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The Central Highlands subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria.
It includes the municipalities of Rural City of Ararat,
The ''Central Highlands Regional Forest Agreement'' protects approximately 43.84% of rainforest stands in the Central Highlands of Victoria within dedicated reserves. Any rainforest that is not within these dedicated reserve is susceptible to the impacts of clearfell
"Australia: Scientists call for Protection of world’s most carbon dense Forests"
''San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center'', Retrieved on 4 August 2009 A paper published in the US-based ''Toolangi's forest sanctuary disappears
The Wilderness Society
Central Highlands at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
{{Victoria * Geography of Victoria (Australia) Forests of Victoria (Australia) Great Dividing Range Highlands
City of Ballarat
The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 107,325. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is primarily urban with the v ...
, Golden Plains Shire
The Golden Plains Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120. It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Dereel, Gheringhap, Le ...
, Shire of Hepburn, Shire of Moorabool
The Shire of Moorabool is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 34,158. It includes the towns of Ballan, Bacchus Marsh, Balliang, ...
, Shire of Pyrenees
The Shire of Pyrenees is a local government area (LGA) in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 7,353.
It includes the towns of Avoca, Beaufort, Lexton and Tr ...
The term is mainly used in a geological context to describe that part of the Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
that is west of its alpine areas but does not extend to its western end in Victoria's west. The area is situated east of Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, south of Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...
, north and east of Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, and west of the alpine areas. Major towns of the Central Highlands include Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean:
* Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia
** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club
** Castlemaine railway station
* Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland
* Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...
, Creswick
Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Creswick had a populatio ...
, Daylesford, Gisborne, Kyneton and Woodend. All these towns are located in what is usually referred to as the West Central Highlands. The more mountainous and more sparsely populated eastern part of the Central Highlands is referred to as the East Central Highlands and has extensive areas of temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...
.
Rainforests
The East Victorian Central Highlands, including some of Melbourne's water catchments, contain cool temperaterainforests
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...
; dominated by myrtle beech
''Nothofagus cunninghamii,'' commonly known as myrtle beech or Tasmanian myrtle, is the dominant species of cool temperate rainforests in Tasmania and Southern Victoria. It has low fire resistance and grows best in partial shade conditions.
It ...
and southern sassafras
''Atherosperma moschatum'', the southern sassafras or blackheart sassafras, is an evergreen tree native to the cool temperate rainforests of Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, and New South Wales in Australia. It is common in the rainfores ...
, with an understorey of fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
s and moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
es. They may also contain eucalypt trees and blackwood.
Logging and environmental impact
The ''Central Highlands Regional Forest Agreement'' protects approximately 43.84% of rainforest stands in the Central Highlands of Victoria within dedicated reserves. Any rainforest that is not within these dedicated reserve is susceptible to the impacts of clearfell logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.
Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
.16 June 2009"Australia: Scientists call for Protection of world’s most carbon dense Forests"
''San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center'', Retrieved on 4 August 2009 A paper published in the US-based ''
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sci ...
'' reports that the world's most carbon dense forest is found in the Central Highlands of Victoria.
Logging is proceeding in very significant regions of the Toolangi State Forest
The Toolangi State Forest region in southern Australia extends from Mount Monda in the south up to Murrindindi in the north and includes the township of Toolangi. The forest is mainly eucalypt forest that has regrown from the 1939 Victori ...
, including forest that provides habitat for the endangered Leadbeater's possum such as Nolan's Gully, and forest adjacent to Sylvia Creek Road.The Wilderness Society
See also
* Yarra Ranges National ParkReferences
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20080828020552/http://www.chsa.org.au/Central Highlands at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
{{Victoria * Geography of Victoria (Australia) Forests of Victoria (Australia) Great Dividing Range Highlands