Australia's move to strip part of Tasmania's forest of its world heritage status one year after it was added is "very exceptional", the UN has said, adding its experts could not recall such a case in recent years.

 

A Unesco spokeswoman said changes to world heritage sites were not uncommon. But, to the agency's knowledge, the appeal to remove an area so soon after a national government had asked for its addition was unprecedented.

 

Shifting political agendas within the deeply polarised community of foresters and environmentalists who live on its fringes have caused the Tasmanian world heritage area to be changed more often than any other Unesco site.

 

The coalition government described the requested annexation of 74,000 hectares of forest as a "minor boundary modification", saying the forests were "degraded" – a claim quickly disputed by the Wilderness Society. The area is part of a 172,500-hectare addition to the world heritage area requested by Australia and approved by Unesco last year.

 

Unesco's world heritage committee will consider the amendment in June. It will decide whether the changes are classed as minor or major according to how they affect the overall value of the site. Minor boundary changes are significantly simpler to affect.

 

Peter Valentine, associate professor at James Cook University, said the committee was unlikely to consider any revocation to be minor and raised concerns about the precedent it could set.

 

"It is my view that what the Australian government is asking cannot be seen as a minor boundary change. If the area is now so badly damaged perhaps the committee would seek an explanation of how this happened and what steps would be taken to ensure rehabilitation (which is an obligation under the world heritage convention)."