Delegates from UNESCO have wrapped up their week-long visit to the state to inspect the management of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

The hot topic was logging.

The government has vowed to accept the umpire's decision, despite that decision already being made quite blatantly in Germany in June.

Nonetheless, it's the government's duty to interested parties to make a case for limited special-species logging and prove it has got the balance right when it comes to tourism and preservation.

We've been reminded all week that it was the Liberals who invited UNESCO here.

To see such a culturally significant practice such as Huon pine boat building die out would truly be a shame.

Forestry Tasmania figures show that species are low in numbers in designated harvesting areas.

The government can't be seen to be abandoning the sector.

But it's unclear what the cost, both financially and environmentally, of such selective logging would be if it was permitted in the area.

And it's easy to forget just how significant Tasmania's wilderness area is.

Making up a fifth of the state, the area is formally recognised through World Heritage listing as being part of the natural and cultural heritage of the world community.

It ticks the box for all four natural criteria and three cultural criteria, which is more than any other World Heritage listing on earth.

It's considered to be one of the last true wilderness areas anywhere in the world.

To put it in context, it stands alongside other World Heritage icons such as Stonehenge, Bath, the Great Wall of China, Cairo, the Acropolis, the Taj Mahal, Yellowstone National Park and Ha Long Bay.

That makes it pretty special.

As a participating nation, Australia has a duty to uphold the universal values under the World Heritage convention.

Both the federal and state governments have responsibility for the area, which is managed under a state government plan that was discussed with UNESCO representatives this week.

The original draft allowed for some logging and mining, but mining has since been ruled out.

While it's never been clear if federal Labor supports logging in the area, Tasmanian Labor senator Lisa Singh has slammed the idea.

This puts her at odds with the Tasmanian opposition, who agree with the Liberals that special timbers should be allowed to be harvested.

The state government has emphasised that since coming to government it hasn't diminished Tasmania's protected areas at all.

But with rhetoric such as "tearing up the peace deal", "rebuilding the forest industry", "unlocking the forests", it's no wonder Lonely Planet thought it was chainsaw season in Tasmania.

The government was shocked and offended at the accusation by the travel guide that it had compromised the state's wild areas.

It's hard to see how any form of logging wouldn't compromise the area.

The Lonely Planet tip, if anything, showed how rhetoric can be interpreted from far away and how important reputation is.

We won't find out until July what UNESCO has made of the logging proposition and the management overall. But its visit to the state should, if anything, remind us of how globally significant our wild areas are.

The special timbers industry is important, but at what cost?