David Lindenmayer - The Great Forest: The rare beauty of the Victorian Central Highlands

To the late David Blair (19712019)

Father, husband, forest ecologist,
scout master, soccer player, colleague,
and friend. An extraordinary person
dedicated to conserving a most
wonderful forest.

STATEMENT OF SOVEREIGNTY

In October 2019, First Nations people came together to call on the Victorian Government to acknowledge our sovereignty over the forests and landscapes of the Central Highlands region. We called for an end to the destruction of these lands. The government has never sought, nor have we given, permission to log our forests. These places are homes to our totems, our ancestors and our people. Our cultural obligation is to care for Country, land and water. It is time for the Traditional Owners to be given a place at the table in decision-making about the forests, the landscapes and the water that is our Country.

Lidia Thorpe , the first Aboriginal senator for Victoria, on behalf of Elders and Traditional Owners of Gunnai, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Countries of eastern Victoria

Dawn rays over Healesville on Wurundjeri Country (Sarah Rees)

The small town of Healesville, 50 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, is one of the gateways to the magnificent forests, landscapes and waterways of the Central Highlands.

INTRODUCTION

THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

T he city of Melbourne (called Naarm in the First Nations Kulin language) sits on a vast ancient plain with a dark blue mountainous rim to its east. As Melbournes more than five million residents go about their daily lives, many are unaware that this backdrop of hills and peaks is more than just a geographical boundaryit is home to some of the tallest forests on Earth, which provide the city with nearly all of its drinking water. As you leave the city, the built environment gives way to a landscape of rolling pastures dominated by an impressive mountainous amphitheatre. On clear days, the haze of the forest tints the mountains a distinctive blue colour. When the weather closes in, the mountains are draped in curtains of cloud, where the water cycle commences. Beyond the rolling rural landscape is a forest 60 million years in the making. It is a forest that the Traditional Custodians, the Gunaikurnai, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Peoples, sustained for tens of thousands of years, their cultures shaping the forests while the forest shaped their culture. Many First Nations languages are now being rediscovered and are increasingly being used by Traditional Custodians. We have used First Nations words for locations in this book as well as for some of the charismatic species, such as the Leadbeaters Possum (Wollert) and the Superb Lyrebird (Buln Buln).

When you enter the forest, urban life, just kilometres away, recedes. A different world opens upof ancient rainforests, extraordinary trees and an array of native animals. This forested region is known as the Central Highlands of Victoria. These unique and diverse forests extend from the outer urban areas north and east of Melbourne to the Baw Baw Plateau in the east, Lake Eildon in the north and the Latrobe Valley in the south. The region covers around 1.1 million hectares, of which 710,000 hectares is forest or other kinds of native vegetation. The region supports the largest intact areas of remaining Mountain Ash forests in mainland Australia. These mighty eucalypt forests once held the record for the tallest trees on Earth, with some reputed to be over 120 metres tall. Such giants are no longer standing, but there are still some individuals that exceed 90 metres, equivalent to the height of a 25-storey building.