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Cave Management in Australia

Proceedings of the first Australian Conference on Cave Tourism, Jenolan Caves, N.S.W.

10th - 13th July, 1973.

 

Edited by E. Hamilton-Smith

 

Australian Speleological Federation,
P.O. Box 388,
BROADWAY,
New South Wales. 2007.

 

April 1976.

Published by:

Australian Speleological Federation
P.O. Box 388,
BROADWAY
New South Wales. 2007

June 1976.

Copyright is the property of individual authors, or where no author is stated, of the Federation itself. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

 

Printed by:

PIT Press,
Plenty Road,
BUNDOORA,
Victoria. 3083

INTRODUCTION

The first Australian Conference on Cave Tourism was held at Jenolan Caves, NSW, on the 10-13th July, 1973. It was convened by the Australian Speleological Federation, of which I was President at that time.

We cannot do other than apologise for the extremely late appearance of this volume. Regrettably, those of us responsible are speleologists by hobby and there have been many other calls upon our rather limited free time. Similarly, pressures of other business have kept us from taking action upon the follow up requested by the conference, but plans are now in hand to convene a further conference and to examine the feasibility of a short course for cave rangers and guides.

The figures given in section 7 of this report show the extent of cave tourism in recent years. The increasing pressure of visitors is obvious, with some areas experiencing as much as a 100% increase in visitors over the 1968-72 period. At the same time, some other areas have reached a plateau in visitor numbers. At Jenolan — the most visited cave area in Australia — it seems that the caves reserve has almost reached saturation under present tourism conditions. As with many other of our natural resources, the time has come for more attention to the key issues of management so that while offering public access to these resources, we may also ensure their preservation for future generations.

Two important trends emerge from the present papers and from practice around Australia. The first is a growing emphasis upon educational and interpretative services associated with cave tours. The second is experiment with management of tour parties and with the kinds of tour options offered. Self-guiding has been introduced; some experiments have been undertaken with "wilderness" tours.

At the same time some gaps in our offerings can be identified. There is relatively little diversity in the kind of caves available to the general public — no major river system caves are available and none of the immense caverns of the Nullabor are available. Although progress has been, particularly at Naracoorte, South Australia, with educational use of caves reserves none has a fully developed environmental education program. Little or no attention has been paid to history, although the Jenolan Caves Historical and Preservation Society has initiated a beginning of this. Finally, one can safely say that on the whole, the lighting of Australian show caves generally ranges from poor to appalling.

Probably a further gap lies in the inadequate management of some areas which might be called "concealed tourism" . Areas such as Texas (Queensland), Bungonia and Wee Jasper (NSW) are visited by thousands of people for recreational purposes. Some of these are members of the Federation, others are bushwalkers, scouts, members of other youth groups, and unaffiliated members of the general public. Although the management problems of Texas are tragically being solved by inundation of the caves, and systemic management is commencing at Bungonia (see L. Rieder's paper in this volume), Wee Jasper remains without management and subject to continuing degradation. Many other areas, far too numerous to list, need active resource management programs.

Many further caves might yet be developed in Australia for general public access. Exit Cave and Kubla Khan in Tasmania are both caves which can only be described as among the finest potential show caves in the whole world. Our famous Nullabor caves, some of them of outstanding scenic value, have so far been neglected, and again, Weebubbie Cave, probably the most spectacular is being subjected to continuing damage and disfigurement.

In closing this brief introduction, our thanks to the NSW Department of Tourism for their support and interest must be recorded. The conference would not have been the pleasant occasion which it was without the warm hospitality of all the Jenolan Caves Staff, and the assistance we received from the Department as a whole certainly eased the lot of the organisers.

We look forward to the occasion of the next conference with anticipation, and again, apologise for our delays.
Elery Hamilton-Smith

February 1976

RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONFERENCE

This conference agrees that:

  1. It extends to the Australian Speleological Federation its appreciation for organising this conference and that special tribute be paid to its president, Mr Elery Hamilton-Smith, and to its secretary for the conference, Mr John Dunkley.
  2. In view of the importance of cave resources throughout Australia, this conference agrees that a biennial conference of those concerned with cave management should be held at appropriate sites.
  3. Because of the fragile nature of cave resources, the conference draws the attention of managers to the need for the special scientific management required to prevent the despoilation of these resources.
  4. Before any development of a cave area is undertaken, a thorough scientific survey should be carried out to determine:
    1. the precise area to be developed
    2. special measures required to protect the resources — this may well mean the protection of catchment areas several miles away, anti-pollution measures, etc
    3. the effect of all proposed developments for accommodation, roads, carparking be carefully assessed
    4. special precautions to be taken to prevent loss of scientific values, e.g. fossils
    A management plan should then be prepared which will include an estimate of the carrying capacity of a cave area and special precautions to be taken to protect the assets of the caves.
  5. Continuous scientific monitoring of the caves should be undertaken to provide management with a scientific basis for the continued management of the caves.
  6. There is a need to upgrade the status of the guides who are required to interpret the caves in a lively and interesting manner requiring a good knowledge and understanding of the caves' geology, history, etc along with a special ability to communicate with people.
    As one step in achieving this end, this conference recommends that the ASF seeks to arrange a short course on cave science at an appropriate educational institution. It is recommended that all managers of caves be asked to nominate guides attend this course.
  7. The exchange of guides between cave areas and between management authorities should be encouraged.
  8. The proceedings of this conference should be made available to the Australian Department of the Environment and the Interim Committee on the National Estate, and their attention should be drawn to the special needs for research and management in this matter. (NB: The two authorities concerned are now respectively known as the Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development, and the Australian Heritage Commission).
  9. The conference expresses its appreciation to the manager and the staff at Jenolan Caves for their warm hospitality in such delightful surroundings.