Pipeline to get UNESCO scrutiny

UNESCO, the United Nation's organisation responsible for overseeing the protection of World Heritage-listed sites, may soon be taking up the issue of the proposed Lions Way pipeline with the federal government after a phone call from Kyogle activist Leah Hobbs.

World Heritage status is granted to sites "considered to be of outstanding value to humanity" and are protected by an international treaty, to which Australia is a signatory. Metgasco are planning to build a 145- kilometre pipeline from Casino to Ipswich that would run through the World Heritage-listed Border Ranges and Ms Hobbs took it upon herself to call Kishore Rao, the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris, to find out if they had been informed of the proposal.

The Echo has confirmed that Mr Rao told her they had not, and he asked for more information so it could be taken up with the Australian government.

UNESCO are already planning to send a "reactive monitoring mission" to Australia to investigate concerns about approvals to gas processing plants at Gladstone and the impacts they could have on the Great Barrier Reef. UNESCO has been critical of the Australian government for not informing them of the gas processing plants which could put them in breach of World Heritage guidelines.

The organisation has warned that the gas projects could affect the 'overall universal value' of the reef and the fact-finding mission to Australia will scrutinise conservation efforts put in place with the approvals.

Mr Rao told Ms Hobbs that the current mission to Gladstone could not be extended to investigate possible threats to the rainforests of the Border Ranges because missions had to be mandated by the World Heritage Committee or at the invitation of the state parties. But he did say he would write to the Australian government and "take further action after receiving more details from them".

"He (Mr Rao) reiterated to me the serious concerns that UNESCO has in relation to the Gladstone developments and was very pleased that ordinary Australians like myself are taking matters into our own

hands when it comes to protecting our world-class natural areas," Ms Hobbs said. "As I said to Mr Rao, it shouldn't be up to landholders to defend these areas, it should be governments who are doing this."

The Echo has obtained a copy of the 'Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention' which states that "notice should be given as soon as possible (for instance, before drafting basic documents for specific projects) and before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, so that the Committee may assist in seeking appropriate solutions to ensure that the outstanding universal value of the property is fully preserved."

If UNESCO deems there is significant threat to the World Heritage values of a site they may put it on their 'in danger' list or ultimately take away its World Heritage status.

The Echo contacted federal environment minister Tony Burke to ask why UNESCO had not been notified, but did not get a response before going to print.