Editing Southwest National Park (section)

==History==

===South West Tasmanian Aboriginal Nation and Black War===
South West Tasmania has been inhabited for approximately 40,000 years, and isolated from mainland Australia since the [[Bassian Plain]] flooded 8,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Isolation and Evolution in Tasmania
 | last = Pardoe | first = Colin
 | journal = [[Current Anthropology]]
 | date = February 1991 | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–21
 | jstor = 2743891
| doi = 10.1086/203909 | s2cid = 146785882 }}</ref> 

Tools, bones and fireplaces found in caves in what is now the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park date aboriginal occupation in south-west Tasmania back to at least 34,000 BP.<ref>{{Cite journal | title = Hunter-Gatherer Cultural Dynamics: Long- and Short-Term Trends in Australian Prehistory
 | last = Lourandos | first = Harry
 | author-link = Harry Lourandos
 | journal = Journal of Archaeological Research
 | date = March 1993 | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 67–88
 | jstor = 41053069
| doi = 10.1007/BF01327162 | s2cid = 144195012 }}</ref> The [[Aboriginal Tasmanians|South West nation]] was one of nine across the state, and contained four known clans the Mimegin, [[Toogee people|Lowreenne]], Ninene and Needwonne. They were nomadic hunter gatherers, with staple foods including shellfish, crayfish, seals, penguins along the coast, and wallabies, wombats and birds along the buttongrass plains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6357 |title=Aboriginal people of Macquarie Harbour |publisher = Tasmania Parks}}</ref>

There is some evidence to suggest that repeated [[Fire-stick farming|burning]] of buttongrass moorlands by the South West Nation has caused it to propagate more widely than is natural. This was done to increase areas where wallabies and wombats can forage for hunting purposes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p18701/pdf/ch174.pdf |title=The burning question: Claims and counterclaims on the origin and extent of buttongrass moorland (blanket moor) in southwest Tasmania during the present glacial-interglacial |author=Mike Macphail |publisher=Australian National University}}</ref>

European sealers hunted in Tasmania from 1798, shortly followed by settlements around the Derwent River, to the east. Conflict between the aboriginals and Europeans soon followed, cumulating in the [[Black War]] and the near-destruction of Aboriginal Tasmanians.

===Early European exploration===

[[File:Van Diemen's Land 1852.jpg|Van Diemen's Land 1852. South West Tasmania was one of the last areas to be explored.|thumb]]

The South West of Tasmania was first seen by Europeans in 1642 by [[Abel Tasman]], but it was not known to be an island until [[Matthew Flinders]] and [[George Bass]] circumnavigated it 156 years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day/2013/11/on-this-day-abel-tasman-sights-tasmania/ |title=On this day: Abel Tasman sights Tasmania |date=7 November 2013 |publisher=Australian Geographic}}</ref>

The first European overland expeditions into the region were conducted in the early 1830s by [[George Augustus Robinson]], who was guided by [[Truganini]], [[Woureddy]] and several other Indigenous people. Many landmarks in the region were named by him. During these expeditions, Robinson, acting under the policies of the local British colonial government, removed all the Indigenous residents from the area.<ref name="friendly">{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=George Augustus |last2=Plomley |first2=NJB |title=Friendly Mission, the Tasmanian journals and papers of George Augustus Robinson |date=2008 |publisher=Quintus |location=Hobart |isbn=9780977557226}}</ref>

The far south west was first surveyed from land by [[James Sprent]] in 1854 when he reached Port Davey, becoming the first European to notice [[Federation Peak]] which he dubbed "the Obelisk". He later published this work as 'Map of Tasmania and Adjacent Islands'.<ref name=dpipwe>{{cite web|url=https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/FIG%202010%20Paper-Sprent%20and%20the%20Trigonometrical%20Survey%20of%20Tasmania%20by%20Peter%20Murphy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329031043/http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/FIG%202010%20Paper-Sprent%20and%20the%20Trigonometrical%20Survey%20of%20Tasmania%20by%20Peter%20Murphy.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-29 |url-status=live |author=Peter Murphy |title=James Sprent and the Trigonometrical Survey of Tasmania}}</ref>

===National Park Status===
The core of the national park, an area of {{convert|239|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} surrounding [[Lake Pedder]] was first created in 1955, and called the [[Lake Pedder National Park]].<ref name=gov>{{cite web|url=https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Southwest%20National%20Park%20-%20Reservation%20History.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528215741/http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Southwest%20National%20Park%20-%20Reservation%20History.pdf |archive-date=2018-05-28 |url-status=live |publisher=Tasmanian Government |title=Southwest National Park Reservation History}}</ref> It was a glacial outwash lake, which hosted numerous endemic species including the [[Lake Pedder earthworm]] and [[Pedder galaxias]]. Lake Pedder was famous among bushwalkers for its majesty and unique pink quartz sand. Dr Peter Hay reflected, "Had it still existed, it would have the same sort of status in Australian mythology as other landscape icons like Uluru and Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef."<ref name=abc>{{cite web |url = http://www.abc.net.au/science/kelvin/files/s18.htm |publisher=ABC |title = Lake Pedder }}</ref>

In 1968 the Tasmanian Government expanded the area to {{convert|1916|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, renaming it the Southwest National Park.<ref name=gov/> However, it was actually as scenic reserve, with protections removed so that the area could form a catchment of the Tasmanian Hydro Electric Commissions (HEC) Upper Gordon River hydro-electric generation scheme. The aim was to increase Tasmania's capacity to generate hydro-electricity, and attract secondary industry with the incentive of cheap renewable energy.<ref name=abc/> The original Lake Pedder was controversially flooded in 1972, with the issue attracting attention of environmentalist groups around the state as they unsuccessfully opposed the dam. They later reformed, and successfully halted the [[Franklin River Dam]], the first success of the greens movement in Australia.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/L/Lake%20Pedder.htm |publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies |title=Lake Pedder |author=Lynn Davis |access-date=23 January 2019 }}</ref>

In 1976 the national park was extended towards southwest and incorporated most of the Port Davey State Reserve, and continued to expand until it reached its present size in 2000.<ref name=gov/>

[[File:Lake Pedder From Mt Eliza.jpg|thumb|800px|center|The new Lake Pedder from Mount Eliza, Southwest National Park, Australia]]

The Southwest National Park was a [[biosphere reserve]] under the United Nations Biosphere Program from 1977 until its withdrawal from the program in 2002.<ref name=unesco>{{Cite web |url = http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/withdrawal-of-biosphere-reserves/ |title= Biosphere reserves withdrawn from the World Network of Biosphere reserves |work=Man and the Biosphere Programme |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=5 November 2016 }}</ref>  Its designation as a biosphere reserve was due to the important world heritage values and human use values it contained.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}  Some of these values included being a key breeding zone for the critically endangered [[Orange-bellied parrot]], remnants of Aboriginal occupation and other historic heritage sites such as the Melaleuca – Port Davey Area Plan (Tasmania Parks and Wildlife 2003, p 2).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=7150|title=Melaleuca-Port Davey Area Plan|last=|first=|date=2003|website=Melaleuca-Port Davey Area Plan|publisher=Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service|access-date=10 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515051737/http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=7150|archive-date=15 May 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> This was followed by a World Heritage listing in 1982 which was then expanded to its current size.
[[File:Dracophyllum milliganii 7519.jpg|thumb|''[[Dracophyllum milliganii]]'']]