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National parks and world heritage areas are often resisted by the people in the communities adjacent to their boundaries. While conservationists argue that such protected areas can deliver substantial benefits to local communities, specific evidence for these benefits is often lacking. The towns of the west coast of Tasmania were largely established for mining, with reserves, including the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (WHA), displacing potential hydroelectric development. They constitute a natural experiment, with one town, Strahan, the focus of tourist activity based on the World Heritage Area, another, Queenstown, close to potential passive recreational experiences in the WHA, and others more remote and not on the normal tourist routes. The aim of the project will be to determine the social and economic benefits that have accrued to west coast communities as a result of the establishment of the WHA, with a secondary aim being to analyse the potential for stronger partnerships between local west coast residents and the managing agency, the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service. The project will involve quantitative and qualitative socioeconomic research in the context of contemporary protected area governance and management.
Note: Applications to undertake related work on the east coast of Tasmania, focussed on Freycinet and/or Tasman National Parks, will also be considered. These projects are co-sponsored by the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service
.Contact:Dr Michael Lockwood
Phone: +61 3 62262834
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area includes some of the most pristine estuarine systems in Australia, with catchments in close to their pre-European conditions. These estuaries are known to have world heritage values for their marine species and communities and their dystrophic surface waters. Some of these estuaries are used by professional fishers, kayakers, yachties and tourist ships. Their catchments may be subject to severe fires and other disturbances. The aim of the project is to understand the nature of the risks to the natural values from present and proposed activities and acts of god, and to test management scenarios in relation to these risks. This project will require the development of a high level of skills in the social sciences in the context of an excellent understanding of ecological processes. It is therefore in the research area of applied political ecology.
Note: This project is co-sponsored by the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service
Contact:Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick
Phone:+ 61 3 6226 2460
Graduate Research Office - Elite Research Scholarships - Geography and Environmental Studies