Tarkine Wilderness in Tasmania

Tarkine Wilderness in Tasmania

Where is the Tarkine?

The Tarkine is a large wilderness area in the far north-west of Tasmania.

It falls between the Southern Ocean to the West, the Arthur River to the north, the Pieman River to the south, and the Murchison Highway to the east.

Why is the Tarkine important?

It is the largest remaining temperate rainforest area in Australia and one of the largest in the world. It covers approximately  3,800sqkm of which 1,800 sqkm is pristine rain forrest.

 It is also an important archaeological region, containing over 1,000 aboriginal sites of significance.

Who named the Tarkine?

The name “Tarkine” was coined by conservationist groups in the 1980s who mounted a sustained campaign against logging, mining and grazing in the area.

They based the term on the “Tarkiners;” a coastal Aboriginal tribe who had inhabited the area for 30,000 years prior to being virtually wiped out in the early 19th Century by white settlement.

Forrest photo courtesy of anyaka at Flickr Creative Commons.