S.O.S - Save Our Strzeleckis
A mountain ‘road’ winds through the rain and mist as I return to my favourite forest – This majestic cool temperate rainforest stands unprotected whilst the buzz of ‘action’ and ‘destruction echoes through the deep lush valleys overpowering the wizardry of the Superb Lyrebird…It’s enough to make you cry….
Located and defining South Gippsland is the Strzelecki Ranges – once one vast rainforest which was a unique blend of cool temperate with amazingly isolated pockets of warm temperate rainforest.
When early settlers began ‘opening up’ the region South Gippsland was known as the’land of the lyrebird’ as this vast rainforest was home to the Superb Lyrebird in such great numbers – the majestic mimicking skills not only had the repertoire of everything that lived around them but quickly took on the sounds of the new comers with inpeccable calls of camera shutters and chainsaws. The Strzeleckis are not only home to Superb Lyres… but endemic Koalas and native Fish,Quolls, Gliders, Platypus, Wombats, Bandicoots, Potoroos,Echidnas.Wallabies..the fauna list goes on….
The Flora of the region no less impressive with it once being a stronghold for the largest flowering plant on Earth – Eucalyptus Regnan. It has been reputed that the tallest tree on the planet once grew in the heart of these ranges – some 120m+ it measured when it lay on the floor near Thorpdale earlier in the 20th century.Very few pockets of these old growth ‘emperors’ remain – but where they do surely they rival their protected cousins in the world famous and hard fought for forests of Tasmania.
Now less than 20% of this bioregion remains with an alarming 2% protected – the lowest of any region in Victoria. Election promises of 30,000 h NP’s or ‘Cores and links’ have not eventuated after many years… Instead we see logging and clearfelling rates INCREASE. With Hancocks been the major forrestry operator – a US company.. Is this really worth it ?
Speak up and have a say in our country – our planet – for our future generations…
100% of any profit from print sales I may happen to make here will be donted to the ‘Save Our Strzeleckis’ campaign.
EOS A2, Fuji Velvia 50.
©T.Middleton2007
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——
see more of my rainforest photography by clicking on the image below
S.O.S - Save Our Strzeleckis belongs to the following groups:
Environmental Awareness, Gippsland, Victoria, Green! and Trees - 2 images per day with trees as the focal point Available for sale asGreeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters
velveteagle
Beautiful roadway.. great job…
midzing
beautiful part of our state, you have captured it beautifully,,, the lushness and the wildlife certainly need to be protected…. great shot, and well done on bringing this to our attention
ShaneBooth
Yes like our water catchment areas, this area is being felled for profit and woodchip. What a waste
dazgwen
Very generous of you Tony and one of the truly great causes!
gypsygirl
Beautiful image Tony, definately needs to be saved!
AMHERN0525
gorgerous image….i hope it stays that beautiful for many years to come.
elisab
Beautiful shot. you are preserving it in your photos, but we want more than just photos. Hope they can preserve the area. Thanks for helping in the preservation.
Leeo
Looks like a beautiful place Tony.
I love the descriptions that go with your work : )
Globalphotos
Stunning region and a beautiful shot, it’s a shame that most are not as passionate as you !!
Wonderful campaign to support, well done :))
Tony Middleton
thanks to everyone that viewed and took a moment to read about this issue.
extra thanks to those that have taken an extra bit of time to comments here !
Thanks Leeo – sometimes by the time I get online it’s a bit late and my brain does not always co-operate as I would like…lol
Thanks also Varinia…I’m speechless !
melanie tschid...
the green colours of the ferns are beautiful here, well done on a great composition
Craig Watson
Spent several days camping and travelling through the Strzeleckis many years ago and it certainly is a magic part of the world when you get amongst these large trees and ferns. The Tarra Valley/Bulga National Parks are just amazing places and we stood within a few metres of a Lyre Bird mound for quite some time watching it go about its foraging. The tree ferns are enormous and many have trunks well over a metre in diameter and many many metres tall… some are around 15-20 metres high.
Here is a link to Bulga Bridge (Hope it works!!!) which shows the swinging bridge which allows you to look up and down the valley and straight down onto the fronds from above… the tree ferns are just so wide from tip to tip that it is hard to imagine.
I can not recall which park has it, but one tree is around 85 metres tall… that is enormous. If I recall correctly it is one of… if not the… tallest tree in the world!
Let us hope that as much as conceivably possible of this beautiful forest is maintained in perpetuity for our future generations.
Tony Middleton
thanks Melanie for your comment :)
Thanks also Craig for your fantastic memories and thoughts ! having lived at/spent time throughout the region I feel know it better than most…It certainly is special and in dire need of help.
thanks again everyone !
Cheri Perry
This is excellent Tony….I love this. Looks like you are traveling home for the holidays…:)
Tony Middleton
yes – I’m back home for a while :)
another view
Kharma
beautiful capture and area…
wonderful effort on raising awareness …
flokot
beautiful! many of my family members live / have lived in parts of the Strzeleckis. It’s a superb bit of the world :-)
Tony Middleton replied
It certainly is flokot ! thanks for finding this one and commenting :)