Rainforest science and its application

[Extract] The Wet Tropics of Queensland were inscribed on the World Heritage List on 9 December 1988 as a direct consequence of the accumulated scientific research and understanding of the region's rainforests up to that time. In 1992 the Wet Troplcs Management Authority was established as the body responsible for the coordinated management of the World Heritage Area, while the Rainforest CRC (Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management) was established in 1993 as the body responsible for both the coordination and the undertaking of scientific research to assist in the management of the World Heritage Area and associated rainforest landscapes. Undertaking scientific research in World Heritage areas is more than a legitimate activity, it is also a duty. The importance of such research is explicitly acknowledged in Wet Tropics World Heritage legislation and in international conventions such as the World Heritage Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity. One of the benefits that World Heritage areas provide for scientific researchers is the provision of protected benchmark and/or control sites where the direct impact of human activities is minimal relative to surrounding landscapes