After the photo of the “Single-rider” tree trunk being trucked out of Tasmania’s Florentine Valley forest gained worldwide notoriety, I took a walk in the forest, guided by the Wilderness Society’s Alice Hardinge.
The loggers stopped work when we arrived and the boss was furious.
These are Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest flowering trees on Earth.
We walked over a giant stump and beneath a still-standing massive tree into the intact magical fernery behind.
One tree fern had three lush tops coming from a “Wall” of trunk which was embossed with a myriad of smaller ferns and lichens.
Trees to the north were tagged with blue ribbons, perhaps indicating that a cameo area there will be spared.
The clearfell logging is expanding south and west but two forlorn trees have been left standing because the loggers have come under public surveillance.
