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Fire, heat, and drought threaten to destroy Tasmania's Gondwanan relict forests. We need conservation through custodianship.
Fire, heat, and drought threaten to destroy Tasmania's Gondwanan relict forests. We need conservation through custodianship.
Most who wander the wilds of Tasmania will have noticed something different about our forests. Majestic conifers, deciduous trees, ancient landscapes. Something distinct from the typical Australian bushland. These are the Gondwanan relict forests. The role of fire and smoke in the cycle of the Australian forests doesn't apply to these relicts. Once burnt, they're gone forever. It is our mission to ensure a future for these forests through biobanking, conservation, reforestation, and education. We want to do all this so that future generations of Tasmanians can continue to enjoy the ecological heritage of the Island they call home.
These relict forests are often hidden high in the mountains or deep in the rainforest, and they're often forgotten about in conversations about Tasmania's wilds. We aim to change that. We want to share Tasmania's inheritance with everyone, by bringing people to it, and by taking it to people. Learn more about Tasmania's forgotten inheritance and dive into the species that make up our relict Gondwanan forests. Read about the iconic Nothofagus and the Huon pine, and learn about our more obscure and rare species. We also have provided links to papers and articles with information about why these beautiful forests are threatened.
Founded in 2024, The Gondwana Project has been created in response to the extremely dry Summers we've had in Tasmania across the last few years. A changing climate has primed Tasmania's forests for rampant fires that will only increase in their scale and ferocity. Trees that have lived for thousands of years are now at threat, and forests that have persisted for much longer than that may vanish within our lifetimes. That's why we're giving our all to save what we believe makes Tasmania truly special. We believe that you can't spend time out in this wilderness, and not feel a sense of custodianship over its future.
Tasmania is getting hotter and dryer. The science has been done, and we're beginning to see the patterns of local climate change play out before us. Hotter and dryer weather means more fires will run through our forests. Some of our native trees can use that fire, but some can't. And unless we as the people of Tasmania step up as custodians, we'll lose those vulnerable relict species before we know it. Let's not let our relict Gondwanan forests become the next Thylacine.
After watching several years of uncharacteristically hot and dry summers, we, a team from varying backgrounds brought together by our passion for the unique forests of Tasmania, decided that more needed to be done to protect and conserve Tasmania's relict forests from the threats of heat, drought, and bushfire. Research suggests that if nothing is done, the Gondwanan relict forests will be lost, so we've decided to do everything we can to prevent this.
At The Gondwana Project, we believe that an ambitious approach is the best approach when time and climate are working against you. Our end goal is to be working with landowners and other stakeholders to actively manage all Gondwanan relict forests outside of national parks. Our more immediate goals are to conduct research, biobanking, education, and conservation projects all aiming to understand, protect, and spread awareness about our precious relict forests.
We at The Gondwana Project Inc. acknowledge and pay our respects to all Tasmanian Aboriginal people and groups as the owners and continuing custodians of the land on which we work today. We pay our respect to Elders past and present, and acknowledge the enduring connection of Tasmanian Aboriginal people to Country, culture, and community.
Additionally, we acknowledge that we at The Gondwana Project Inc. are in no way the first people to suggest active custodianship of Australian/Tasmanian environments, nor do we suggest that our approach is infallible or particularly original. All credit for these notions are better directed to Australia's first people.
Want to get in touch? Reach out if you'd like to know more about what we do, or how you can support our mission
10 Greenlands Avenue, Sandy Bay TAS, Australia
The Gondwana Project Inc.
10 Greenlands Avenue, Sandy Bay TAS, Australia
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