I just spent an amazing weekend in the central highlands of Victoria, Australia with the enviro club.
We started off by going on a short walk through Wirrawilla Rainforest where we got a great lecture on forest logging by a professor at Melbourne Uni. We got to drink water straight out of the river. I didn't think our guide was serious when he dipped his bucket in the water, but yes, it's clean and safe to drink. I had always wanted to do that hehe. Afterwards, we hiked/tumbled/fell/crawled down Nolan's Gully, one of the last remaining in-tact cool temperate rainforests in the state of Victoria. The soil is so soft and fertile, it just crumbles and slides right under your feet. We managed to make it to the waterfall at the end. We hiked about 400m of dense rainforest; surrounded by tree ferns (I'd never seen them before, they look prehistoric) , Mountain Ash, Myrtle Beech, Sassafras, moss and fungi.
We started off by going on a short walk through Wirrawilla Rainforest where we got a great lecture on forest logging by a professor at Melbourne Uni. We got to drink water straight out of the river. I didn't think our guide was serious when he dipped his bucket in the water, but yes, it's clean and safe to drink. I had always wanted to do that hehe. Afterwards, we hiked/tumbled/fell/crawled down Nolan's Gully, one of the last remaining in-tact cool temperate rainforests in the state of Victoria. The soil is so soft and fertile, it just crumbles and slides right under your feet. We managed to make it to the waterfall at the end. We hiked about 400m of dense rainforest; surrounded by tree ferns (I'd never seen them before, they look prehistoric) , Mountain Ash, Myrtle Beech, Sassafras, moss and fungi.
Believe it or not, this tree hollow is big enough to fit 30 of us inside! There's a video to prove it, I'll post it as soon as it's uploaded.
Hiking Nolan's Gully
I was caked in layers of dirt by the end of the day, but it was well worth it. Around sunset time, we went out into the forest to do some stag watching for Leadbeater's Possums, which are the state emblem of Victoria. Leadys are adorable little marsupials that kinda look like gliders but are critically endangered (1500 left) and are being logged to extinction in the state that calls them their emblem.........ha. We didn't get to see any possums, unfortunately, and headed back to the house.
Our hosts, Trent and Vicky, mashallah, were so generous. They welcomed the enviro club (all 27 of us) to stay on their property, letting us sleep basically anywhere we could find a spot. Vicky cooked us an amazing trout dinner, complete with vegetarian and vegan options, and Trent took us on tours around Toolangi and Flowerdale to show us the effects of logging. Both were selfless and eager to make our stay comfortable and enjoyable. They've got an incredible plot of land, with a house built right into a 45 degree- angle hill, surrounded by forest, complete with cows, chickens, horses, and a bull mastiff named Tess. The house itself is beautiful as well. Built by Trent himself, it's left unfinished, with wooden walls and ceilings. All solar powered. Really great people. May they always be met with peace, happiness, and success.
The Enviro gang
(I was exhausted and fell asleep [the first one, as always] on the couch while Trent was showing us aerial footage of the logged forest [which is heart-breaking] and the next morning the girl sleeping on the ground next to me said she heard me giggle in my sleep haha so embarrassing)
The next day we went to Gunbarrell Forest which is right on the boundary of previously logged Mountain Ash Forest. Mountain Ash is native to Australia and depends on bush fires to stimulate germination. Very interesting ecology behind it (subhanallah). After a walk through Gunbarrell, we went to Yellow Dindy, which is a massive section that has just been clearfelled (logged) within the last 12 months. You could still see smoke rising from mounds of smoldering black bark. The damage hits you hard. The ground cracks, snaps, and crunches under your feet- a far cry from the beautiful soil at Nolan's Gully. There is no more topsoil, which is needed for the regrowth of these trees, some of which had been hundreds of years old. We all went silent. We walked through Yellow Dindy for about an hour, and had only made it barely half way through the entire clearfelled area. Logging of Victorian Forests has been ongoing and has put Victoria's native creatures in grave danger and on the sure road to extinction. Species like the leadbeater are used as indicators to determine the health of the forest. The forests are being clearfelled to make woodchips and paper used by a Japanese company with a monopoly on copy paper sold in Victoria. The money made goes to Japan.
Logged forest at Gunbarrell
Recently logged site at Yellow Dindy
The Kalatha Tree- 14m in diameter!
The cool temperate rainforests of Australia are the most carbon-dense in the world; losing these forests will cause a major pulse in atmospheric greenhouse gases. Basically, the forests are the only sustainable solution to regulating climate change, and are being logged to make short-term money overseas. What?
Lovely photos :)
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