Re-framing values for a World Heritage future: what type of icon will K'gari-Fraser Island become?

K’gari (Fraser Island) faces a critical juncture where its World Heritage status could be secured through innovative, adaptive management or lost to degradation due to unsustainable tourism and climate change. The study synthesizes the impacts of human pressures on the island's biodiversity, cultural connections, ecological functions, and environmental values, highlighting the need for environmentally sound conservation planning that integrates socioeconomic factors. It emphasizes the importance of sustaining biological refugia in less-visited areas and developing a coherent approach to interpretation to encourage sustainable use. Without urgent rectification of historical mismanagement and current practices, the island's unique natural beauty and ecological processes risk irreversible decline.

Wardell-Johnson, G., Schoeman, D., Schlacher, T., Wardell-Johnson, A., Weston, M. A., Shimizu, Y., & Conroy, G. (2015). Re-framing values for a World Heritage future: what type of icon will K’gari-Fraser Island become? Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 22(2), 124–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2014.985267