The most striking patches of temperate rainforest are found in Tasmania, more than a quarter of which remains untouched. Tasmania lies off the south-east coast of Australia, separated from the mainland by Bass Strait. Devonport, Hobart and Launceston are a short flight from Australia, or take the overnight ferry between Melbourne and Devonport. Cushion plants spread like green velvet in the remote, mountainous South West National Park. About 250 million years ago, Tasmania, along with the rest of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, South America, Africa and India, formed part of the vast southern continent of Gondwana. The vast continent covered more than half the globe, and much of it was covered in temperate rainforest. Its large heritage area covers an area of 10,813 square kilometres and includes four national parks, two state reserves, two conservation areas and state forests.
Truly untouched nature is becoming increasingly rare, so the vast expanses of rainforest represent a unique and invaluable natural resource that must be valued and protected. These wild places stretch from the coast to the heart of Tasmania, rising to 1,615 metres above sea level. The coastal belt of temperate rainforest contains both evergreen and deciduous trees. In this moist and mild climate, many species of trees thrive, reaching colossal heights. They produce extremely high-quality timber, valued throughout the world, which is why they are constantly under threat from excessive commercial logging. The rainforests of Tasmania contrast sharply with tropical rainforests in that there are very few tree species, rarely more than eight, although there is a lush undergrowth and epiphytes such as mosses, ferns and lichens compete for space.
The most characteristic trees are the southern beech, which, together with the athrotaxis bristolatum (some ancient specimens over 2,000 years old still survive) and the athrotaxis cypress, are true relics of the forests that covered Gondwana. In some places, thickets of eucalyptus, the tallest tree in the world, form a forest canopy at an altitude of 90 metres. In higher areas, alpine plants struggle to survive, the trees there are stunted and gnarled due to the cold and winds. The separation of Australia from Gondwana gave rise to a unique fauna of marsupials and monotremes, and the subsequent separation of Tasmania from Australia created conditions for the emergence of endemic species of animals, birds and plants.
Among the 150 recorded species of birds is the rarest in Australia, the brightly colored orange-bellied parrot. The fauna also includes four endemic species of marsupials: the Tasmanian devil, the Tasmanian bettong, the red wallaby and the thylacine, once widespread, but now considered endangered even in these places, virtually untouched by man.