A Delicate Balance.

Is Australia's Fraser Island Being Loved Too Much?

A Pacific sun sweeps over the sands of this apparently untouched beach. Dingoes roam the rocky outcrops as the calls of shore birds echo behind the heath-covered dunes. It could be any secluded beach in the Southern Hemisphere, any time in history. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, four-wheel drivers sound a wake-up call along the 75-mile beach of Fraser Island, off the east coast of mid-northern Australia.

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island, formed by sand deposited during sea level changes hundreds of thousands of years ago. Today, it's home to some of the world's most threatened species; notably the ground parrot, the giant burrowing cockroach and the stinking cryptocarya.

Fraser is one of 14 Australian areas inscribed on the World Heritage List. Its natural beauty and ongoing ecological importance have made Fraser an increasingly popular destination for ecotourists, many of whom tour behind a wheel. So many trek here that the 75-mile-long beach has been designated an official highway.

But, thanks to the tides, Fraser has "rolled with the punches," says longtime resident Eric Parups. As president of the Fraser Island Association, Parups represents some 200 local property owners. He says the island's natural heritage is its greatest treasure, but "the more the tracks get used, the more sand gets eroded. Still, the island is forgiving. Sometimes, the rocks are exposed everywhere, and you can hardly drive along the beach. Then you get the right weather conditions, the sand is back, and it's as if it's never happened. But I wouldn't like to see it get any worse than it is."

Fraser's popularity also worries Hector Ceballos-Lascurain. A Mexico-based architect, Ceballos-Lascurain is credited with coining the word "ecotourism" in the early 1980s. He warns that four-wheel driving threatens protected areas such as Fraser. "I am sure that if strict restrictions on four-wheel driving are not soon enforced," he says, "irreversible damage will be caused upon the fragile environment of the island."

Wildlife in Decline

The beach itself is not the only concern to conservationists such as John Sinclair, who heads the Fraser Island Defenders Organization. Sinclair claims nearby wildlife is suffering. Shore bird numbers are declining, he says, particularly among oystercatchers, red-capped dotterels and beach thick-knees. On the inland roads, environmental impact assessments have shown accelerated erosion caused by the churning tires. Also, during downpours, sand is washed off the tracks and into adjacent streams, and sediment has smothered parts of some natural habitats.

All the island's roads are managed and maintained by the state's Environmental Protection Agency through its Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS). According to a 1998 departmental report, "The major scenic routes are all showing signs of high impact due possibly to the volume of use, the size and loads of some vehicles, and coaches operating with high tire pressures." The QPWS is studying the roads situation, but a vehicle quota or size limit is not imminent.

Meanwhile, Fraser's tourist numbers are expected to grow, despite the setback of a recent fatal dingo attack. In 1971, the island recorded an estimated 10,000 visitors. By 1999, that figure had burgeoned to more than 300,000. Last year, Australians placed Fraser at the top of the country's favorite heritage sites, and the island also placed high with readers of Conde Nast Traveler.

This all-sand island has risen to such prominence from a rocky environmental past. Sand mining was permitted at Fraser until 1976, and its forests were logged until late 1991. Those extractive industries have been replaced by tourism, specifically ecotourism, promising protection and regeneration of the island's flora and fauna as well as sustainability for its total environment.

That promise has been fulfilled, says Tony Charters of Tourism Queensland and the Ecotourism Association of Australia. He attributes Fraser's rise in popularity to the groundwork of both the "Greenies" protests and the now-departed forestry industry.

Logging provided the very roads now used by four-wheel drivers, and the antilogging protests provided name recognition. "There's a direct relationship between controversy and visitation," says Charters. "Tourism and conservation have to be strong allies." CONTACT: Australian Heritage Commission, (011) 61-2-6274-2111, www.environment.gov.au /heritage; Ecotourism Association of Australia, (011) 61-7-3229-5550, www. ecotourism.org.au; Fraser Island Defenders Organization, www.fido.org.au.

MARGARET EVANS is an Australia-based freelance writer.