News Service from House Harris

NT: Climate change to hit Kakadu and Top End tourism hard

DARWIN, March 12 AAP - Climate change will threaten Kakadu's key attractions with "devastating" implications for tourism in the world-heritage listed national park, new research warns.

Anna Boustead, from Charles Darwin University, has identified scenery, the natural environment, wildlife and indigenous culture as the four major drawcards for tourists.

All of these are under threat from global warming, which will result in an increase in flooding, cyclones and fires, as well as the loss of three quarters of Kakadu's freshwater wetlands by 2050.

"Absolutely the park will change as a result of climate change ... the science is saying that it is going to happen," said Ms Boustead, a researcher with CDU's School for Social and Policy Research.

"We know that there is going to be a significant loss of wetlands, it has already been happening over the last 50 years. It's actually happening at the moment."

Ms Boustead's research, to be presented in Darwin on Friday, was commissioned for the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre as part of a national report on the effects of climate change on iconic Australian tourism destinations.

The Great Barrier Reef, the Victorian Alps and Queensland's rainforests are among the attractions particularly vulnerable to climate change, and will form part of an overall report to be completed in a few months.

Ms Boustead said tourism in the Northern Territory was heavily dependent on Kakadu, which was a Top End icon and the cornerstone of the region's marketing campaign.

She said a shortage of data made it difficult to predict the extent of the ecological impacts of climate change.

But there was no doubt the low-lying coastal region would be affected "significantly", she said.

"Threats to key attractions and experiences on the other hand could have devastating implications and ramifications for the regional destination," the report said.

It found flooding would cause damage to hotels and roads, and cut off access to the park for longer periods of the year.

More storms, fires and cyclones would result in "localised visual deterioration" while saltwater intrusion as a result of rising levels was destroying freshwater wetlands.

This affects crocodiles, freshwater bird species, water buffalo and barramundi, and potentially the visitor experience.

"A significant reduction in the population of these species may decrease the number of sightings by visitors within Kakadu, in turn decreasing visitor satisfaction," the report said.

The hotter climate is also likely to make it more uncomfortable for people visiting Kakadu while local Aborigines will be affected by wetland losses, extreme weather events and increased heat-related, vector-borne and water-borne illness.

Ms Boustead said this would in turn restrict opportunities for cultural tourism ventures.

The report recommended local operators take up renewable energy sources, reduce their consumption and improve waste management.

Governments were urged to provide incentives to help operators reduce their environmental impact and plan a climate change strategy for the future.

"Climate change is the most difficult challenge we have faced as a human race so it's highly complex but the tourism industry is highly adaptable," Ms Boustead said.

"The key message is for industry, government and all stakeholders that we need to start planning now for the future of Kakadu and really start to make some broadscale changes."