Tasmania's Old Growth Forests win World Heritage protection After a generation of conflict, Tasmania's old growth forests have won protection on the World Heritage list. The World Heritage Committee meeting in Phnom Penh on Monday approved a 170,000 ha. extension of the state's world heritage wilderness, taking in the wild eucalypt forests fringing its eastern boundary. The 21 nation committee accepted the nomination without dissent, despite a recommendation from an advisory body to refer the case back to Australia for more work on the extension's cultural values. The International Council on Monuments and Sites called for detailed consultation with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community on the cultural values of the area. But the committee's other advisor, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said it had made repeated recommendations in support of protecting these forests. Committee members Germany, Malaysia, India, Serbia, Albania and Estonia all spoke in strong support of the extension.