Restore Pedder

Your pledge will help bring the ancient landscape of the original Lake Pedder back to life and make it a beacon of 21st century ecological restoration. 

In the summer of 2021-22 it will be fifty years since the water of the Serpentine impoundment swallowed the wide pinkish-white quartzite beach Lake Pedder: the jewel of Tasmania’s wilderness. In the midst of the global climate change and biodiversity emergency, we need symbols of hope and powerful examples of ecological restoration to turn the tide on destruction and align with our values that wilderness and nature are integral to our existence. It is time to uncover and restore the jewel of Tasmania.

Restoration is possible and will largely be done by natural regeneration. 

The beach is intact and covered by a layer of fine sediment that will wash away after some decent rainfalls. The Lake is surrounded by intact native vegetation that will regenerate over time. The Lake has not been polluted so ecological processes should resume relatively rapidly. Your donation will help us recruit a restoration ecologist to undertake scoping of the ecological restoration process as a key first step to having a restoration plan in place.

Dams cost a lot to maintain and costs increase significantly for aging dams.

Is the cost of maintaining Pedder, a storage dam, the most cost effective and reliable choice for Tassie? More cost effective renewable energy alternatives now exist and they don’t need to be in our world heritage wilderness areas. Diversifying our sources of renewable energy also strengthens energy security and creates new employment and business opportunities in solar, wind and pumped hydro. Hydro is an important part of Tasmania's energy grid however the storage dam that is Lake Pedder can be replaced with reliable alternative renewable sources. Your donation will help us build a strong economic case to analyse the cost of maintaining the dam walls versus investing in other sources of renewable energy and its impact on the bigger picture for Tasmania.

Dams don’t last forever and removal is possible. 

There is a growing global movement, and generational shift in values toward dam removal.  Diverse interests around the world are coming together to remove obsolete dams and find more cost-effective options to meet power, shipping, irrigation and other needs, while helping to restore rivers, preserve tribal customs, recover fish stocks, revitalize waterfronts, improve recreational opportunities and render watersheds more resilient to climate change. Dam owners, impacted communities, and politicians are now reevaluating the usefulness of certain dams and often advocating for decommissioning and removal. Check out DamNation by our friends at Patagonia that shows dam removal is possible and being done. http://damnationfilm.com  

Where it all began… 

The campaign to restore pedder was inspired by a generation of bushwalkers, adventurers and nature lovers who felt a deep connection with the wild places of Tasmania. The flooding of Pedder saw nature lovers become activists. Having lost the battle for Pedder in 1972, they united in the fight to save the Franklin. The deeply felt loss of Pedder being the fire to galvanise them. Lives have been lost, blood, sweat and tears shed and yet over fifty years there has been continued momentum and passion to the wild heart of Tasmania: to restore pedder. Let’s make sure the original adventurers and elders of Pedder and future generations, can experience the joy of Lake Pedder again. 

Awakening a global movement of restoration. 

The damming of Lake Pedder in 1972 inspired a global movement by founding the world’s first political party, the United Tasmania Group, to protect nature and wilderness. Could the restoration of Lake Pedder inspire a new global movement to restore nature and value our wildest places? The restoration of Pedder can be a symbol of a new expression of a changed value system centered on valuing nature as central to our future and overcoming the false paradigm of conservation versus growth. 

Help us restore pedder, the wild heart of Tasmania and let this gently beautiful ecosystem awaken a global restoration movement. 

Lake Pedder video, 1971. A last look at Lake Pedder in its natural state through the eyes of artists and photographers. Artists and Photographers: Max Angus, Harry Buckie, Patricia Giles, Frank Bolt, Olegas Truchanus. Narrated by John Forster and Beverley Dunn. Published by Libraries Tasmania: https://linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au. 

Your donation will help bring together the evidence and make the case to restore Pedder.

Lake Pedder Restoration Incorporated have an initial target of $10,000 and a stretch target of $50,000. Forty five thousand of these funds will be used to hire a restoration ecologist to undertake the feasibility scoping study to show the potential ecological and social feasibility of the full restoration of Lake Pedder (Note that engineering works are excluded as part of the study as these would be done in partnership later). Five thousand will be used to continue to manage, create awareness and build relationships with various stakeholders to restore Lake Pedder.

The Lake Pedder Restoration Incorporated is guided by the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee Co-Convened by Christine Milne and Todd Dudley, Bob Brown is Secretary and Chris Holliday is Treasurer.

Thank you to Michael Gissing (production) and Nicole Lazaroff (sound) for generously producing our Restore Pedder campaign video. Restore Pedder is coordinated by the Lake Pedder Restoration Incorporated with support from: Bob Brown Foundation, Keep Tassie Wild, State Cinema, Tasmanian Conservation Trust, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and The Wilderness Society.