Page 334 - Volcano and Geothermal Tourism

310 Oceania

• Quarrying: although with increasing
rationalization and control by the Geological
Survey of Victoria and the Mines Department,
the number of active quarries is decreasing,
but at the same time becoming more
extensive.
• Excessive planting of vegetation: often
following clearing of past, often exotic
vegetation, but with the new planting likely to
provide future problems with visibility of
landforms, and views from the landform to the
surrounding landscape. Both the Geological
Society of Australia and the National Trust Figure 20.6 Group of geotourists inside Tunnel Cave, Mt
Landscape Committee have developed Eccles volcano
guidelines and policies on this problem.
• Covering over and landscape degradation by Source: Photo courtesy of Chris Pavich
building of houses and other structures:
especially in the suburban sprawl near (basalt) houses, bridges, churches, other town
Melbourne, for example, at Mt Aitken, Mt buildings, monuments and stone walls. These,
Ridley and Mt Cottrell north of Melbourne, together with its detailed and well-studied
but also inside the crater of Lake Gnotuk at geological and geomorphological story, have
Camperdown, and most recently as threats to helped make it Australia’s first geopark.
the outer slopes of Tower Hill. Both scientific and cultural values are being
• Rock crushing, rolling and stone raking of used to plan the management of the Kanawinka
young stony flow surfaces to allow more Geopark. Management must be based on continuing
productive farming: for example, on the scientific studies, including the results of recent
Register of the National Estate-listed Byaduk assessments of the possibility of further volcanic
valley flow of Mt Napier, south of Hamilton, activity (Joyce, 2005). The story must be
in 2004, and most recently in the National communicated to those involved in managing the
Trust-classified Stony Rises of Mt Porndon. geopark, and to those who live and work in the area,
as much as to those who come as geotourists to see
Conclusions its scientific and cultural features (Figure 20.6).

Recent threats to the volcanic heritage of western References
Victoria, which includes many landforms of Dowling, R. K. and Newsome, D. (eds) (2006)
national and international significance have Geotourism, Elsevier, Amsterdam
included quarrying of cones, housing development Frey, M. L., Schafer, K., Buchel, G. and Patzak, M.
on cones and inside craters, and landform (2006) ‘Geoparks: A Regional, European and Global
destruction of stony rises. New reserves have Policy’, in Dowling, R. K. and Newsome, D. (eds)
however been developed at Mt Elephant and Mt Geotourism, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp95–117
Rouse volcanoes, there have been recent Gray, M. (2004) Geodiversity, Valuing and Conserving
improvements to interpretation at other sites, and Abiotic Nature, Wiley, Chichester
across much of western Victoria a Volcanoes Joyce, B. (2005) ‘How can eruption risk be assessed in
Discovery Trail has been developed, with maps, young monogenetic areal basalt fields? An example
from southeastern Australia’, Zeitschrift fur
leaflets, signboards and a web site. Geomorphologie N.F, suppl.-vol 140, pp195–207
The western Victorian portion of the Newer Joyce, B. (2007) ‘Geotourism, Geosites and Geoparks:
Volcanic Province also has a strong cultural Working together in Australia’, Special Report, The
heritage, with its complex Aboriginal and early Australian Geologist, Newsletter No 144, September,
European settlement history, its historic ‘bluestone’ pp26–29

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