phill Parsons
It seems to pass unnoticed that in 1802 the forests of Tasmania were essentially all ‘old growth’. Now given that some of Tasmania was grassland, a little was alpine and some was cold oceanic heath that leaves a lot of Tasmania under trees. So really the area of old growth forest in reserves is a subset of the area of old growth forest at the time of invasion [settlement], not a subset of the current allocation of land use. Therfore; Area of Tasmania:6.8 million ha. Area of Tasmania in reserves: 2.9 million ha (44%). Area of remaining native forest in Tasmania: 3.1 million ha
Area of remaining native forest in reserves: 1.4 million ha(47%). Area of remaining old-growth forest in Tasmania: 1.2 million ha. Area of old-growth forest in reserves: 970 000 ha (~18%). This is because you cannot, without the passage of considerable time and the absence of modern human impacts produce an old growth forest. Read more, Comment here
