Quite the story, this
Around 10 years ago, former Melbourne schoolteacher Stuart Inchley and policymaker Victoria Johnson stumbled across a 300+ acre property for sale in the hills of South Gippsland (historically known as Land of the Lyrebird).
With a passion for conservation, sustainability and climate justice, the couple made the life-changing decision to purchase the property, place a conservation covenant on it and act on its behalf as land stewards.
It took several years for Stuart and Victoria to properly survey the property, which is characterised by dense bush, cool temperate rainforest and steep terrain, learn about local species and appreciate just how unique it is.
While traversing one of the steepest gullies in 2024, Stuart – who is Biodiversity Legacy’s South Gippsland Biolink Coordinator – stumbled across a population of Critically Endangered Slender Tree-ferns (Cyathea cunninghamii).
At first, he thought there were maybe a few dozen, but with local ecologists from Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group and elsewhere, Stuart and Victoria have now counted hundreds of individual plants. Given estimates suggesting that just 1,000 are left in Victoria, this is a major find that is attracting interest nationally and internationally.
Listen to leading Victorian ecologist, Karl Just, describe South Gippsland’s rainforests and species found within the Tarwin River Forest.
Back to reality
Unfortunately, Stuart and Victoria’s elation and finding so many Slender Tree-ferns was short-lived. Within just a few weeks, they heard chainsaws and logging activities in the property next door.
These actions, by HPV Plantations – the largest private plantation company in Australia – came within a few metres of the couple’s fenceline; too close for comfort for the ferns, which can easily be damaged by exposure to wind, rain and other elements. Stuart and Victoria felt they had no choice but to launch a campaign to stop these actions, garnering huge community support through their Gippsland Forest Guardians website (*story update – the campaign was successful!).
Partnerships for protection
With Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group (GTSAG) and other groups, Stuart and Victoria are also running campaigns to protect the last remnants of Cool Temperate Rainforest in South Gippsland, home to unique native species such as Gang-gangs, Powerful Owls, Pilotbirds, the rare and endangered Strzelecki Burrowing Crayfish and Strzelecki koala.
These rainforests, which are dominated by Myrtle Beech, Southern Sassafras, Blackwood and eucalypts with a thick understorey of tree and ground ferns, exist in high rainfall, higher altitude, fertile environments. While they can still be found across Victoria, land clearing, fire and logging have reduced the amount of these forests in Victoria to a mere 0.08% of the state’s total area and are now listed as a threatened community under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988).
In partnership with Prom Coast Ecolink and local landholders, in 2024, GTSAG received a generous grant from the Wettenhall Environment Trust to undertake a mapping survey of Cool Temperate Rainforest on Stuart and Victoria’s property and three adjoining Trust for Nature properties (totalling over 850 acres) to map the distribution of Slender Tree-ferns.
We’re all behind Stuart and Victoria and the commitment they have made to protecting the environment and building connections with the local community to raise awareness of BioDiversity Legacy and the need to strengthen local biolinks.