DRAFT CAVES AND KARST POLICY

John Watson

Western Australian Department of Environment & Conservation (DEC) Albany, Western Australia

Abstract

The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) has a specific role in the conservation and protection of caves and karst under three main legislative instruments:

The draft Caves and Karst Policy has been developed to a near final stage through consultation both internally (DEC staff) and externally (a number of karst and speleological experts including several ACKMA members).

This presentation will provide:

Introduction

My interest in cave management spans some 30 years having been the inaugural Regional Superintendent of Southern National Parks (1978) and then the South Coast Regional Manager of the Department of Conservation & Land Management (CALM) and its successor, the Department of Environment & Conservation (DEC), until deciding to step aside as Regional Manager in late 2007. Since then I have been working part time on DEC Land Use Planning work in Albany and part time drafting a State-wide Draft DEC Caves & Karst Policy.

I am also lead convener of the 4th Conference (Yallingup), an inaugural member of ACKMA and the inaugural convener of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Task Force on Caves and Karst 1992-1997. I am also very interested in the management and protection of mountains being a member of the IUCN/WCPA Mountain Theme Group since 1991. But today my story focuses on caves and karst…

As humans we have had a very long association with caves and yet to many of us they remain frightening and dangerous places… a bit too far out of our comfort zone for most people… This does have bearing on the subject of my talk because whereas we here today may be comfortable with the subterranean environment many, possibly most people are not. Hence it can be a real challenge for decision makers including policy makers to fully understand the values and complexities of caves and karst.

Although issues associated with caves and karst are well known to most of you, there are some people who have only joined the conference this morning and so I will very quickly start with a few reminders of some of the values and issues associated with caves and karst…

Legislative and information base for the draft policy

DEC was established in July 2006 by amalgamating CALM and the former Department of Environment, hence there are 3 main acts affecting DEC’s interests and responsibilities for karst.

There already is a partial DEC caves and karst policy relevant to caves and karst (DEC Policy Statement 18, 2006) containing some three pages dedicated to Caving and Cave Diving but only in the context of recreational activities requiring management by DEC within protected areas.

However, when commencing the draft policy it was obvious that in the context of DEC as opposed to CALM the policy could apply Statewide and address wider aspects of cave and karst protection and management under the broader provisions of the Environmental Protection Act and Wildlife Conservation Act. Indeed the EPA Guidance Statement 33 (2008) has an excellent section (Chapter B9) on karst as part of the broad ranging advice offered in the context of land use planning.

This chapter contains three very useful checklists to remind planners of some of the key issues to consider in the context of karst. One checklist describes possible threats to the cave and karst environment, another lists some of the issues and values associated with karst and a third lists potential measures that might be taken to protect karst.

A number of other resource documents were invaluable in developing the DEC draft policy, in particular the IUCN Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection (Watson et al, 1997) and the recent review of World Heritage Caves and Karst (Williams, 2008).

Hence we already have an excellent platform both locally and more broadly on which to develop the new draft caves and karst strategy.

Development of the Draft Policy

Using various existing sources, especially those referred to above, a preliminary draft document was prepared which was then circulated to a number of departmental and external ‘experts’ in order to identify any significant omissions and necessary improvements to the existing text. The external consultation included a number of ACKMA members and protected area agency personnel around Australia. A second draft was then prepared and circulated more widely within DEC and again to the external advisors. This resulted in some 140 substantive comments on the preliminary draft from some 25 people.

The main thrust of the comments was as follows:-

The current version of the draft policy prepared in response to the comments received contains a set of broad policy objectives which address issues within the State’s protected area system, issues outside the protected area system, and issues which apply generally within Western Australia (i.e. both within and outside the protected area system).

For each policy objective there is a short background and descriptive text and then a series of proposed ‘Implementation Strategies’. Within the State protected area system both the consolidation of karst protection and subsequent management by DEC in response to threats are addressed. The issues outside the protected area system focus around the existing EPA Guidance Statement No 33 and the objectives applying State-wide include issues such as advocacy for caves and karst, staff training and general awareness raising. There is also reference to liaison with other agencies and with bodies such as ACKMA, the ASF and speleological groups.

In summary, DEC is in the process of finalising a draft policy for caves and karst in Western Australia. This draft will be released for general public comment. The help and comment already given by a number of ACKMA members and other experts has been invaluable and is gratefully acknowledged. We look forward to receiving additional input from you all in due course.

References

Department of Environment and Conservation, Policy Statement No 18, Recreation, Tourism and Visitor Services, October 2006.

Environmental Protection Authority (2008). Guidance Statement No 33, Environmental Guidance for Planning and Development, Chapter B9 Karst, subterranean wetlands and fauna, May 2008.

Watson, John, Hamilton-Smith, Elery, Gillieson, David, and Kiernan, Kevin (Eds.), (1997). Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. 63pp.

Williams, Paul (2008). World Heritage Caves and Karst – A Thematic Study. A global review of karst World Heritage properties : present situation, future prospects and management requirements , IUCN World Heritage Studies No 2, Gland, Switzerland.