A Blast from the Past in the Tarkine Karst

*Pic: Sumac Rivulet sinkhole region clearfelled and burnt in the 1980s …

Take a look at the 1:25.000 Sumac Map of the Tarkine (above).

The forest region between the Julius and Rapid Rivers is almost entirely made up of underlying karst riddled with sinkholes and depressions.

It was once probably magnificent natural country with many unexplored sinkhole glades of giant tree-ferns and secluded pools. It would seem that most likely in the past the entire forest-harvesting region was only surveyed from the seat of a bulldozer, and what karst formations were lost is unknown.

This is yet another example of Tasmania’s archaic and inexorable Forestry practices through the entrenched clearfell and burn ideology.

Note the red dots on the map. This indicates sinkholes that have only become obvious after the forest area was demolished. In most cases these coupes were subsequently burnt, either aerial reseeded, or sown as monoculture plantations.

In 2015-17 Forestry Tas has more harvesting coupes planned around the Rapid River region. It is possible that there are some small karst features in these coupes, and it is unlikely FT has investigated any of these on the ground.

Nowhere else in the world does such ignorance prevail. Even within Abetz/Harris crony land of Sarawak, the magnificent limestone country there is fully protected within the Mulu World Heritage Area.
This says a lot about the myopic mentality behind the well-greased wheels of Forestry Tas. A notable mention should go to our enlightened politicians in this state who continue to condone the senseless trashing our forest heritage at a below cost price.

The entire thought and action process of forestry in Tasmania is just as insular, backward and visionless as the poorest Third World countries anywhere else in the 21st century, and under the present regime there seems no indication that here on this island anything is about to change.