The Value of Meaning and the Meanings of Value

Abstract

Scientific controversies constantly resolve themselves into differences about the meaning of words.¹

The coastal city of Cairns sits roughly at the midpoint of the Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage bioregion, which extends from Paluma in the south to Cooktown in the north. The inclusion of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area (WTQWHA) on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's list of sites worth protecting for their natural or cultural heritage is based on the fulfilment of at least one of four criteria. So rich in natural heritage is this region that it fulfils all four of the criteria.² It is outstanding for its geological, ecological and biological processes. It is rich in natural phenomena and areas of exceptional beauty. It contains habitats that are important and significant for the conservation of biological diversity. It houses threatened species of outstanding value to science and conservation.³ These World Heritage Values are much lauded for their tourism potential as well as for economic benefits to the communities situated within the region. Scientists devote research time and money to their search for furthering understanding of the area's diversity. Environmental management agencies use some of the information garnered from this research to better protect and conserve the area's bounty. Conservation advocacy groups work with and against government agencies in their own efforts to protect, and to advance public awareness of, the environment. The importance of protecting the values, however, is sometimes subsumed under confusion about what the values really are. What, indeed, does the expression values mean?