PREMIER Will Hodgman has urged tourists not to cancel trips to the state's world heritage areas, arguing pictures of burnt alpine country have given people a distorted view of the scale of the damage to the state.
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The plight of Tasmania's vast world heritage wilderness received international attention after the publication of photos of blackened alpine landscapes of cushion plants and pencil and king billy pines, some previously undisturbed by fire for more than a 1000 years.
With tourism companies reporting some bookings had been cancelled or postponed, Mr Hodgman sought to allay concerns. He said fires had a "devastating impact" that would be fully examined once they were extinguished, but fires had burnt only about 1.2 per cent of the 15,800 square kilometre world heritage area.
To illustrate that it was safe to visit the Overland Track, he joined a helicopter flight on Wednesday afternoon. The flight was paid for by Rob Sherrard, co-owner of Tasmanian Walking Company, which operates high-end wilderness tours. The invited passengers included a Fairfax Media reporter and photographer, and a news cameraman.
The chopper passed over small patches of burnt terrain, but showed the Overland Track was unaffected. It landed at a cabin owned by Mr Sherrard's company, where the Premier delivered new walking boots to trekkers three days into a six-day hike.
Mr Hodgman said that burnt area was not insignificant, but could have been a lot worse.
"I think it has been distorted. I think it's understandable that people across the world would be anxious to know we're doing all we can to protect our precious areas," he said.
Some fire ecologists have warned that the loss to fire of alpine country near Lake Mackenzie, on the central plateau, suggests the ecosystems in the area - which are a relic from when Australian was part of the Gondwana supercontinent, rarely burn and do not regenerate after fire - would struggle to survive in the face of climate change.
Mr Hodgman said the role of climate change would be considered in reviews of the response to the fires.
He said the state was hit by 1000 lightning strikes on one day, when the previous recorded high was about 19.
"I think it is a reminder to us all that our conditions - our climate - is changing, is more volatile, and obviously we rely on the experts and scientists to provide us with advice," he said.
But Mr Hodgman said it was untrue to suggest the state was not prepared.
"Our fire service, our parks and wildlife service especially, and other agencies including Forestry Tasmania, plan for events like this and they've been able to deal with these events exceptionally well," he said.
Former Greens leader Bob Brown said the Premier had been far too slow to react to the damage to the World Heritage Area, and needed a plan to defend areas from late summer flare-ups.
"In any other state where fires caused global headlines, the Premier, who is also in ultimate command, would have been on or near the area in following days," Dr Brown said.
"It took Will Hodgman a month to get there."