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LESS is more in Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area, says Corinna Wilderness Experience manager Euan Wiseman.
Hidden away in dense cold-climate rainforest, 60 kilometres north of Strahan on the state’s West Coast, Corinna has become the gold standard of sustainable ecotourism.
Formerly a town of 2500 people during the 1800s, and a ghost town in the 1900s, owners Christine and Craig Roeger turned heads in 2008 when they leased the eight-hectare property from the state government and turned it into a groundbreaking holiday destination.
Today, managing the operation is an around-the-clock job.
Fewer than 15 staff – mostly made up of environmentally savvy backpackers – run the site day to day, monitoring 16custom-built huts, a low-impact waste system and an intricate power set-up.
Guests are required to take most of their rubbish with them when they check out.
Mr Wiseman says the operation’s delicacy is the price Corinna pays for the opportunity to showcase the TWWHA – an opportunity other businesses could receive under the state government’s amended draft TWWHA Management Plan.
The draft TWWHA Management Plan – released by the government earlier this month – has a greater focus on boosting tourism and increasing vehicle access into protected areas.
The plan is undergoing a two-month consultation period, before a final decision on the amendments is made later this year.
‘‘You need to be very aware of how you generate power, how you dispose of your waste and what systems you set up,’’ Mr Wiseman said.
‘‘Whatever [future TWWHA tourism developers] do is going to come at a massive cost. It’ll be way more costly than setting up anywhere else in Tasmania. You need to look what sort of sewerage treatment systems you put in place. If you’re using generators it’s a big cost, if you’re using solar then it’s an even bigger cost.’’
Despite foreseeable business struggles under the new plan, Mr Wiseman is in full support of the decision to open up the TWWHA to developers.
‘‘It’s always going to be about expansion and monetary too – that’s the way of the world. But if you lock everything up, then nobody sees it. For people to appreciate it they have to be able to visit.
‘‘It’s going to be really difficult. You’re never going to please everybody.
‘‘Environmentally, it’s just as difficult to be as low impact as possible, but still sustainable. It also has to break even, or make money.’’
However, the amendments to the management plan won’t force changes to Corinna Wilderness Experience.
Mr Wiseman says it’s important the award-winning venture continues to strike a balance between attraction and conservation.
‘‘There’s so much we can show people here, but we can’t and we won’t, because we don’t want to have an impact, or even go into those areas.
‘‘We don’t have any room for expansion around our campsite, nor do we want to expand it.
‘‘We’ve got it all here – we have enough water and a working power system. We would consider longer walking tracks, maybe something similar to the Overland Track at Cradle Mountain, about three or four days long.
‘‘The main thing is that Tasmania expands on length of stay. You really can’t see how beautiful this place is in one or two days.’’