Tarwin River
Rainforest Refuge

 A new biolink to protect Cool Temperate Rainforest and Mountain Ash forest and the extraordinary species who call these forests home.






We need your help to save this forest from becoming a pine plantation.



Protecting this biolink will create a Koala Corridor and a Slender Tree-fern Sanctuary and provide hollows and habitat for many of our most threatened species.



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Creating safe passage for the Strzelecki Koala

The Tarwin River Rainforest Refuge will provide a connecting corridor for the Koala and will retain the ridges of Bluegum and Mountain ash to sustain them.

HVP are planning to log this forest on our Crown land (above) and turn it into a pine plantation. This will be a biodiversity disaster.

In February 2024 HVP drone surveys identified 6 Koalas in the northern part of the refuge. This area has now been logged. These Koalas have been told to move on...

Over 10,000 hectares of Eucalyptus plantation in the Strzeleckis will be converted to pines, reducing the amount of suitable habitat for the Koala.

Retaining a small area of Eucalyptus in the Rainforest Refuge will be important for the Koala as a connecting link.

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A Refuge for Endangered and Iconic Australians

This Rainforest Refuge will be an important location for many of our most loved species and some of our most threatened. 

We are in a biodiversity extinction crisis, and HVP are contributing to this with their radical change from native Eucalyptus species to invasive pines.

The Refuge will protect the Mountain ash forests that are habitat for Gang-gangs, Pilotbirds, Lyrebirds and the Strzelecki Koala, to name but a few. 

Biodiversity - Learn more
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A Slender Tree-fern and 
Rainforest Refuge

Slender Tree-ferns are critically endangered - this means they are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.

Slender Tree-ferns are found in Cool Temperate Rainforest, this is also the most rare and threatened forest type in Victoria. We need to give these areas the best protection possible.

HVP are harvesting closer than 20 meters from these delicate Slender Tree-ferns, whereas our government scientists have recommended 200m.

The Rainforest Refuge will provide the buffer zones needed for the Slender Tree-ferns' survival.

More about Slender Tree-ferns
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The Rainforest and Mountain Ash Forests on Crown lands in the Turtons Creek area are critically important for the preservation of many endangered species like the Slender Tree-fern.

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Where is the Tarwin River Rainforest Refuge?

Turtons Creek - South Gippsland - Victoria

Just 15 minutes north of Foster, this vital biolink connects the Turtons Creek Scenic Reserve to the Mirboo South Bushland Reserve through Crown land licensed to HVP.

Landscape Scale Connection

The Tarwin River Rainforest Refuge (orange) will provide an important link north to the Brataualung Forest Park and connect to the south toward the Hoddle range and Cape Liptrap.
The refuge will connect with other community biolinks, the Cores and Links, and the Strzelecki-Alpine Biolink.

Adjacent Conservation Properties

To the south are Trust for Nature properties, protected forever with a conservation covenant.

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Protection and Connection

HVP have already logged Mountain Ash and Bluegum close to Slender Tree-ferns and Rainforest. 

We want HVP to retain the 50 year old Mountain Ash regrowth and the small amount of Bluegum plantation as a buffer zone for the rainforest and habitat for our Koalas.

The increased buffer zones will protect the Slender Tree-fern, cool temperate rainforest, the Tarwin River Reserve, the Mountain Ash, Trust for Nature covenants and our threatened species that need this forest.

We want the areas of Crown land harvested in 2024 to be replanted with Mountain ash not pines.

HVP's plan to log and replant with pines in the middle of this significant conservation area (purple) is not in line with community expectations or HVP's own environmental and sustainability statements. 

What are the benefits?

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Ecological
Benefit
The Tarwin River Rainforest Refuge is a connective park that will reduce the impacts of habitat fragmentation.

Victoria lost 30% of  it's Cool Temperate Rainforest in the Black Summer fires, which makes increased protection for our remaining rainforest the highest priority.

Creating habitat and safe corridors for species movement and fire refuges is vital to reverse species extinction. This sanctuary will do both.

Learn more...
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Climate
Benefit
Mountain Ash forest stores more carbon than any other forest type on Earth. Retaining these forests will eventually store up to 5 times more carbon than plantations.

The park will also secure pure and uncontaminated water supplies from the protected Tarwin Catchment providing better quality water for the towns of Dumbalk and Meeniyan downstream.

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Economic
Benefit

    Research in similar forest in the central highlands has shown that agriculture, water supply and tourism industries contribute more than twenty times that of forestry to the economy. 

Visitors to South Gippsland don't come to see pine plantations. 

Using Crown land for pine plantations takes valuable water from our catchments. This means less water for households and farms downstream.

The ecosystem services provided by retaining this area for conservation are many. 

Learn more...
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Community
Benefit

 Having a healthy environment and spending time in nature is good for our wellbeing.

Research has shown that spending time in nature lowers blood pressure, reduces stress and boosts wellbeing.

South Gippsland's stunning parks, coastlines and forests play an important role in fostering happy, healthy and active communities and will be essential to future economic growth and vibrant and healthy communities.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Rainforest Refuge is situated on Crown land that is owned by DEECA and licensed to HVP for forestry. We have discussed with HVP the idea of retaining the area for conservation and look forward to discussing this further.

Areas within the Crown land that are not being used for plantation are protected native vegetation. However, they are being damaged and are under threat due to inadequate buffer zones and forestry practices that negatively impact the conservation values of these areas.

Unfortunately, HVP do not follow the Action Statements under the FFG Act that are designed by our government scientists to protect our threatened species like Slender Tree-ferns. HVP plan to harvest the Eucalyptus species and replant with pines which is detrimental to biodiversity. We propose that the best conservation advice and management actions be applied to protect all threatened species, regardless of tenure.

We are currently talking with all stakeholders toward a community response to looking after this important reserve. We are working with Council, DEECA, Trust for Nature, neighbouring landholders and community groups to create best practice management and legal protection for our threatened species across land tenures.

The Rainforest Refuge would be an important community resource and add to the Turtons Creek Scenic Reserve and the popular Turtons Creek Falls. Currently, HVP restrict access to our Crown land. Community access and connection is important if we are to protect these areas for future generations.

Sure does!

We are a small not-for-profit group that incorporated in early 2024 to protect critically endangered Slender Tree-ferns and rainforest on our local Crown land.

Group members consist of neighbouring landholders and local families who know the importance of this area for conservation and have seen first-hand the impacts of industrial forestry on our rainforests and threatened species.

We work with the community to promote positive conservation initiatives, to share information and support the regulators responsible for protection of our endangered species.

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