W.A. WORKING GROUP ON CAVE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION (1977-1983)
The Western Australian Working Group on Cave Management and Protection evolved from a recommendation made by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority in its 1976 "Red Book" report on national parks and nature reserves.
"1.4 (7) noting the three possible uses of caves, viz, commercial, recreation and archaeological, the Department of Conservation and Environment (should) convene a meeting with the Conservator of Forests, the Director of the W.A. Museum and the Director of Tourism and cave exploration groups with a view to establishing liaison for adequate protection and management of commercial and non-commercial caves in the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge"
As a prelude to the formal meeting proposed in this recommendation, three informal meetings were held over a six month period at the Department of Conservation and Environment in order to prepare a discussion paper on the special requirements for cave conservation in the South West of the State. In addition to Departmental officers, seven speleologists participated: Ray Hart, Ken Lance, David Lowry, Duncan Merrilees, Norm Poulter, Sid Roatch and Kerry Williamson.
In June 1977, the discussion paper prepared by the Working Group was considered by the formally convened meeting, chaired by the Director of Conservation and Environment, and was accepted in principle with some minor amendments. However, by this stage, the Working Group had become involved in several other related aspects of cave conservation including concern over the publication of cave locations on readily available maps and the need for cave mapping and surface land use studies as an integral part of cave management. Furthermore, several unanswered questions and requests for further advice arose out of the formal meeting. It was therefore decided that the Working Group should continue to meet as necessary to deal with cave conservation matters arising anywhere within the State.
In the first six years of its deliberations, the Working Group has met twelve times and other key personnel involved with the conservation of Western Australian caves have participated, including Richard May (National Parks Authority of W.A.), George Kendrick (W.A. Museum) and speleologists Rauleigh Webb and Jim Campbell.
Several officers of the Department of Conservation and Environment have helped to service the Working Group and provide specialist advice on specific issues. Similar advice has been obtained, where necessary, from representatives of other organisations, including the Forests Department, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and country tourist bureaux who fund four of the public show caves in Western Australia.
The Working Group has provided an informal medium for the exchange of views between speleologists, representatives of the cave managing agencies and other involved parties. The overall thrust of the Group's deliberations has been to make Government aware of the special issues involved in cave management and protection, and to make speleologists more aware of the restraints and the practical difficulties faced by cave managing agencies. At all times, increased protection for caves has been of paramount concern.
In some instances the Group has been unable to effect change that would be beneficial to cave conservation - for example, the marking of cave locations of publicly available maps (see Webb, 1983). It has, however, had success in several areas and has also provided advice to the Lands Department with regard to the creation of new reserves of protection of caves.
In 1978, the Working Group prepared a small bulletin entitled "Caves in Western Australia" in which a cave classification scheme for the State was proposed. This publication has been circulated widely and has undoubtedly helped to create a more enlightened public awareness of the need for a cave conservation strategy. It is interesting to note that the simple four-tier classification adopted in the paper is quite similar to that recommended for adoption on an Australia wide basis, some four years later, by the Fourth Australasian Conference on Cave Tourism and Management. With only a few changes in terminology and emphasis, the national classification is already workable within the State classification.
Also in 1978, members of the Working Group played a key role in the organisation and presentation of a seminar on tourist cave management held at the Busselton Tourist Bureau and Yallingup Cave. This seminar was attended by representatives of all major cave managing agencies and user groups in Western Australia, and again helped to increase awareness of the issues involved in cave management, especially in show caves.
By late 1979, it seemed that the Working Group had fulfilled its initial role and there was some discussion of terminating its activities through the Department of Conservation and Environment.
However, it was eventually decided that the Working Group still had a major advisory role to play, particularly in relation to recommendations for the reservation of land for conservation purposes throughout the State. It was felt that the Group should continue as the State's major advisory body on caves until such time as a more appropriate alternative emerged.
Although the group has no formal status, it has proved invaluable in assisting cave conservation in Western Australia. The core membership has been retained by those actively involved in cave conservation and consequently motivation has been sincere and the Group's views respected, though not always heeded. The system has worked well in Western Australia and there seems no reason to change it in the foreseeable future. Although the majority of Western Australian caves fall within National Parks, where there has been a good working relationship between users and managers, many highly significant caves and karst features do not - and it is here particularly where the Group will continue to have its greatest impact on improved cave protection and conservation measures in Western Australia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY, Western Australia, 1976: Conservation Reserves for Western Australia as recommended by the Environmental Protection Authority, Systems 1, 2, 3, 5 (the second "Red Book")
CAVE WORKING GROUP, Western Australia, 1977: Submission to the Department for Conservation and Environment on cave protection and management in South-western Australia. Western Caver, 17(1), 9-13.
WATSON, J.R., 1978: Caves in Western Australia, Department of Conservation and Environment, Bulletin 51:6 pp.
WATSON, J.R., (Editor) 1978: Cave Tourism in Western Australia, W.A. Department of Tourism, 28 pp. (Proceedings of seminary, Busselton, WA, November 1978).
WEBB, R. (1983): The Placement of Cave Names on Public Maps, Proceedings of the 5th Australasian Conference on Cave Tourism and Management, Buchan, April 1983.