Rob Blakers (Editor)

The Wilderness Society

RRP $39.95 PB 64pp

From the remote Tarkine to the northeast highlands, and from dry east coast woodlands to the tall forests that border the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Tasmania’s native forests maintain biodiversity, regulate water and store massive amounts of carbon.
But of the oldgrowth forest that existed in Tasmania prior to European settlement, less than one quarter remains today - and one fifth of that lies outside of conversation reserves. This book is about high-conversation-value forest that is not in national parks or reserves.
It is an exploration by image and word of three southern valleys, the Florentine, Styx and Weld. It features photographs from 11 Tasmanian photographers, a foreword by Senator Christine Milne and essays on biodiversity, green carbon and water by Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick, Margaret Blakers and Dr David Leaman.
But words, however detailed and authoritative, are only a shadow of the living forest, and images, however beautiful, do not catch the scent, the movement, and the call of wild places. Indeed the subject of this book is infinitely more delightful than the book itself.