Tourism activities
National parks and wilderness Tasmania’s national parks cover unspoiled habitats and ecosystems with some plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. Tasmania’s protected national parks and reserves make up around 48 per cent of the state, most of which are within easy reach of major cities and other populated areas. Many of the state’s well known iconic locations are situated in or near national parks including: Cradle Mountain in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in the Central Highlands, Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park on the east coast, the Franklin River in the Gordon-Franklin Wild Rivers National Park on the west coast, the Port Arthur Historic Site near the Tasman National Park in south eastern Tasmania, and Bay of Fires near the Mount William National Park on the east coast. The state also has significant and beautiful underwater marine environments to be explored.
World heritage areas Significant areas of Tasmania’s wilderness and historic convict sites are listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in recognition of their outstanding natural or cultural importance to the common heritage of humanity. TASMANIAN WILDERNESS WORLD HERITAGE AREA In December 1982 the World Heritage Committee included the western Tasmanian wilderness national parks on the world heritage list. In 1989 this was expanded to encompass around 1.4 million hectares, almost a fifth of the total area of the state. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) consists of a chain of six national parks and a number of reserves and conservation areas. The TWWHA satisfies 7 of 10 natural and cultural heritage values, only one of two in the world that meet this high number. The area extends from Tasmania’s south-west, west coast and north-west and covers coastal areas, islands, rivers, mountain ranges, valleys and button grass plains of almost indescribable beauty and remoteness. It is also the world’s largest tract of temperate rainforest set aside from ‘modern life’ where an escape from all forms of communication is possible within a few kilometres of the embarkation point. CONVICT SITES Tasmania’s compelling convict heritage is officially recognised through its World Heritage listing. In July 2010, a total of 10 Australian convict sites were inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list, 5 of which are found in Tasmania. The sites are recognised as “the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts”. The main Tasmanian sites are the Port Arthur Historic site and the Coal Mines Historic Site on the Tasman Peninsula, the Cascades Female Factory in Hobart, Darlington Probation Station on the east coast’s Maria Island, Sarah Island on the west coast, and Woolmer’s and Brickendon estates near Launceston in northern Tasmania.
Horshoe Falls, Mount Field National Park
Source: Tourism in Tasmania – An Exciting Opportunity
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