PLANNING  FOR  THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  WILD  CAVES  IN  DEUA NATIONAL PARK
 

STEVE DOVEY



Introduction

Karst Areas within Deua National Park

Within the  Deua National  Park there  are  six  distinct karst areas.  Five  of  these:  Cleatmore,  Marble  Arch, Wyanbene, Bendethera  and Deua are developed in limestone whilst the Big Hole is a pseudokarst feature developed in sediments but its development is thought to be related to karst processes.

Bendethera

The largest  of the five limestone areas in the Park, the Bendethera limestone covers an area of approximately 4 km long by  0.5 km. Of the many caves known in the area, the main Bendethera  cave  (BD1)  is  the  largest  and  most significant.  This   limestone  area   is  important  for scientific study and for recreation. It contains rare and undescribed species  of flora and fauna, provides habitat for two  species of  bats and provides an opportunity for recreational caving.

Wyanbene

The Wyanbene  karst area  consists of  a single  lens  of limestone approximately 2 km long and contains at least 8 caves, some  mine shafts  and sinkholes.    The  area  is readily accessible  and popular  for camping,  day trips, bushwalking and  adventure caving.   The  locality itself has significant historic and prehistoric aspects.

The main  cave, Wyanbene  Cave, is  becoming  increasingly popular amongst  adventure cavers.    It  has  some  1800 metres of  passage following  a stream and has challenges for  most  levels  of  caver.    It  also  contains  some significant features which include some very large avens. The Gunbarrel  aven is  a fluted, vertical walled chamber which is  some 105  metres high.   the cave also contains some  large   helictites  and  fine  intact  examples  of calcite/aragonite flowers.   These  and other  formations are still in good conditions.

Marble Arch

The Marble  Arch karst  area  is  of  quite  small  size, approximately 400 m  long by  60 m, however it displays a considerable range of karst and geomorphic features which are well  displayed.  It  includes  a  ‘corridor’  gorge, sprints and  the five  levels associated  with  the  arch itself are  an example  of landscape  development through time.

In some  of the least accessible caves are contained some extremely fragile  small mammal  bone  assemblages  (Hall 1975).

The area  is not  heavily  visited  at  present  but  its isolation  and   high  scenic   values   are   attracting increasing numbers  of visitors. It is an  easy 6 km walk from the Berlang Rest Area.

The Big Hole

This area is the most heavily visited on the Western side of Deua  National Park.   The  Big  Hole  itself  is  the primary attraction.   It  is a dramatic feature, 110 m in depth with steep eroding sides, and is reached by a short walk of 20 m from a parking and rest area.

The site  is well-known  for its  challenge to abseilers, however, the  Hole in  its natural setting, is a pleasant destination for day walks.

Deua Cave and Cleatmore

Both these  areas are  not extensive  or well-known being located in  more inaccessible  areas of  the Park.   Deua Cave has  been only  recently discovered and is the least disturbed of  all the  known caves.  Cleatmore karst area contains at  least 20  smaller caves,  some of  which are maternity sites for bats.

History of Use and Management of Karst Areas

Some of  the karst  areas have already had a long history of  use   dating  to  last  century  whilst  others  have experienced a  sharp increase  in  recreational  pressure over  the   last  decade   endangering  both  fragile  or significant  features  and  the  areas  appeal  in  their natural setting(s)
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Little active  management of  these  areas  had  occurred until the  gazettal of  Deua National  Park in  1979. The more widely  known sporting  cave areas  such as Bungonia and Wee  Jasper have ‘distracted’, to their own detriment most Canberra  and Sydney  caving groups;  however, it is evident  that  increasing  community  interest  is  being centred on  these areas  coinciding with  improvement  of access.   Several of the caves in Deua National Park have suffered unacceptable impacts from visitor use.

The challenge  to the  NSW National  Parks  and  Wildlife Service is to protect these areas from further impact and yet still allow their appreciation and use by a diversity of user  groups.   This must  be  achieved  with  limited resources, in  terms of  both  staff  time  and  funding. Approximately 10% of all staff time is stretched to cover all aspects  of cave  management, from on-site contact or monitoring to the planning process itself.

The Planning Process

Narooma District  of  the  National  Parks  and  Wildlife Service has  recently completed a management plan for the karst area within Deua National Park.

The purpose of the plan is:
to provide explicit guidelines to the manager on protection,   research    and    provision    of recreational  opportunities   within  the  karst areas of Deua National Park; to identify  funding requirements and to provide the basis  for works  proposals in  karst areas; and to form the basis of the “section” on karst area  management, for  the Deua  National Park Plan of Management.

Until a  plan of  management is adopted for the Park this plan will  be the  basis for managing karst areas in Deua National Park.

Steps in Planning Process

The following  steps were  undertaken  to  construct  the Draft Plan.

* summarising all available information (individual area summaries);
* classifying each karst area and the caves;
* determine management objectives; and
* specifying realistic  practices to  achieve  the objectives.
Individual Area Summaries

Information relevant to the karst resources was initially found to  be scattered  over a  range of  sources.  These sources included  printed documents  such  as  scientific papers,  speleologist’s   trip  reports   and   newspaper articles, however,  a  lot  of  information  lay  in  the combined memories  of many people including Service staff and cave user groups.

