Explore the environmental challenges facing Tasmania’s relict ecosystems, including fire, drought, and climate change. Learn why urgent action is needed.
Tasmania and the mainland used to be covered in lush, cool climate rainforest, incredibly different from the dry Australian bush. Some of the individual trees are thousands of years old, and some of the forests have been in the same place for many thousands of years longer. Now it's restricted to ever shrinking patches in the few climatic zones that support their existence
Our relict Gondwanan forests are host to a wide array of flora, with many of the species being endemic to the island of Tasmania. They compose elegant forests often dominated by conifers, with deciduous trees that drop their leaves in the Autumn time. Read more about our often iconic species like the King Billy pine, our Nothofagus species, the Huon pine, leatherwoods, and many more
Fire, drought, disease, and a changing climate threaten to reshape Tasmania to a landscape where these forests have no place. Once fire has run through, these ecosystems recover slowly, if at all. Consecutive fires will destroy them forever. What's needed is a new approach to their management, where we as people take on the role of active custodians.
An ancient krummholz King Billy Pine (Athrotaxus cupressoides) from the Tasmanian West Coast Mountains
The Gondwana Project Inc.
10 Greenlands Avenue, Sandy Bay TAS, Australia
Copyright © 2025 The Gondwana Project Inc. - All Rights Reserved.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.