Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Speaker, just out the back of Franklin in my electorate of Franklin, approximately 6 kilometres out, along a dirt road, there is a beautiful jewel of a forest, which locals have called Franklin Forest. It is a part of Forestry Tasmania’s logging coupes, one of the Permanent Timber Production Zone (PTPZ) lands. It has been on the chopping list to be clear-felled, but thanks to the widespread concern of local communities, it has temporarily been removed from the logging chop‑chop list. The reason people love that forest so much is it is just a little perfect example of what is so beautiful in Tasmania’s forests.
Leatherwood trees, nursery logs, it’s replete with ferns, it has beautiful old myrtles and fantastic eucalypts. It’s just an amazing place, and I have been blessed to work with some of the local volunteers, and I want to particularly call out to Archie and Alison Donnelly, who have been right in the forefront of making that place accessible to the community and promoting what is beautiful. The community has made a whole range of tracks through there, and there have been so many schools, so many visitors, so many tourists coming to the Franklin Forest since about 2020, when the community started guiding walks through there.
Its popularity as a tourist destination has grown all by itself. The Franklin Forest is mentioned on AllTrails, the Huon Valley Walks, Wikiloc and numerous U3A walking groups, the Beaumont Boat Reflections. All list it as a must-see attraction. This, mind you, without any signage, without any advertising from the government, has become an incredible tourism mecca. So, these local good-hearted people took visitor numbers. They record them in the lower car park, in the upper car park, and they have a visiting log book. In 28 months, from 2024 until 2026, they have logged 7883 visitors to Franklin Forest ‑ approximately 2400 each year over the last three years. So, 7883 people have visited Franklin, have driven up New Road to visit the forest. Only about 20 per cent of people stop to leave messages in the message book, but from that we have been able to find the origins of some of the people who have gone to the forest, and they include 14 people from the UK, 12 from Japan, 11 from the US, eight from Germany, five from Italy, five from Canada, five from Austria, four from Switzerland, France, Scotland, Finland, China, Spain, Argentina, Norway and, of course, all across Australia.
It just goes to show what no advertising but some photos of a beautiful little gem of a native Tasmanian forest can do to attract people. It is so accessible, even though it’s along a dirt road, and what it shows is we can do so much more. The Greens stand firmly with all the local community, with Archie and Alison and all the other people who are going there and are making this beautiful public forest accessible for everybody. We want it to be protected in its entirety for perpetuity, and we will continue to push for Franklin Forest to be taken off Forestry Tasmania’s chopping list. Of course, all native forests in Tasmania should not be logged in a time of climate change. We have a huge El Niño coming our way. We have so many pressures on our wildlife. We want to keep those forests there, with all the life-giving goodness that they have in them. Until then, there is particular efforts for Franklin Forest. I want to finish with some of the comments from someone in Queensland:
Our favourite thing so far in Tassie. Thank you to people who suggested us going there. It’s great to be here. We’re privileged. It’s valuable to have an ancient forest like this protected. It gives us heart.
We want more of these people visiting this forest.
