Brief description
In a region that has been subjected to severe glaciation, these parks and reserves, with their steep gorges, covering an area of over 1 million ha, constitute one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world.Remains found in limestone caves in the interior attest to the human occupation of the area from the Pleistocene to the end of the Ice Age and near the coast there is evidence of more recent pre-European settlements.
Date of ICOMOS approval of this report 6 March 2013
2 Issues raised
Background
In 1982 and 1989, the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a mixed property under cultural criteria (iii), (iv) and (vi), and under all four natural criteria (vii), (viii), (ix) and (x). In 1989 there was an extension of the property, mainly to the north and east. The property then covered 1.38 million hectares, or 20% of the State of Tasmania. There is no buffer zone.
