About the campaign

The broad based Recherche Bay Protection group has been actively campaigning to preserve the historical and natural values of Recherche Bay since late 2002, when private landowners commenced plans to log the northern peninsula forest which encircles the northern end of the bay and adjoins the Black Swan lagoon conservation area (map of planned logging area).

In 2003 the Greens and the Recherche Bay Protection Group put the case for protection in submissions to the Tasmanian Heritage Council, which recommended in November 2003 that the north east peninsula be protected due to its cultural significance (summary of recommendations).

In 2005 the Tasmanian government ignored this recommendation, merely declaring the statutory 100m coastal strip and two (delimited) sites of the 'Garden' and 'Observatory' listed under Part 5 of the state Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995. The Tasmanian state government continues to support the imminent despoiling of the bulk of the north-east peninsula.

On 6 October 2005 the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage included the northeast peninsula of Recherche Bay under Australia's national heritage list, and approved funding for archaeological studies of sites on the peninsula. Despite the listing, federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage Senator Campbell stated logging could go ahead on the northeast peninsula. This followed a request by ACT Emeritus professor of Archaeology Dr John Mulvaney in 2004 for nomination of the whole peninsula to the National Heritage List. Senator Campbell refused Greens Senator Bob Brown's March 2005 request for emergency listing of the peninsula.

The Recherche Bay Protection Group, Tasmanian Greens MP Peg Putt and the federal Green Senator Bob Brown called on the state and federal governments to declare the whole North East peninsula part of our natural and cultural heritage (www.tas.greens.org.au).