The tourism industry brought WA $10 Billion last year with nature-based tourism being a major drawcard. The Mining & Pastoral region drew 34% of the total visitors to WA, translating to over 3.6 million visitors and over $3 billion1. WA has many unique and precious places. The Greens WA are committed to the protection of our environment: our unique and diverse plants and animals, our stunning coastal and marine ecosystems, wonderful forests and woodlands, dramatic gorges and vast outback areas.
Our precious natural places are iconic, known the world over. They underpin jobs and investment in our tourism sector and are in many cases the lifeblood of our communities. The Greens WA will not let them be destroyed by vested interests, a lack of political courage or a blinkered obsession with the industries of the past.
The Greens WA had fought alongside the community to protect our iconic precious places like the Burrup, Ningaloo Reef, James Price Point and South West old growth forests from short term interests, so that generations of people will be able to enjoy these amazing natural and cultural places.
A commitment to protecting our precious places has never been more important. Developing sustainable tourism is an integral part of the Greens WA plan to transition Western Australia to a new, clean energy economy.
- investment in events and destination marketing to draw domestic and international visitors
- sustainable eco-tourism that is community centred, supported by and supports the protection of our natural places, Aboriginal heritage, cultural diversity, and the heritage of our towns and cities.
- funding for infrastructure, marketing and service provision that would contribute towards a long term increase in tourism activity and visitor numbers.
- strong protection for Western Australia's precious places and unique cultural heritage.
- increased focus on appropriate natural resource management and strong environmental protections.
- provide adequate State and Federal funding to ensure a significant expansion of the Indigenous Ranger and Indigenous Protected Area programs. See WA Greens Indigenous Ranger initiative (see also Greens (WA) Ranger initiative)
- secure World Heritage Listing for Murujuga (the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago)
- protect our precious places from harm through strong environmental laws, protecting the places that visitors love so future generations may also enjoy them
- support investment in nature-based tourism that protects the environment and supports local communities
- bring a halt of canal-based developments and recognise that protecting our precious places, whether on land or sea, underpins any successful tourism strategy
- ensure smart investment in tourism infrastructure, reducing the economic reliance of regional communities on industries like fossil fuels, extraction and native forest logging
- ban all unconventional onshore gas exploration and development across the state
- strengthen DPAW’s environmental science and wildlife management resources to ensure that our precious places are well-managed
- ensure proper protection and sustainable use of the World Heritage protected Ningaloo reef
- regulate planning, development and management of WA’s coastal zone in readiness for the impacts of climate change – See Lynn MacLaren’s Climate Change Readiness (Coastal Planning and Protection) Bill 2013
For more information please see the WA Greens Precious Places initiative
1 Visitation to Western Australia: Overview Year Ending December 2016
