The ancient forests are being murdered in lutriwita/ Tasmaina. This is the genocide of many ancient species.

This work inspired by the Que Rd rainforests. These forests have an ancient stillness to them, a closed canopy, a quiet. But the vibrancy of their legacy, the memory of their life, the water they hold is very much dynamic and alive. Gondwana Lives Still looks at the complex and mutualistic relationships between moss and lichens and their forest ecosystems homes. This work explores the diversity, niche and complexity contained within the ancient world of bryophytes. Bryophyte diversity is a measure of ecological integrity and thus found in immense quantities within old growth forests. This work is based within the threatened forest systems of the Tarkine, NW Tasmania. 

This work is an ongoing project made possible through Tarkine In Motion, a monumental environmental arts event facilitated by the Bob Brown Foundation.

Dear Premier,

Please take a moment to reflect on the tragedy of the summer, the increasing wildfires before you give a death sentence to some of the most ancient forests on earth. Please acknowledge the amazing thing that is takanya/Tarkine, the ancient Gondwanan forests of Tasmania. You have the power to create a new way of doing things. We have reached a critical time when we have only a tiny portion of these miraculous rainmaker ecosystems left. Ecosystems that have survived ice ages, and contributed to global rain patterns, that sequester huge amounts of carbon. These forests need to not only be protected, but cherished, honoured, revered.

You have the opportunity to be an initiator of a new way of being. Please don't allow the clearfell logging and continual fragmentation of these forests. Turning wet forest ecosystems in plantations is asking for the earth to become a desert. The fragmentation makes the ecosystem vulnerable to fire. You will be complicit. It will cost you more money in the future, as you watch the plantations burn in the future. This is your moment to make a difference. Please stop logging one of the largest intact temperate rainforests ecosystems left, the Tarkine, specifically today, the forests at Que Rd and the Sumac Forest. Use your powers to herald in a future of care and respect, of survival.

Regards,

Aviva Reed