Tasmania
The threatened Upper Florentine valley, western Tasmania. Photo Kip NunnTasmania has one of the world’s great temperate wilderness areas. It contains jagged mountains, sub-alpine plateaux, a wild coast with pristine beaches, lagoons and rugged headlands, gorges carved by wild rivers, rainforests, and substantial tracts of primeval eucalypt forests. Large tracts are protected within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area or adjacent National Parks, yet Tasmania’s wilderness is also under enormous threat. Logging is penetrating previously remote and natural valleys. In northern and eastern Tasmania, remnant forests form crucial habitat for threatened species such as the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle. A massive proposed pulp mill would double the rate of logging in Tasmania.
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| Tasmania's irreplaceable forests |
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Tasmania is home to the tallest hardwood forests on Earth, with trees reaching nearly 100 metres and living for over 400 years. It is also home to Australia’s greatest tract of temperate rainforest. |
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| Gunns' proposed pulp mill |
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The Wilderness Society is campaigning to stop Gunns Ltd building a massive native forest-fed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. This pulp mill will be a disaster for our forests; our oceans and beaches; our marine life and fisheries; our wildlife; our water; the air of the Tamar Valley; our climate; and our economy. |
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| Self-drive guides |
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Discover Tasmania's forests for yourself, with one of our self-drive guides. Find out about walks in the Blue Tier, South Sister, the Tarkine, the Upper Florentine, the Weld, and the Styx. |
Tasmania Updates
- Burning native forests for power - a lifeline to the woodchippers - July 16, 2008
- Pulp Mill Back in Court - June 18, 2008
- Congratulations! ANZ will not be funding the pulp mill - May 19, 2008
Native forest bioenergy: bad for climate change and bad for our forests. In response to diminishing global demand for native forest woodchips, Australia’s native forest logging industry is pushing a particularly destructive power generation option.
The hearing of the legal challenge to the Federal government approval of Gunns’ controversial Tamar Valley pulp mill began in the Federal Court in Melbourne on 18 June 2008. The challenge, brought by the community group, Lawyers for Forests (LFF) is seeking to overturn the former Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull’s approval of the mill on 9 grounds.
The ANZ bank has decided not to fund Gunns’ pulp mill, setting a strong precedent for other potential financiers. The ANZ’s decision means that a major public rally in Melbourne on June 15th has been cancelled. Find out who is considering funding this environmentally destructive pulp mill.
Tasmania Media Releases
- Confusion reigns over pulp mill wood supply - July 24, 2008
- Macquarie Bank urged to beware of pulp mill's 'risky business' - July 23, 2008
- C'mon Mr Bartlett - look at the carbon in the forests - July 17, 2008
The Wilderness Society is calling on Gunns to clarify wood supply projections and provide the modeling that supports plantation based pulp mill claims in the light of the recent proliferation of contradictory commentary on the wood supply projections for Gunns’ pulp mill.
The Wilderness Society today urged the Macquarie Bank to beware of the risks associated with the pulp mill proposed by Gunns for Tasmania’s Tamar Valley.
The Wilderness Society welcomes the acknowledgment in Premier David Bartlett’s climate change report that Tasmania’s forests are vast stores of carbon and the Society has called upon the government to protect them from logging.
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The Wilderness Society Tasmania |
Ph: (03) 6224 1550 |
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Hobart Shop Shop 8 Galleria, 33 Salamanca Place, Hobart, 03 6234 9370 |
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