By EcoInternet, http://www.ecoearth.info/ and http://forests.org/
Media Contact: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org, +1 (608) 332-5650
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of EcoInternet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
(Madison, Wisconsin) -; EcoInternet -; a small forest and climate protection NGO with a global reach -; is thrilled to have contributed to an additional 170,000 hectares (about 420,000 acres) of Tasmania, Australia, old-growth forests [search] being protected. Following decades of local protest, six years of blockades, tree sitting, and extensive international affinity campaigns spearhead by EcoInternet and others, most of Tasmania's remaining old-growth has been granted World Heritage area protection, which should exclude further logging. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area has been extended to include the iconic Upper Florentine and areas within the Styx, Huon, Picton, and Counsel River Valleys.
Tasmania is home to the tallest hardwood forests on Earth, with eucalyptus trees reaching nearly 100 metres and living for over 400 years, existing within one of Earth's greatest tracts of large, connected, and ecologically intact temperate rainforest. Tasmania contains large tracts of natural old-growth forest, glacial landforms, alpine and sub-alpine environments, wild rivers, indigenous heritage sites, and critical endangered species habitat. There are many species that rely on old growth trees for their survival, including important habitat for rare and threatened species such as the endangered wedge-tailed eagle and the Tasmanian devil.