The Upper Florentine Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in the south of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, is an area recognised for its landscape and

old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

s. It is situated along the Gordon River Road near Maydena in the southwest of the island, roughly three hours drive from

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

and comprises around 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 ...

and tall eucalypt forest. The Upper Florentine forms part of the Florentine catchment upstream (south) from Churchill Creek. Geographically it is an area of generally low relief valleys and flats. The area is a known habitat for threatened species of flora and fauna, including myrtle elbow orchid,

grey goshawk The grey goshawk (''Accipiter novaehollandiae'') is a strongly built, medium-sized bird of prey in the family ''Accipitridae'' that is found in eastern and northern Australia. The white morph of this species is known as the white goshawk. Taxo ...

, and

spotted-tail quoll The tiger quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus''), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus ''Dasyurus'' native to Australia. With male ...

. In 2009, the Upper Florentine received attention in the media for a series of arrests made by Tasmanian Police of protesters taking part in various pro-conservationist rallies.

Management controversy

The valley was managed by

Forestry Tasmania Sustainable Timber Tasmania (formerly Forestry Tasmania) is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of Tasmania, Australia. It is responsible for the management of public production forest in Tasmania, which is about 80 ...

on behalf of the Tasmanian Government and featured in the ongoing political debate on

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

and the logging of

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

s of Australia. While Forestry Tasmania asserted that only ten percent of the Upper Florentine catchment is available for sustainable timber production, environmental groups argued that protected areas consist of shrubs and trees that are of little use to the timber industry, whereas old growth and high conservation value forests have been specifically targeted for timber harvest.

Reaction to logging operations

Ongoing logging operations in this area have prompted pro-conservationist groups such as the Derwent Forest Alliance and

The Wilderness Society (Australia) The Wilderness Society is an Australian, community-based, not-for-profit non-governmental environmental advocacy organisation. Its vision is to "transform Australia into a society that protects, respects and connects with the natural world that ...

to set up a permanent blockade in the area known a
Camp Florentine
as early as 2006. In 2011,

community activism A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

and

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

were continuing in the Upper Florentine with over 80 arrests being carried out in the area in 2010. Protesters utilised obstructionist techniques, such as blockading structures attached to

tree sits Tree sitting is a form of environmentalist civil disobedience in which a protester sits in a tree, usually on a small platform built for the purpose, to protect it from being cut down (speculating that loggers will not endanger human lives by cutt ...

to stand in the way of logging operations and prevent

forest harvester A harvester is a type of heavy forestry vehicle employed in cut-to-length logging operations for felling, delimbing Limbing or delimbing is the process of removing branches from a standing or fallen tree trunk. In logging, limbing foll ...

equipment from moving into the valley. The conservationist camp was manned by environmental campaigners, including the organisatio
Still Wild Still Threatened
In 2013, the Upper Florentine was protected from logging when the area was added to the

Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering , or almost 25% of Tasmania. It is also one of the last ex ...

.The Guardian - Tasmania's old growth forests win environmental protection https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/24/tasmania-forests-environmental-protection-heritage

References

External links

Special Values of the Upper Florentine
{{Southern Tasmania , state=autocollapse Valleys of Australia Valleys of Tasmania Tasmanian forests Southern Tasmania

Management controversy

Reaction to logging operations

See also

References

External links