WTMA Priorities

The Wet Tropics Management Authority is charged with managing the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area under an intergovernmental agreement between the Australian and Queensland Governments.

The Primary Goal

Under the primary goal of the World Heritage Convention, the Authority's must provide for the implementation of Australia's international duty to protect, conserve, present, rehabilitate and transmit to future generations the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area.

WTMA Strategic Plan 2008-2013

The WTMA Strategic Plan sets out the Authority’s directions over five years. It identifies the Authority's mission, goals and the associated objectives and actions that it will implement in coming years. The plan demonstrates the benefits the Authority intends to create for our stakeholders: the Queensland and Australian Governments, our partner agencies and the Wet Tropics community. The Authority's major partner in land management is the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Please see the DERM publication scheme for details of DERM priorities.

WTMA Business Plan

Each year the Wet TRopics management Authority develops a three year business plan. Details to be supplied.

Policies and Strategies

WTMA policies and strategies are detailed under our policies.

Annual Reports, State of the Wet Tropics Reports and Periodic Reports

These reports all provide an overview of the priorities of the Authority and its partners in managing the World Heritage Area.

Each year the Wet Tropics Management Authority is required by law to submit an annual report on its finances and activities to the Australian and Queensland Parliaments. These annual reports provide a detailed account of the Authorities achievements, projects, partnerships and products each year.

The Authority is also required to submit an annual State of the Wet Tropics Report to the Australian and Queensland Parliaments (usually published with the annual report). The State of the Wet Tropics Report discusses the health of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. It highlights threats to the integrity of the Area and what is being done to improve the health of the Area's ecosystems. In later years the Authority has also reported on the benefits of the World Heritage Area in the life of the community.

Every six years the Authority must produce a Periodic Report for the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. A Periodic Report is required of all World Heritgae Areas to update knowledge about their original nominations and how they are being managed and monitored.

Community surveys

The Authority has undertaken numerous community surveys over the years to monitor the community's use and awareness of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and their attitudes towards its management. These surveys assist the Authority to determine management priorities.

The Authority, has commissioned two comprehensive surveys about community attitudes and the community's role in the life of the World Heritage Area in 2002 and again in 2007. These were undertaken by James Cook University in cooperation with funding from the Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre and the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre respectively.

James Cook University and the Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre also worked with the Authority to undertake comprehensive visitor surveys in 2002 about the use and enjoyment of the tourism sites throughout the Area.

Department of Environment and Resource Management

Administratively the Authority is a unit within the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM). As part of the Queensland public sector, the Authority is subject to established public sector legislation, regulations, standards and guidelines governing administrative functions and arrangements. The Director- General of the DERM is the accountable officer for the Authority under the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1997. The Authority is responsible to the Director-General regarding compliance with State Government administrative and financial standards.

For more information about the administrative regulations, standards and guidelines governing the Authority, and the priorities of the Department of Environment and Resource Management, please see the DERM publication scheme.