by Tourism Tasmania for 12 months ending 30 June 2006, 11,800 people visited the Cockle Creek area (Huon Valley Council 2007). Like many other popular tourism destinations in Tasmania, the population of the Bay fluctuates with the seasons dramatically. The place can be completely empty in winter except for the 14 residents in the region. By contrast, during public holidays and summer months, especially Christmas and Easter Holidays, the population increases considerably with the influx of day and overnight bushwalkers, campers, shack owners, and visitors. It is a key entry point to the Southwest National Park which is a part of the TWWHA, accessed via the South Coast Track that starts from Cockle Creek. Between 2004 and 2005, it is estimated that 10,404 visitors walked the South Coast walk (Huon Valley Council 2007). There are no huts along the 85 km track and the area is constantly exposed under harsh weather. The 6 to 8 days walk is therefore challenging and is only suitable for fully self-sufficient, well-equipped and experienced walkers (TPWS 2011b).

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Bay visitors can be divided into four types. Some are shack owners, among whom eleven are permanent residents while others go mostly on weekends or summer. The second group comprises residents of the nearby towns who use the place for family camping and socialisation. They enjoy the different lifestyle and freedom. They usually relax, stroll along the sandy beach, or undertake water activities such as fishing,

swimming, and snorkelling. The two hour return walk to Fishers Point and four hour return walk to South Cape Bay on the South Coast track may also be on their activity list. They often camp at the same location in the State Recreation Area where a camping fee is not applied and camp fires are allowed (Figure 5.2). Free camping is important to them, with stays for days and even weeks. In the past, some people used to camp at the same locations for three months, but the maximum time for camping is now regulated as one month considering the increasing usage and cumulative damage to camp sites. The third group is interstate and international visitors or people from other parts of Tasmania caravanning and touring around the State or Australia. They are more likely to camp in the National Park; a fuel stove only area where a park entry and camping fees are applied. Their purpose may include a visit to the southern end of Tasmania and Australia. For bushwalkers, this is the start or finish point for the South Coast Track, and the campground for some walkers who missed the bus back to Hobart. For sailors, the sheltered position of the Bay from the harsh south-westerly winds serves as a

waiting point for calmer weather on the way to Port Davey. Port Davey is located on the south west coast of TWWHA adjacent to Bathurst Harbour. The Bay can also be a boating/watercraft destination in its own right.

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Figure 5.2 – Campgrounds in the Bay

Shack culture remains on private lots within the National Park and in the State Recreation Area, an easygoing relaxing life style valued by some families. It reflects how some people use open and spacious lands in Australia. Some are the residual logging family descendants who have lived there since the 1850s when timber-getting leases were made available to private entrepreneurs. Poulson (2004) noted that the descendants demonstrated an intense pride in the achievements of their forebears. The residents and shack owners also form a close community which shares the same values and history. They have stated that they are not prepared to compromise their lifestyle or the natural and cultural attributes that make the area special; they wish to see no further development ‘at any price’ in efforts to create the area as a desirable visitor destination (Huon Valley Council 2007). However, there are debates on whether social value as part of shack culture should be recognised, and some argue that it is an intrusion upon the natural landscape.

Despite a rich heritage, it was not until a landmark battle between conservationists and Southwest National Park Recherche Bay Recherche Bay State Recreation Area Gillhams Beach Campground Finns Beach Campground Catamaran Campground & boat ramp

Cockle Creek Fords Green Campground Campground Crown Land TLC Recherche Bay Reserve Southport Lagoon Conservation Area State Forest Private land

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the forestry industry took place in 2002 that Recherche Bay gained much public attention around Tasmania and Australia. The campaign that aims for stopping logging on the private land on the northeast peninsula starts after the timber-getting place was proposed in 2002 (RBPG 2009). After much public debate the land was purchased by the TLC in 2006 (Kitchell 2007) (see Figure 5.1). Powell (2000) wrote that any controversy over the forests has powerful political dimensions in Australia, with logging often the subject of intense public and political debates. The Bay achieved listing as National Heritage in 2005 as a result of this campaign. However, Poulson (2004) pointed out that the descendants of the logging families feel insulted by the discontinuation of logging activities.

