Australia's Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) is one of the three largest remaining temperate wilderness regions in the Southern Hemisphere ([ 1 ][1]). It covers about 1.6 million hectares, almost a quarter of Australia's State of Tasmania ([ 1 ][1]). Pristine wilderness is the most important core value of the region. In January 2014, to encourage local economic growth, the Australian federal government sought to remove 74,039 hectares of land from the TWWHA ([ 2 ][2]). Although the request was rejected by the World Heritage Committee in June 2014 ([ 3 ][3]), the Tasmanian state government still supports housing, airport, road, mining, and logging projects within the TWWHA. The World Heritage Committee urged the federal government to stop any such development within the property ([ 4 ][4]). It is unclear how the federal government will address the Committee's demand, which leaves the values and integrity of the TWWHA at risk. Australia is only the third country in the world, after Oman and Tanzania, to seek the delisting of its World Heritage areas ([ 5 ][5]). Australian governments, especially the federal one, should show leadership in implementing the World Heritage Convention. Local and national communities should also raise their voices to politicians and governments to make clear that the values and integrity of the TWWHA cannot be sacrificed by any socioeconomic development. ![Figure][6] Mount Pelion East in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. PHOTO: ©CHRISTIAN KOBER/ROBERTHARDING/CORBIS 1. [↵][7]Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmania, The 2014 Draft Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Management Plan (Hobart, 2014). 2. [↵][8]1. A. Darby , Abbott government to cut 74,000 ha of forest from World Heritage Zone, Sydney Morning Herald (31 January 2014). 3. [↵][9]The World Heritage Committee, Decisions Adopted by the World Heritage Committee at Its 38th Session (Doha, 2014). 4. [↵][10]The World Heritage Committee, Decisions Adopted by the World Heritage Committee at Its 39th Session (Bonn, 2015). 5. [↵][11]1. B. Williams , Bob Brown says UNESCO decision on Tasmanian World Heritage Forests is a bittersweet victory, Courier-Mail (24 June 2014). [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #ref-5 [6]: pending:yes [7]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [9]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [10]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [11]: #xref-ref-5-1 View reference 5 in text