Ancient Australian Rock Carvings Trashed
This attack on historic Aboriginal rock engravings in Tasmania’s northwest was deemed nasty by the Wilderness Society, a community-based environmental advocacy group. A chisel-like tool was used to destroy the petroglyphs, which are believed to be around 2000 years old.
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It is located near the Arthur River on the Tarkine Coast, in the northern section of Tasmania’s West Coast (waste dumps).
“The current vandalism reflects larger management concerns in the region,” the Society claims. If the Tarkine had been adequately managed, this tragedy would not have occurred, according to Wilderness Society spokesman Geoff Law. In this location, Law said, “the government is neglecting to safeguard the exceptional natural heritage of this region.”
The proposed logging of Aboriginal archaeological sites in Tasmania, Law said to CWA, is one of the primary concerns. Many logging areas have turned out to include rock art and other archaeological sites.
What should be done is being assessed by Forestry Tasmania, which is responsible for managing these sections of forest on behalf of the public. Due to its primary role in managing the region for wood production, Forestry Tasmania has conflicting interests.
According to the Wilderness Society, Forestry Tasmania’s preferred course of action has been to construct tiny buffer areas and then continue business as normal. Densely populated regions such as this jeopardise the integrity of the landscape, which is now characterised by huge expanses of virgin forest that have not been cut or roaded. Furthermore, logging roads expose the regions to the same abuse that occurred on the coast at the rock-art sites described above, according to Law.
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The Society is now calling on the Tasmanian government to restrict off-road vehicles in the region in order to prevent any future harm.
