Land Issues

1. Local Area Investigation

2. Local Land Use Issue

3. Drama or Role Play

4. Case Studies on the CD ROM: Making Connections and Land Issues Sections

5. Persuasive Language

6. Case Study: Looking After The Sea And The Coastlines

7. Making Comparisons

8. Worth Saving: World Heritage Listings in Australia

9. Rich Descriptions

10. Aboriginal Place Names

11. Signing Up

12. Threatened Species

13. Top Ten

7. Making Comparisons

Find a country in the world that is a similar size to Australia ( for example the United States of America, India). Using the maps of Australia in the Land Issues Section of the CD ROM as basis for comparison, investigate ways you could compare the natural features, land use in particular regions, and timelines of settlement patterns between the two countries.

8. Worth Saving: World Heritage Listings in Australia

UNESCO World Heritage List (identifies sites by countries)

World Heritage Committee web page (has a 'just for kids' section too!)

For many people in Europe and North America, Australia is seen as an isolated, distant land. Its isolation and the fact that it is a very old island continent have meant that it contains many unique and significant landforms. Several parts of Australian landscape is registered through the system of national estates and parks throughout the country. This means that the native flora and fauna within these areas are protected and that restrictions on what humans can do in them have been set.

Many of these landforms are now recognised by the United Nations World Heritage listing and are highly valued by Australians and overseas visitors. Positive action by government, groups and individuals has protected and conserved many landforms.

Some public places have become so important as conservation areas that they have been included on a World Heritage List.
Designated World Heritage areas have regulations and controls to ensure their preservation for future generations.
Application for inclusion as World Heritage site must satisfy documented criteria of natural or cultural significance.
Australia has eleven World Heritage areas, some of which satisfy both natural and cultural categories of listed criteria.

# Defintion of Criteria for WH listing. Discuss the concept of conservation as it relates to World Heritage.

Study criteria for inclusion on World heritage List. Discuss the World Heritage symbol. Explain the elements of the design: the central square is a form created by humans and the circle represents nature, the two being intimately linked. The emblem is round like the world, but at the same time is a symbol of protection. This symbol appears on all World Heritage literature and material published by the various departments with responsibility for the conservation of World Heritage properties in Australia.

The World Heritage Sites containing significant landforms are:

Landform	Size	When Inscribed	Significance
Great Barrier Reef	This marine park covers a total of 348,700 square kilometres.	1981	is the richest marine habitat in the world.
Kakadu	19,757 square kilometres and consists of tidal flats, flood plains, lagoons, major river systems and the sandstone escarpment of the Arnhem Land plateau.	(Listed in 1981, extended in 1987 and 1992)	qualifies for listing on both natural and cultural importance
Cradle Mountain	132,000 hectares	1982	magnificent natural beauty
Dorrigo Plateau	78 square kilometres of park on the edge of the Great Dividing Range	1986	Protects the rainforests on the eastern part of the plateau
Willandra Lakes	3,700 square kilometres of semi-arid country	1981	landforms and layers of sediments; cultural importance
Gordon Franklin	181, 000 hectares	1982	wild rivers, protected rainforest
Shark Bay	23,200 square kilometres, It is about 250 kilometres long and 130 kilometres wide	1991	contains the oldest form of life on earth which are known as stromatolites.
Uluru	1,325 square kilometres dominated by Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (Olgas).	1987	Remarkable geological and landform features; cultural importance
Lord Howe Island Group	1,455 square kilometres	1982	exceptional landforms and natural scenery
Fraser Island	1,724 square kilometres.	1992	largest sand island in the world. The highest dunes on the Island reach up to 240 metres above sea level.
Gibraltar-Washpool National parks	550 square kilometres	1986	striking escarpment protects rainforests (one quarter of all Australian rainforest species)
Purnululu	200 square kilometres	1997	fragile sandstone domes; cultural importance

Map of National Parks and estates showing landforms featured in this book

Make a Famous Places chart and list students' ideas. Discuss why some places become famous.
Discuss the concept of conservation as it relates to World Heritage. Study the two categories of natural and cultural criteria for inclusion on World Heritage List.
Ask the students to infer the activities and responsibilities of people who look after the World Heritage sites or properties. List these on a chart. Then ask the students to list the activities and responsibilities of people visiting the parks. Compare the two lists.
Students then research World Heritage Areas in other parts of the world using the model of headings (area, country, and significance). In addition to the web material (see http://www.erin.gov.au or http://www.environment.gov.au ), good reference material is provided by The Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories. P.O. Box 787, Canberra, ACT 2601. The model could form the basis of a database which a small group could then continue to compile for sharing with others.