Canon judges 'Highly ComMended'
Canon Australia has recognised The Great Forest National Park initiative in it's annual environmental grant program, commending the project and its team, "our judges really loved your project and what your organisation stands for". And awarded a prize for our work. Well done everyone who is helping to make the #GFNP a reality - this goes to you!
Congratulations on being Highly Commended by our judging panel. The Forest is a time MachineMountain Ash forests from Science at ANU on Vimeo. The long-term monitoring of the Central Highlands Mountain Ash forests with Laureate Professor David Lindenmayer AO - what makes these forests so special to the growing city of Melbourne, what's happening to them and why we need to change. Professor Lindenmayer supports the proposed Great Forest National Park based on strong science and the recreational value to Victorians.
GFNP A Place for Everyone
Get your merch On!
T-shirts and Hoodies
Get your summer and winter gear on. The Wilderness Society online store are stocking our slick wears with mens, womens and kids t-shirts and unisex hoodies now available online made from organic and fair wear cotton. Athlete Jeff SHAPiro Experiences The GFNPJobs Boon If Park Created - REPORT
Great Forest National Park an economic boon
• Proposed national park could attract extra 400,000 visitors annually • Add more than $70 million to local economy annually • Create 750 full-time jobs Victoria’s proposed Great Forest National Park could draw almost 380,000 extra visitors a year to the Central Highlands, add $71 million annually to the local economy and generate 750 jobs with a little private investment, according to a new report by the Nous Group. Report can be found here NOUS GFNP report A Brief - NOUS GFNP brief Endorsements for the GFNPThe Great Forest National Park makes sense for so many reasons, and it’s not just the greats that think so. Here are just a few of the benefits we enjoy from Victoria’s parklands.
Tourists spend $1.4 billion per year associated with their visits to parks, which generate $1 billion gross value added and 14,000 jobs in the State economy. Regional economies that benefit the greatest from park-based tourism include the Grampians, Great Ocean Road, Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges and Gippsland. Over one million hectares of water supply catchments are located within Victoria’s parks. The annual run-off from nine of Victoria’s highest water yielding parks is 3,400 gigalitres (16% of the state total). The Victorian parks network is a major carbon sink with at least 270 million tonnes of carbon stored in land-based parks. More information can be found here on Parks Victoria website - here Let’s add the GFNP to our terrific parkland asset for all Victorians, and safeguard these ecosystems for future generations. We hope you too can support this opportunity for our environment and our economy by sharing this endorsement. Victoria's Great Forest Experience - Melbourne's New PlaygroundThe Great Forests National Park proposal is a vision for a multi-tiered parks system for bush users and bush lovers alike. It is a Parks system that protects and maintains important ecosystem functions critical for our way of life. See the Park Plan.
Less than 90 minutes drive east of Melbourne, the Mountain Ash forests of the Central Highlands are the key source of the city's drinking water and the home of the tallest flowering trees in the world. A park proposed for the region has Melbourne buzzing with new investment ideas in tourism, boosting regional jobs while conserving an incredible landscape and its wildlife. The signature tree of the proposed Great Forest National Park is the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans). The tallest plant ever measured, at over 140 metres, was “The Ferguson Tree”, found near Healesville in 1872. Ash forests provide habitat for a range of wildlife, threatened by decades of fire and logging. At least 40 of these animals need tree hollows to live and breed in. It takes around 200 years to create such habitat trees. The critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, the faunal emblem of Victoria, occurs nowhere else. A history of landscape-scale logging and fire has meant old trees are being lost and not replaced, becoming ever more scarce. Less than , unburnt and unlogged Mountain Ash forest now remains. The Mountain Ash ecosystem of the Victorian Central Highlands has been scientifically assessed ‘critically endangered’ under IUCN criteria. This underlines the need for a new park to protect and restore these forests. The geological centre-piece of the proposed Great Forest National Park is an ancient 30 kilometre wide volcano, the Cerberean Caldera. Its eroded rim is marked by waterfalls and rugged ranges that define the skyline, creating some of the region’s most dramatically picturesque outlooks. The Cathedral Range between Marysville and Alexandra is one of the grandest examples of these sheer jagged outcrops. Mt Torbreck’s waterfalls, in the north east of the cauldron, are little-known hidden gems. Further east the austere rocky peaks gently give way to Alpine heathland and snow gum forests of the Australian Alps. The Park, stretching from Kinglake through to the Baw Baws and north-east up to Eildon, will host a range of activities such as bike riding, bushwalking, fishing, bird watching, four-wheel driving, motor biking, camping, zipline tours and much more. The Great Forest National Park, so close to Melbourne, will be a great community asset; a playground for the people - the perfect place for city folk wanting to escape the daily grind. It will generate new, long-term jobs while protecting threatened species, ecosystems, carbon storage, and water supplies. It will revitalise peri-urban and rural communities, some still recovering from the Black Saturday fires in 2009. The time is right to create a new Great Forest National Park. The time is now! Great Forest National Park - Summary ReportClick the link to download the Great Forest National Park Summary Report
The Great Forest National Park will provide an opportunity for people to experience this unique natural area through walking, camping, touring, four wheel driving, mountain biking, guided trips, skiing, multi-day hiking, canoeing, cycling, bed and breakfasts, day tripping or experiencing the cultural heritage of the region’s Traditional Owners. It will attract local and international visitors alike.
