John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd Dear people, The World Heritage Committee last night wimped out completely, failing to take any notice whatsoever of the repeated strong advice of its advisory bodies, that Kakadu be listed as 'in Danger'. It's a disaster both for Kakadu, and for the entire World Heritage framework, which will now see that al you need to do to avoid an 'in danger' listing for, say, converting Macha Picchu into a theme park or driving a freeway through the pyramids, or whatever peice of insanity you may have in store for earths most precious areas, is an australian-style lobbying campaign. The committee has completely failed the moral courage and integrity test. If you'd like to register your disgust, I suggest faxing Ambassador Matsuura on +33-1-42-27-50-81. Sorry this took so long to get out, I've been doing media. A very big thank you to all who faxed and phoned and sent letters and lobbied and did all manner of crazy things for this bit of the planet which sadly will not be protected the way it should be protected. I'd hoped to send you all a victory thank you but it is not to be. The Jabiluka campaign however, will continue. And there are some little bits of silver lining, namely that the Bureau is to keep monitoring Kakadu, and that Australia is to submit a report in April 2000. To repeat, a big thank you to all who did things or merely put up with these things appearing in their email. John Hallam. TWO FOE PRESS RELEASES FOLLLOW, THEN PRESS RELEASES FROM TWS. FOE PRESS RELEASE 12/7/1999 POLITICS TRIUMPHS OVER FACTS AS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE WIMPS OUT ON IN DANGER LISTING Science and good sense took a back seat in Paris today as the World Heritage Committee failed to take the advice of its official advisory bodies, IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM, and decided against an 'In Danger' listing for Kakadu National Park. The decision is a disaster for the protection of the World Heritage Values of Kakadu . It is also a disaster for the entire World Heritage convention, as the World Heritage Committee and Bureau failed completely to take the strong and twice repeated advice of the advisory bodies into account, and decided instead to vote against an in danger listing. As far as we know, a complete failure of this magnitude, to take the advice of the advisory bodies into account is unprecedented. According to FOE nuclear campaigner John Hallam, "This decision is a disaster not only for Kakadu, but for the entire World Heritage Convention, which this decision has seriously undermined. It is clear that the committee simply has not had the courage to stand up to the bullying and manipulation engaged in by the Australian government." "Hills so called victory is a tainted one that has cost the Australian government enormous international goodwill, and has again put us in the position of an environmental wrecker. Now, what we have wrecked is the World Heritage Convention. People have a right to expect that if a property is listed as World Heritage, and certain things happen to it, that it will be listed as 'in Danger'. Thats the whole point of having a World Heritage Convention." "Now, any bizarre and inappropriate development in any place, no matter how outrageous can be approved, just as long as the country concerned is prepared to strong-arm and manipulate its way through the committee and the Bureau." "Now, not only is Kakadu in danger, but the entire World Heritage Convention is truly in danger." Contact: John Hallam, 9517-3903, 9810-2598. Contact in Australia: Virginia Young 0417-223-280 In Paris:Alec Marr, 0417-229-670. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE WIMPS OUT ON KAKADU
FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Tue, 13 Jul 1999 16:01:39 +1000
