The Great Forest of Gippsland once covered the entire Strzelecki Ranges. Now most of the Wet, Damp, and Cool-temperate rainforest lies in the upper reaches of the Eastern Strzelecki Ranges with a few significant outlying sites. The Strzelecki Ranges is one of Victoria’s most significant sites for cool temperate rainforest and renowned for its huge Mountain Ash. The forest is home to a genetically distinctive koala population and endangered species including the Spot-tailed Quoll, Powerful Owl, Broad-toothed Rat, Barking Owl, Sooty Owl, Bent-wing Bat and the Australian Grayling.
Land clearing began in the Western Strzeleckis in the 1870s and in the 1890s in the Eastern Ranges. Around 65,000 hectares (20%) of native forest remains - 50,000 hectares on public land.
The Maryvale paper mill to the north of the ranges has added pressure on the Strzelecki forest. Since the 1930s APM (later called Amcor) has sourced Mountain Ash from the Strzelecki State Forest. The company also privately owns forest and plantations in the ranges. Since the 1960s Amcor also leased 8,600 hectares of the Strzelecki State Forest.
In 1993 the Kennett Government created the Victorian Plantations Corporation (VPCP and put most of the Strzelecki State Forest (40,000) under its management.
In 1998 the Kennett Government sold the assets of the VPC to Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP). This included 13,000 hectares of pine plantations and controversially, 7,000 hectares of forest restoration and regeneration leased to the company as plantation and a further 20,000 hectares of public forest given over to the company to manage.
In 2002 Amcor’s freehold and leasehold plantations and native forest in Gippsland was purchased by HVP.
The community and local media protested about the inclusion of native forest in the plantation sell-off. A demonstration at Parliament House, April 1998, argued against the sale and called for a large National Park in the Strzelecki Ranges.
To view a presentation of the bioregion, the areas leased, HVP's ex-Amcor domain in map form please visit Kim and Julie’s website <http://bollywaffle.com/strzelecki/index.html>
Note: Some small changes have occurred since this 2008 presentation.
