Lake Pedder's Loss and Failed Restoration

Ecological Politics Meets Liberal Democracy in Tasmania

Bibliographic Data

ID6234054
AuthorsKate Crowley (0000-0001-6190-2233, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume34
Issue3
Pages409-424
Publication date1999-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10361149950317
OpenAlexW2166551839
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited20

The flooding of Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania for hydro-electricity in the early 1970s is recognised as one of the world's great ecological tragedies. The hope for its restoration, long held by some, has been given impetus by the activities of Pedder 2000, a nation-wide restoration lobby group founded in 1994. The legitimacy, feasibility and desirability of Pedder's restoration has been acknowledged, if not endorsed, by a recent federal inquiry. Restoration proponents see Pedder's recovery not only as a means of making amends for past follies, but as a new millennium project that offers hope to future generations. This paper reviews Pedder's inundation and the efforts towards its recovery, and finds little support for restoration in the absence of compelling economic and political benefit. This is cause to reflect, it is argued, upon the difficulties that ecological politics has encountered within Tasmania that saw Lake Pedder dammed in the first place

Democracy · Environmental ethics · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Restoration Ecology · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Ecology

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