World heritage extension recommended
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A United Nations committee has again suggested that Australia extend the boundary of Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area.
The World Heritage Committee sent a delegation to Tasmania earlier this year to assess complaints about logging in the state's south west.
The delegation was satisfied with the level of conservation in and around the wilderness area and its report was considered by the Committee in Quebec over the weekend.
The Wilderness Society's Alec Marr was in Quebec for the meeting and says the Committee considered the report, but still found expansion of the area is warranted.
"It's quite clear that the World Heritage Committee expects expansions to the Tasmanian World Heritage Boundary and they expect the protection of the forests to follow the advice of IUCN," he said.
"And they are the sort of places that the Wilderness Society and other environment groups have been campaigning on for the last 20 years, places like the Huon and the Picton and the Weld and the Styx Valley."
Mr Marr is calling for action.
"We would like to see Kevin Rudd and Peter Garrett working with Premier Bartlett to sit down and resolve this long running dispute.
"This is an opportunity to expand the Tasmanian World Heritage boundaries to include those areas of forest that the environment movement's been campaigning on for the last 20 years."
