Traditional and contemporary management practices
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| 9A. Boardwalk with holes cut
for trees |
Minnamurra Rainforest has undergone several phases of management over time, starting
with the traditional management by Aboriginal people through to
the active management carried out by the National Parks and Wildlife
Service towards the management of the rainforest as an "ecotourism"
destination. In each case, the management has varied in its aims
and, as a result, the outcomes for the rainforest as an ecosystem
at risk have varied.
Management of ecosystems can run along a line between two extremes.
One extreme is preservation of the ecosystem, which involves allowing
no use or disturbance at all, in order to keep the ecosystem exactly
as it is. This is often the aim with ecosystems that are defined
as wilderness areas. This means that no facilities will be provided
to encourage visiting, so that the ecosystem can be preserved
as much as possible.
The other extreme of management is exploitation of the ecosystem,
which over time will use up the ecosystem so it no longer exists.
In between these two extremes are the aims of conservation, where
an ecosystem is set aside to be looked after, with use allowed
to the degree that is sustainable for the ecosystem. That means
that some ecosystems will get more use than others, because the
level of vulnerability varies, and can be altered through good
management. The last management type is that which involves the
use of the natural ecosystem for its resources, but only to the
degree that the ecosystem continues to produce these resources.
This does result in damage to the ecosystem.
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| 9B. Visitor Centre |
The first form of management was exercised by Aboriginal people in the area, and
their use of the rainforest was so subtle in its effects that very
little evidence remains today. We know that Aboriginal people used
the edges of the forest to hunt rainforest species, but it is thought
that, because of the difficulty of hunting in the rainforest they
would not have frequently gone deeper into the forest. This would
have been a very sustainable way of using the forest's resources
without destroying the whole ecosystem, because although the hunting
on the outer perimeter might have had an impact, the replacement
of the species hunted would have occurred in the deeper areas where
hunting did not occur often. This form of management is very sustainable
in the long term.
When Europeans arrived, the management of the rainforest changed
dramatically, with the early period being dominated by timber
cutters removing from the rainforest all the red cedar they could
find. This approach is really exploitation; however, because only
one species of tree was targeted, the ecosystem was able to continue
with some changes, so it would be classified as a use of the rainforest
that causes some disruption to the ecosystem, i.e. utilisation.
In the late part of this "timber-getting period", the government
did try to control the timber-getting to a true level of utilisation,
allowing people to use the resource but not wipe it out.
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| 9C. Sealed carpark |
This was followed by a period of wholesale exploitation of the rainforest where
the rainforest, was simply removed so that the land could be used
for farming. Although you could not really call areas completely
cleared rainforest anymore, some areas of Minnamurra Rainforest
today include land that was partially cleared for farming. This
land, although not ecologically rainforest, helps to add to the
buffer surrounding the forest and does contain some rainforest species.
Once settlement had occurred in the Illawarra, the area of Minnamurra
became a recreational ground, simply because of the aesthetic
values of the area, represented mainly by the waterfalls. At this
time the use was not aimed at causing damage to the ecosystem,
and in that respect the management was one of conservation, but
because the management did not go far enough to control the way
in which people used the area, the management became one of utilisation
as the sheer numbers of people visiting the area exceeded the
rainforest's ability to cope, and flora and fauna began to be
disrupted. This was aided by the construction of bridges and tracks
to improve people's access to the falls.
Attempts were made to arrest this situation when Kiama Council
appointed Howard Judd as caretaker of the park, beginning Minnamurra's
first period of active management towards conservation. The development
of facilities during this period would have helped to control
some of the uses of the park which were damaging to the ecosystem;
this included the development of toilets and defined parking facilities.
However, the sheer numbers of people wanting to use the park again
overwhelmed the attempts at conservation and by 1986, when the
National Parks and Wildlife Service took over management of the
park, it was severely degraded through overuse, as well as through
the impact of bushfires and floods which, given the resources
of Kiama Council, could not be properly remediated. So, because
of a lack of resources to manage the conservation, the park had
once again fallen into a utilisation situation, with the ecosystem
significantly disrupted.
Management by the National Parks and Wildlife Service was initially
aimed at remedial works to restore the ecosystem to a point where
it could be properly conserved. Use for recreation could continue
without the impacts of past periods of use. The major factor in
this period of management has been the injection of financial
resources to enable works to be carried out to protect the ecosystem.
These works included the construction of the boardwalk and facilities
such as sealed carparks, as well as the introduction of charges
to use the park. This meant that the park could continue to be
maintained, with more money coming in to meet management needs
as visitation increased. In addition the park's aims moved from
recreational to educational, so that people visiting were educated
about the environment and the need for the conservation of such
ecosystems at risk.
As this level of management progressed and the National Parks
and Wildlife Service moved towards regeneration of disturbed areas
of the park, the education program became more central to the
park's operation. Minnamurra Rainforest Centre has moved towards
becoming an ecotourism operation. An ecotourism operation is one
that can be defined according to the Handbook of Geography
(Pask and Williams, 1993) as "a form of tourism which makes little
or no impact on the environment but has a learning role for its
participants". At this stage, the use of the park still has some
impacts on the ecosystem, as outlined at Stop 8; however, work
continues to reduce this impact, such as the introduction of water
recycling for the toilet facilities to reduce the impact on the
river.
Minnamurra will never be set aside for preservation because of
its location close to major urban centres but also because the
role it plays in education about ecosystems at risk, in particular
rainforests, makes it far more important as a conserved environment.
The changes that have occurred in the management of the rainforest
have come about, more because of changes in social and political
attitudes than because of a sudden decision to conserve the area.
As people have become more aware of the value of the environment,
attitudes towards it have changed. In addition, the improvements
in technology have changed the way we are able to manage an environment
such as this. We now know more about it and have more resources
at our disposal to act for conservation. Lastly, we have begun
to value our ecosystems because of the rate at which we are degrading
the rest of our environment. This means that more effort is being
made to conserve those that still exist in an ecologically healthy
state.
When Europeans first arrived, they felt surrounded by the rainforest
in the Illawarra, so did not think that by cutting down some trees
they would have much impact. Further land clearing happened gradually,
so it was not until all the land had been cleared that people
realise what they had lost. Technology such as satellite and aerial
photos, combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), can
help change this perception, because they allow us to easily quantify
what we do and do not have, what is rare and what is common. This
leads to differences in the way we value and therefore manage
our ecosystems.
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