A meeting  was held  and attended  by Service  staff  and representatives of user groups with the aim of collecting and cataloguing quickly and readily available information sources.

The information  acquired  was  fully  indexed  into  the District reference  system, then  summarised briefly  and included in  the Plan as individual area summaries, along with copies of maps and surveys.

These summaries allow the characteristics and significant features of  an area  to  be  reviewed  simply  and  then compared to  other areas. They also provide justification for decisions  on management objectives and practices and also a  suitable framework then exists for the additional of new material at a later date.

Classification

During and following the information gathering meeting as outlined  above,   all  the  areas  and  the  caves  they contained have been classified simply as follows.

The class  in which  a cave  is placed has direct bearing upon  the  management  emphasis  concerning  that  cave’s future  use  and  the  likely  effects  upon  significant features.   The significance  of any  known  feature  was assessed based  upon criteria as provided by Adrian Davey (Davey 1984),  however, if  not  enough  information  was known then  an area  was  simply  left  unclassified  and afforded the maximum protection possible.

Similarly,  the  classification  may  change  if  further information  highlights   hitherto  unknown   significant features (e.g.  rare faunal  habitat) or monitoring shows that the protection level given proves to be inadequate.

Determining management objectives and practices

A number  of key  objectives apply  to the whole group of karst areas.

The primary objective of management is:

* to protect  karst and its associated natural and cultural resources.

 In addition  to the  primary objective,  three  secondary objectives apply:

* to encourage  scientific and educational enquiry into  environmental   features  and   processes, prehistoric and historic features and management of park use;
* to   provide    for   appropriate   recreational opportunities; 
* to  increase   public  understanding   of  karst resources.

Within the  same section,  a number of practices relating directly to  the above  objectives are outlined under the following headings.

*  karst and catchment Protection; -water quality -vehicle access -management works
* research and monitoring;
* recreation;
* interpretation; and
* public safety.
Each karst  area was  also considered  individually  with specific  management   objectives  and  practices.The specific practices  had to  achieve  the  objectives  and provide clear  guidelines to  the manager  on protection, research  and   provision  of   appropriate  recreational opportunities within any given area.

As such  this section  is the  ‘working’ section  of  the plan.   It is  referred to directly when making decisions and controls  the priority  under which any works project is implemented.

Impementation and Sucess of the Plan

Unlike two  years ago,  where management  was ad-hoc  and decisions based  upon a largely unknown information base, Narooma District  now has  an ‘intelligent’  framework in which to  make informed  management decisions and methods of monitoring the effects of these decisions.  It is also recognised that  planning is  a dynamic  on-going process and,  as   more  information   becomes   available,   the management will  be re-examined  and changes  made, where justified.

The plan  has been used to seek funding for Capital Works Projects and controls the priority for expenditure of any available maintenance funds.

Wyanbene Cave Permit  Systems

The first  work program  implemented centres upon control of recreational  use  of  Wyanbene  Cave.    As  outlined earlier, this  cave has  experienced a growing reputation as an  adventure cave  and the  degree of  visitor impact until 1985  was increasing  significantly. 
 Despite this, the cave  still contains  fragile  formations  and  other vulnerable features.

As described  by the  plan, 1600 metres of passage may be entered by permit holders only, a gate being installed to prevent access by others.

The advantages  to the  District of  this system has been threefold:
    -    we have  a method  of monitoring  numbers  using cave and the type of recreation sought;
    -    a brief  assessment of  the safety and equipment may be made; and
    -    a medium exists for Service staff to communicate directly to caves.

After the  first twelve  months, a  review of  the system indicated that  most cavers welcomed the protection given to the  cave and  appreciated the  level of communication maintained between the Service and themselves.
So far no damage to significant features has occurred.

Big Hole visitor facilities and viewing platform

The second  works program  currently being implemented is centred upon  visitor use  of the  Big Hole.   A  viewing platform is  being provided to enable safe viewing of the Hole and  signs are  being used  to educate  visitors and broaden their appreciation of the whole area.

If not  carefully planned,  however, these  works, whilst successfully  promoting   the  Big   Hole  as   a  scenic attraction, could  possibly compromise  the use of Marble Arch and Cleatmore karst areas, both of which are located in the same area and contain important vulnerable natural values.

Funding for  this program was gained by using the Plan as justification.

Conclusion

The planning  process  itself  can  become  an  unwieldy, time-consuming endeavour which swallows an organisation’s often scarce  resources  and  possibly  eventuates  in  a Management Plan  which is  ignored  or  misunderstood  by those directly involved in its implementation.

In this  case, the  NPWS has  sought to quickly produce a rational framework  which will  describe and classify the variety of caving areas in Deua National Park and provide a direction for their future management.

References

HALL, LS  (1975) A  Recent Bone  Deposit at  Marble Arch, N.S.W., Proc. 10th ASF Biennial Conference, pp 35-46
DAVEY, AG  (ed) (1984)  Evaluation Criteria  for the Cave and Karst  Heritage of  Australia -  Report  of  the Australian   Speleological Federation national Heritage Assessment Study. Helicite 15(2)3-40

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