Forest Lodge Rainforest Reserve is an 80.94 hectare property containing old growth cool temperate rainforest located at Pyengana, 26 km inland of the town of St Helens in northeast Tasmania. The ‘Forest Lodge’ Pyengana, Tasmania property was purchased by Rainforest Rescue in August 2012.

Forest Lodge is located on the Rattler Range and is surrounded on three sides by the Mount Victoria State Forest Reserve, which has been designated by the Tasmanian government as a conservation zone.

The dominant trees on the property are old-growth Myrtle Beech and Sassafras. Cool temperate rainforest in Tasmania occurs where rainfall is over 1,200 mm per year. Underneath the canopy, the cool damp microclimate provides ideal conditions for the growth of ferns, mosses, and lichens. A feature of the property is the very large number and size of Soft Tree Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) that are known in Tasmania as Man Ferns.

The property provides suitable habitat for the Tasmania Wedge-tailed eagle and the Tasmanian devil, an animal that is in great danger of extinction from habitat loss and facial tumor disease. It may also be home to other rare and endangered animals such as the Spotted-tail Quoll, which is the second largest of the world’s surviving marsupial carnivores.

The property was once one of a number of land parcels owned by the timber company Gunns Ltd. It became available for purchase when in late 2010 when Gunns Ltd began auctioning off 28,000 hectares of land in Tasmania. Rainforest Rescue responded to the request of one of its supporters to investigate the potential to buy some of this land and protect it forever.

A small number of properties were sold to a range of private parties, including other logging companies. To ensure the remaining properties were preserved a group of Australian environmental philanthropists partnered with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Rainforest Rescue joined in this effort to purchase and protect this important land for conservation.

The land is now protected forever through a Conservation Covenant. This is registered on the title of the land and permanently protects its conservation values.

Rainforest Rescue wishes to thank all of our supporters for the purchase of this special piece of Tasmanian old-growth rainforest. In particular, we wish to thank the support and assistance of the Tasmanian Land Conservancy in our purchase of the Forest Lodge Rainforest Reserve.

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