Perth Bushwalkers Club Inc has a strong
bias towards conservation - we respect the bush and recognise that we must
protect this resource so that we can enjoy our bush environment. There is
a position on the committee for a Conservation Representative. The Club's
policy on minimum impact bushwalking details how
members operate in the bush to protect the bush environment.
The Club has been a long term supporter
of the WA Conservation Council
and for many years Club members demonstrated alongside members of the Forest
Alliance to end logging in old growth forests. The Club supports the
work of Conservation
Volunteers Australia.
However, the 'conservation' path is not
all good for bushwalkers. More recently there has been a recognition that
conservation activities can compromise bushwalking opportunities, and in
fact some policies for conservation have resulted in locking bushwalkers
out. Some examples of where bushwalking clubs are at odds with the conservation
movement are:
- Fire is a hazard
to bushwalkers in the bushfire season (see Club's policy on bushfires),
so the Club generally supports the system of hazard reduction burns conducted
by the Western Australian Department
of the Environment and Conservation, rather than adopting the position
of the WA Conservation Council.
- The policy for
creation of wilderness zones restricts hazard reduction burns and excludes
mechanical transport means (which includes roads). Western Australia's
sometimes very dense bush and arid countryside means that bushwalkers
are limited to no more than a day's walk from water, and the presence
of the water in season often must be verified. Bush without tracks that
has not been thinned in hazard reduction burns is often impassable on
foot. This means that Wilderness Zones may be effectively unavailable
to bushwalkers.
- The cessation
of commercial logging operations in many state forests, has in turn led
to the closure of vehicle access tracks which have historically provided
bushwalkers access to forest areas.
- Large scale maps,
which were originally produced for foresters and were very useful for
bushwalkers, have been replaced by maps that show land ownership rather
than physical features, and are much less useful for bushwalking. Some
argue that this is a deliberate policy to restrict bushwalkers access.
- Regulations aimed
at the conservation and protection of drinking water catchment areas unreasonably
restrict access by bushwalkers.
» See Minimum Impact Bushwalking
» See Dieback