The proposed Park will value the region for its critical role in supplying 4 million people with some of the highest quality drinking water in the world, sustaining the most carbon dense forests and protecting critically endangered and rare wildlife. The Park will enable the state of Victoria to match its counterparts in other states in recognising, valuing andcelebrating Australia’s globally significant biodiversity and cultural heritage. The proposed parks system features the signature tall trees of the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans Muell.) forest, which support a diverse array of wildlife, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth. The Park features a diverse assemblage of plants and forest types, ranging from rainforests to alpine woodlands and herb-rich foothill forests. The Great Forest National Park will recognise and protect the outstanding natural and cultural values of the unique forests covering the Central Highlands of Victoria. Join the WildMob Summer Survey Crew
This summer how about some adventure?
The WildMob and the Australian National University are seeking a group of keen surveyors to help Professor David Lindenmayer and his team locate the elusive and critically endangered Leadbeater's Possum in the wild. In the extraordinarily beautiful Mountain Ash forests, you will lie beneath a giant tree and watch for its inhabitants to emerge at dusk. It is a deeply rewarding experience that will bring you closer to nature, and the nature of the giant forests. Get in touch with Derek and the WildMob now to be part of this life affirming experience. Click here http://wildmob.org/contact/ Traditional Owners
The traditional owners of this country include the Bunurong (Boon Wurrung), Gunaikurnai, Taungurung (Daung warring) and Wurrundjeri indigenous Australians.
Sounds of a wild night in the forest
The sun is setting, slowly dipping the forest into darkness. Its weakening grasp on the day releases the cold air from its grip on the ground. Around you, the forest is singing a song about the passage of time, if only you know how to listen.
David Lindenmayer, from the Australian National University, is an ecologist and conservation biologist who has spent over 30 years studying the Mountain Ash Forest of Victoria. ‘There’s a little mixture of things that always want to have the last word. The Lyrebird is one and the Kookaburra is another and the Eastern Yellow Robin and the Pilot Bird are two others,’ he says. ‘The birds are calling less than in the morning, but still nevertheless calling, and they’re just confirming their territories before there's an extraordinary change in the light in this long dusk period,’ says Lindenmayer. Then the possums and gliders come out. Then the nocturnal birds start their calls. Listen closely to hear the sounds of the evening shift change in the Mountain Ash Forests of Victoria in this episode of Off Track. the sounds of a tall forest |
COUNTDOWN: October 2017
The maintenance of an intact ecological system is the only way to ensure the continued existence of biodiversity, safeguard water supplies and provide spiritual nourishment for ourselves and future generations. It is for these reasons, and for the survival of the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, that I support the creation of the Great Forest National Park for Victoria. Sir David Attenborough Follow GFNP NewsBusiness Supporters
The Providore at Meletos stocks regional produce, house baked sourdough, curated homewares and fresh flowers. We are surrounded by vines and orchard on a 300-acre block on St Huberts Rd in Coldstream. We share the property with four restaurants, a hotel, a brewery and winery.
Legendary Gin makers - Four Pillars Gin Distillery - Healesville. Yarra Valley
Best bar in the Yarra Valley joins The Great Forest National Park program - The Herd Bar & Grill
Looking for the most relaxing forest spa in the Yarra Valley? Enjoy here
A vibrant office and meeting hub for community business in the heart of the Yarra Valley - new supporters of the Great Forest National Park. Habitat 1
I support
Sharni Layton, Collingwood Magpies and Australian Diamonds Netball Player, Commonwealth Games & World Netball Championship Gold Medalist & Supporter of the Great Forest National Park
Julian Burnside, Barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, author & Supporter of the Great Forest National Park
Jarrod Hudson, Head Chef at Giant Steps, Triathlete and Supporter of the Great Forest National Park
New GFNP Supporters
Donate to make it Great
Donate to make it great! Click here to make a non tax deductible donation to keep this initiative growing. Thank you.
Join the movement to create the Great Forest National Park - here
Show the World
Download the badge to display your support for Victoria's newest park. 
Follow us on Instagram for the most beautiful previews of our Great Forest National Park - link
GFNP on FACEBOOKGFNP ON TWITTERBuy our gear at the RedBubble Store
Click on the 'Buy Now' button below, click on the image and the product and your GFNP purchase will arrive in the mail.
MediaAs Victoria weighs forestry's future, report says national park could be jobs boon
Adam Morton - Josh Gordon - The Age Zoos Chief Calls For National Park
Tom Arup - The Age Minister flags new national park within this term to save the possum
Farrah Tomazin - The Age Victorian state emblem Leadbeater's possum pushed closer to extinction
Tom Arup - The Age Sir David Attenborough pleads for national park to save Leadbeater’s possum
James Campbell - HERALD SUN David Attenborough and Jane Goodall join the fight to create a new national park in Victoria
Ollie Milman - The Guardian The battle to save the Leadbeater’s possum from logging
Michelle Slater - The Saturday Paper Supporters
Over thousands of years, nature has provided the resources that have helped us to survive and flourish. Now, in a time of need, we must help nature to survive. The Great Forest National Park is a project to secure the future of a threatened ecosystem. If we act now, we will be ensuring the forest can continue to provide services that support us- clean water, fresh air and storage of carbon. If we fail now, what future will we have chosen for our grandchildren and their grandchildren? Please join me in supporting the creation of the Great Forest National Park. |