Natural value

The fauna and flora are not well investigated and understood in many parts of the Bay. It is located adjacent to the TWWHA where major stages of the earth’s evolutionary history and ongoing geological processes have taken place and threatened species of animals or plants of outstanding universal value still survive (TPWS 1999). The site is also the habitat for two threatened species: the Swamp Eyebright near Blackswan Lagoon (Huon Valley Council 2007) and the White-Bellied Sea Eagle on the northeast peninsula (Kitchell 2007). On the northeast peninsula, the area’s relatively intact vegetation coupled with the absence of any known weeds or feral animals indicates a relatively full and healthy faunal composition typical of such vegetation types (Kitchell 2007). Southport Lagoon has rich water bird habitat in the lagoons and fringing

vegetation; fish nursery sites are in the seagrass beds, wetlands, and lagoon systems and many bird species are of individual conservation significance (TPWS 2006). Wedge tailed eagles, grey goshawks as well as swift parrots can be observed (Huon Valley Council 2007). Some uncommon plant communities also occur. An unusual form of leek orchid has been found at a spot along the South Coast Track through Blowhole Valley (TPWS 1994a), shown on the Fig. 5.1 map. The heaths around Southport Lagoon are rich in species that have been eliminated elsewhere. In the northeast peninsula, there are areas of old growth forest with rainforest understorey that are not common in coastal areas of southeast Tasmania (Kitchell 2007). The site also bears earth science resources, such as Blanket bogs underlying the Blowhole Valley moorlands consisting of organic soil which develop slowly from the accumulation of

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organic matter, and which could provide important scientific information on soil development approximately 10,000 years ago (TPWS 1994a). Ancient limestone and dolomite caves have continued nature’s artistry for over 40 million years around this area (Huon Valley Council 2007). The geo-heritage includes good representations of two bay mouth spits and rare fossilised fern fragments of considerable scientific value in Southport Lagoon.

Landscape value

The landscape values are very high in relatively undisturbed landscapes which can appear little changed since the eighteenth century French expeditions. The TWWHA holds outstanding natural phenomena, formations, features, and areas of exceptional natural beauty (TPWS 1999). The local government authority, the Huon Valley Council (2007), with considerable justification, describes the land from Dover to Cockle Creek encompassing evocative natural landscapes with vast and pristine waterways,

magnificent coastlines, jagged mountain ranges, and fertile valleys. The views across the Bay to the forested and undisturbed northeast peninsula or to the National Park with often snow-capped peaks of Southern Ranges are remarkably beautiful. The

considerable recreation and tourism resources and result in the demands for and

pressure from tourism developments. It is also the natural beauty that underpinned much of the public interest in protecting the peninsula (Kitchell 2007). The relatively

untouched wild land and seascapes together with the heritage of the Far South area offer a sense of remoteness and isolation (Huon Valley Council 2007). The sense of the pristine and undisturbed provides a change from civilisation and daily life that offers a different environment for people to enjoy.

The remnants of human activities are a part of its outstanding landscape. The Aboriginal and historic events left various physical vestiges which survive, such as flensing

platforms, try-pot nests, and whalers’ accommodation (DeGryse & Hepper 2000). Although some traces of these past activities have vanished, the awareness of the extraordinary history still forms a critical part of the exceptional cultural landscape, which witnesses a disappeared civilisation and connects the past and the present day.

Issues associated with the landscape are forest operations. Under the Forest Practices Code, landscape management is required and cultural heritage provisions emphasise

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the need to protect physical remnants of the past, the reduction of the visual impact of harvested areas, and the need to harmonise with the local character and land use patterns (Gaughwin 2006). However, the landscape section of the Code does not consider

cultural landscapes (Gaughwin 2006). The scenic values have been threatened by forest operations around the Bay (TPWS 2006) and timber harvesting has immediate potential to impact on cultural landscapes values in the area (Gaughwin 2006).