Bob Carr Calls Out UNESCO to Take Blue Mountains Threat Seriously

Former New South Wales premier and foreign minister Bob Carr has written to Unesco, requesting the organization to send a team to the Blue Mountains to examine the region's world heritage classification, saying that the proposed Warragamba Dam raising might have a negative impact.

Carr, who was premier when the greater Blue Mountains region was inscribed on the world heritage list 21 years ago, said the area had been badly affected by the 2019-20 bushfires, which he described as "by far the worst in Australia's history," and that parts of the area would be flooded if the dam wall was raised, as the Gladys Berejiklian government proposed.

Sending a Letter

The letter was sent on July 14, only two days before the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) world heritage committee opened a two-week conference to examine a request to designate the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger."

A draft Unesco evaluation of the Blue Mountains, according to Carr, did not "recognize the severity of risks threatening the property."

"It deeply concerns to me that the environmental safeguards established by my government for the Blue Mountains have been undermined in recent years, particularly through the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam wall," he wrote in the letter, which was also sent to all world heritage committee member countries.

Blue Mountains Region

The region to be flooded, according to Carr, is "an area of incomparable beauty, and one of the few undammed rivers in eastern Australia."

"I've done some hiking in the region. He described it as an "amazing reminder of Australia before 1788." "I would not have believed it if someone had told me 35 years ago that we would be debating the importance of maintaining this wilderness in 2021."

Related Article: Only 3% of the World's Ecosystems Still in Pristine Conditions

Threats

Carr said that the wildfire in the larger Blue Mountains damaged more than 80% of world heritage-listed forests and "destroyed very substantial numbers of vulnerable species," and that the proposed dam raising would inundate more than 6,000 hectares of world heritage.

He said Unesco's draft judgment was not based on extensive post-bushfire field investigations. In addition, an NSW government environmental impact study of the dam project did not follow criteria established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature for development inside world heritage sites.

"It would thus be reasonable that the draft decision is revised to request the dispatch of a monitoring mission to the world heritage site for an impartial report to be delivered to the world heritage committee... in 2022," he wrote.

No Prior Comments

Before publication, neither the NSW government nor Dr. Mechtild Rössler, the head of Unesco's World Heritage Centre, were available for comment.

Building the Dam

The idea to raise the Warragamba Dam wall has been in the works for several years, but it got renewed attention in March when the dam inundated parts of outer western Sydney.

The question of whether or not to build the dam has become a protracted and contentious political debate. The state administration plans to raise it by up to 17 meters to reduce flood danger downstream.

However, experts in the field have warned that increasing the dam wall will not eliminate the risk of flooding or reduce the maximum flood height.

Evaluate the Area

Carr's request that Unesco sends a team to visit a world heritage site mirrors the Morrison government's request for an in-person examination of the reef before deciding whether it can be designated as world heritage "in danger." The consequence of repeated mass coral bleaching episodes connected to global warming has prompted the proposal to alter the reef's classification.

Fighting the Dam

Whereas Carr's objective is to block a development that may harm a world heritage site, the federal government hopes to use a Unesco visit to argue that it is doing a fine job safeguarding the reef and cannot prevent coral loss climate problem on its own.

Harry Burkitt of the Colong Foundation for Wilderness, organizing a campaign against the Warragamba Dam development, endorsed Carr's position.

"When the NSW government has expressed its indifference in complying to our global heritage responsibilities, a Unesco monitoring mission is more than warranted," he said.

The federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, is scheduled to make a decision this week on whether to modify the reef's world heritage classification, which prompted her to embark on an ongoing lobbying tour to Europe in an attempt to avoid an "in danger" ranking.

Also Read: UNESCO: Great Barrier Reef Should Be Classified as "In Danger" Due to Degradation

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