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The Great Forest National Park is a proposed national park in eastern

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. It is envisaged that the park would protect the forests of the Central Highlands and species of conservation concern such as the endangered

Leadbeater's possum Leadbeater's possum (''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'') is a critically endangered possum largely restricted to small pockets of alpine ash, mountain ash, and snow gum forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbou ...

.Young, Amelia
"Great Forest National Park support could decide Victorian election"
''ABC'', 27 November 2014 The concept was developed by regional community groups and forest ecologists and researchers from

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

Proposed location

The park would extend between Kinglake National Park (west) and

Baw Baw National Park The Baw Baw National Park is a national park located on the boundary between the Victorian Alps and Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and north of the Latrobe Valley. ...

(east), Lake Eildon National Park (north) and

Bunyip State Park Bunyip State Park is a state park east of Melbourne, near the town of Gembrook, in the southern slopes of the Great Dividing Range within the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features The area was used for logging from 1898 until 19 ...

(south). It would encompass 355,000 ha of land, including the

Yarra Ranges National Park Yarra Ranges National Park is located in the Central Highlands of Australia's southeastern state Victoria, 107 km northeast of Melbourne. Established in 1995 and managed by the statutory authority Parks Victoria, the park features a carbon-ri ...

and existing state forests such as the Cathedral Range State Park and Toolangi State Forest.

Analysis

Report
produced by the Nous Group found that the establishment of the Great Forest National Park with three different investment scenarios could generate as much as 379,000 additional visitors to the region. The Report identified that investment could also lead to as much 740 new full time jobs and added economic benefit of $71.1 million in local GDP.

Political controversy

An opinion poll conducted in 2014 showed that 89% of Victorians support a national park in the proposed area. The proposal is also supported by 30 environmental and scientific groups, including the

Royal Society of Victoria The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) is the oldest scientific society in the state of Victoria in Australia. Foundation In 1854 two organisations formed with similar aims and membership, these being ''The Philosophical Society of Victoria'' (fo ...

Australian Conservation Foundation The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profil ...

and The Wilderness Society."Sir David Attenborough backs move to protect Leadbeater's habitat"
in '' ECOS Magazine'', 17 November 2014 Prominent environmentalists supporting the park include David Attenborough,

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

,Milman, Oliver
"David Attenborough and Jane Goodall join the fight to create a new national park in Victoria"
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 11 November 2014

Tim Flannery Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, conservationist, explorer, author, science communicator, activist and public scientist. He was awarded Australian of the Yea ...

and

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...

.Henderson, Jenni
"Support for the proposal of a new Victorian national park grows"
''ABC'', 23 September 2014 Opponents of the park include the

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is an Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protecting the right to farm, enhancing commercial and recreational fishi ...

, and the Victorian Association of Forest Industries, that opposes any extension to the state's national park system. The proposal was a key topic in the

2014 Victorian state election The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incumb ...

. While the incumbent

Liberal-National Coalition The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in ...

ruled out support for any new national park, the proposal was supported by

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

. The Labor Party was divided on the issue and did not actively support the plan during the election campaign. In 2015 environment minister

Lisa Neville Lisa Mary Neville (born 27 May 1964) is a former Australian politician, formerly serving as the member for Bellarine in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. She represented the Labor Party. Between 2014 and 2022, she was the Minister for Police ...

expressed support for the national park.Tomazin, Farrah
"Minister flags new national park within this term to save the possum"
in ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 3 May 2015

References

External links

Great Forest National Park
– Park Plan
The Science Behind the GFNP
– presentation by David Lindenmayer {{Coord, 37, 30, S, 145, 30, E, display=title Environment of Victoria (state) Proposed protected areas

Proposed location

Analysis

Political controversy

See also

References

External links