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At a glance 
The issue 'Landscape' has ecological, scenic, and cultural meaning. While there are common elements between all three, there are also some significant differences. For example, the 'cultural landscape' of the Queenstown Hills is one of the most notorious industrially-degraded landscapes on earth. Cultural landscapes are discussed in more detail in the Cultural Heritage Chapter. Ecological landscapes are reviewed in the Biodiversity Chapter. The focus of this Issue Report is Scenic Landscape Values. Scenic landscape includes the properties of the land, such as landform, landcover, slope, and land use, arising from a number of natural and cultural processes. Tasmania's landscape is highly diverse and noteworthy for its spectacular beauty-shaped by geological forces, influenced by extremes of climate, mantled in a range of vegetation types and modified by the activities of humans. Landscape has much to contribute to the debate on sustainable development in Tasmania because it is integrated (it spans land tenures and land uses) and people focussed (we all enjoy a good view). The condition of scenic landscape values is important for Tasmania because of the following.- Protecting landscape values can sometimes help to protect a range of other environmental services. Landscape values often have an association with environmental and natural resource quality: the values that people appreciate in a landscape are often also important ecologically.
- There are strong cultural ties to landscape and feelings for the visual beauty of the mountains, lakes, coasts and forests of Tasmania are a common bond among people.
- There are links between healthy landscapes and healthy lifestyles through the recreational opportunities they provide.
- The landscape values of the State remain a major drawcard for the tourism industry and these landscapes should be managed as a key component of tourism infrastructure.
There are ways to objectively assess the condition of visual landscapes and to track changes in their condition over time. This work should be based on a community-accepted inventory of landscape values. Landscape inventories have been developed for other places where landscape values also feature strongly in the community's sense of identity, their connection to the land, and to the tourist attraction and appreciation of these values (e.g. Scotland). Elsewhere in Australia they have been prepared for local government (e.g. Caboolture Shire Council) and, in Tasmania, by the Meander Valley Council. Landscape inventories-linked to planning and development controls-provide the means to plan to avoid or lessen the impacts on landscape values arising from changes to the ways society uses or manages its land resources. This 'At a glance' section provides an overview of the issue of scenic landscape condition. More detailed information and references are available in the Scenic Landscape Condition Issue Report. A recommendation is also presented on opportunities to improve the management of scenic landscapes in Tasmania (see Scenic and Landscape Values). Favourable news - Landscape inventories have advanced in the last five years and there are now some examples of approaches, which Tasmania could draw upon.
- The Landscape Inventory prepared for Meander Valley Council was a promising development in recognising the importance of retaining landscapes in Tasmania.
- The Urban Skylines and Hillfaces Committee (comprising community, State and local government representatives) developed a method for identifying the visual impact of development on skylines and hillfaces, and identified recommendations for improving the management of visually sensitive areas (Urban Skylines and Hillfaces Committee 2000).
- Forestry Tasmania's Visual Management System is a well-established method for predicting impacts on viewfields arising from forestry activities on State Forests and managing these impacts.
- There has been an increase in the number of local government planning schemes that identify special areas for which landscape management is an objective. Seventy-eight percent of planning schemes now include special area provisions, and six now have extensive special area provisions or zoning relating to landscape management. Special area provisions include: Landscape Protection or Landscape Values Protection Areas, Landscape and Skyline Protection Areas and Scenic Corridor or Scenic Protection Areas.
- Some planning schemes now include specific landscape management zoning with development requirements for landscape protection. Examples include: Landscape and Skyline Conservation, Landscape Protection and Conservation Zones.
Unfavourable news- There has been a significant deterioration in landscape values of Hobart's hill slopes arising from residential development.
- Increasing property values and housing development-particularly along Tasmania's coastlines-is placing pressure on the State's landscapes and requires consistent and coordinated policy responses.
- Intensification of land use combined with the absence of landscape inventories and poor recognition of landscapes within many planning schemes will lead to a deterioration of landscape values if present trends continue. This will have consequences for the sense of place and the quality of experience enjoyed by visitors.
- There is still a lack of comprehensive guidelines or provisions within planning schemes for managing and protecting landscape values. The majority of references to landscape management in planning schemes are in the form of objectives to retain valued landscapes, without any specified means for achieving them.
Uncertain news- The overall lack of a landscape inventory for the State is a significant gap in natural resource management in Tasmania and is a major source of uncertainty about the condition of and changes to the State's landscape values. In the absence of such an inventory, it is possible to report only against surrogate measures describing changes to land cover.
- The visual impact of landscape development is scale and context specific and is dependent on the scenic landscape techniques that are used. Plantation development is a significant land use and land cover that affects Tasmanian landscapes. The largest plantation area coverage occurs in the North-West Hills and Plains Landscape Character Unit which contains 68,122 ha of softwood and hardwood plantation. This represents about 16.1% of the area of this landscape unit. The next largest plantation area coverage occurs in the North-East Highlands Landscape Unit, which contains 55,474 ha of softwood and hardwood plantation. This represents about 8.5% of the area of this landscape unit.
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