This Proposed Victorian National Park Means More Running and Hiking Trails (It’ll Protect Endangered Possums, Too)

We spoke to people who explore in the proposed Great Forest National Park about what it would mean to them to have the forest designated as national park, and protected forever.

Do you dream of exploring a vast, thriving forest, walking under towering giants, and refreshing on pristine waters, right on Melbourne’s doorstep?

For many, this isn’t a distant dream, but a ready-to-go proposal. All the government needs to do is create the Great Forest National Park, just 60km north-east of Melbourne, and protect it – something they could do right now.

The proposed park effectively connects around 355,000 hectares of public lands to the existing 179,000 hectares of fragmented national parks and public forests in the Victorian Central Highlands.

‘If you were standing on the well-known building called the Rialto, you would look east and see a blue rim that is largely the Mountain Ash ecosystem, and that is the Great Forest National Park’, explains Sarah Rees, a long-time environmental campaigner and supporter of the Park.

‘You can reach it on a day trip from Melbourne, or you could spend weeks out here and see a variety of ecosystems.’

Sarah Rees is a longtime advocate for the Great Forest National Park | Photo: Rolling Stone

Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) is the second tallest tree species on earth, yet it’s critically endangered. So is the Leadbeater’s possum which calls the forest home, and the endangered Greater glider.

As well as being a haven for native flora and fauna, local campaigners say the 525,000 hectare area would be a natural playground for people, filled with new trails and campsites, plus a huge boost to local economies from the tens-of-thousands of extra visitors.

For well-known outdoor enthusiast and YouTuber, Beau Miles, the creation of the park is a long-term guarantee that ‘we don’t stuff it up anymore’ for biodiversity.

Extinction or Back From the Brink?

But beyond a boost to economies and visitors, the proposed park will help threatened species recover.

Just this week, the genetically distinct lowland sub-population of the Leadbeater’s possum, Victoria’s faunal emblem, was announced as officially extinct in the wild.

‘The possum is the canary in the coal mine of the Mountain Ash ecosystem, and that ecosystem is Melbourne’s water supply’, says Sarah.

‘The lowland possum used to extend right through to Port Phillip Bay.’

‘It was a possum that was all across that section of Victoria.’

The Leadbeater’s possum is only just hanging on as it is | Photo: Steven Kuiter

With no other choice, the last several animals were removed from the wild by Zoos Victoria to be protected, leaving only the Central Highland population remaining, with their total numbers estimated to be as low as a few thousand.

Similarly, the Greater glider relies on tree hollows for daytime shelter, raising young, with a single glider using up to 18 tree hollows. These hollows only develop in Mountain Ash trees that are over 100 years old.

Meanwhile, current estimates show the Greater glider population declining by 80 per cent in just 20 years – only around one per cent of original old-growth Mountain Ash forest remains since logging began.

A World Class Forest

Growing to almost 100 metres and living for hundreds of years, the Mountain Ash is one of the most impressive tree species on earth, but beyond that, saving them literally helps save the planet.

‘They grow to be the tallest flowering plants in the world. So they’re comparable with the Redwoods in terms of their historical heights.’

On average, studies show the towering titan can store around 10-15 times more carbon than other forests, because of their dense wood and longevity.

The benefits don’t stop there, Mountain Ash acts as a host by creating a complex multi-layered vertical ecosystem that supports a huge variety of mosses, ferns, epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants), and other plant life.

Even after they fall, Mountain Ash continues supporting life in the forest by acting as ‘nurse logs’, which dozens of species will grow out of like a natural raised garden bed. Some species like Myrtle Beech are known to occur naturally in straight lines because they all grew from the same fallen tree.

Sarah Rees stands at the base of a towering Mountain Ash tree | Photo: Rolling Stone

So while you might imagine the Amazon rainforest as the pinnacle of important conservation, your local patch is more than pulling its weight.

‘I spend most days of my life in the bush, so I know firsthand what’s left by folks and where destruction lies’, says Beau Miles.

‘And there is such a thing as good and bad use, and that’s what this debate is about. Let’s make this an incredible tract of land. Let’s turn it to best use.”

Benefits to the Local Community

While the Great Forest National Park is expected to see a boom of local visitors from Melbourne, overall it’s estimated to bring more than $70 million a year to the local economy, from the 380,000 new annual visitors.

As campaigner Sarah Rees explains, research shows this is a huge boost to locally struggling economies.

‘When a place is declared a national park, it becomes one of the bucket-list spots people want to visit’, she says.

‘We don’t visit state forests. It doesn’t quite carry the majesty, and there’s been plenty of research done on this, that national parks are the places people want to visit.’

The proposed Great Forest National Park will protect an incredible amount of diversity | Photo Sarah Rees

Since commercial native-forest logging was banned in Victoria in 2024, Sarah explains this might be just the economic boost the former logging communities need.

‘So what might this mean for a town like Noojee, for example, which is on the edge of Gippsland? This would be an opportunity’, says Sarah.

‘If you have people staying the night, they’ll be buying dinner, they’ll be buying breakfast. And as soon as people start buying food, you start to generate economic activity in those towns.

How Valuable Is the Great Forest National Park?

From an economic perspective, Sarah says there’s no going back.

‘You can’t restart the logging industry where you don’t have a product and they overlogged the joint. That’s why they had to end it’, she said.

In fact, VicForests lost $59.9 million between 2007 and 2024, and was effectively on life support from the Victorian Government.

‘So here we have this landscape that’s sitting in a political vacuum … there’s an opportunity for both sides of politics to support a new park program that would see rehabilitation of our local economies and the landscape.’

Even in purely economic terms, these trees are better off left standing | Photo Cam Suttie

How You Can Support the Great Forest National Park

With the Victorian state election just around the corner, your vote may be the best way to show support.

While the Great Forest National Park would be good for Victorians, Beau Miles says we shouldn’t support it just for ‘us’.

‘We need buy-in on an emotional level to vote for folks that are going to protect it – in many respects – on a non-human level.’

Filmmaker Beau Miles is passionate about undoing the damage we’ve done | Photo Chris Ord

‘We’re not trying to bloody lock the gate on these things, because human engagement is good, but we need to lay down our flags for the animals and for biodiversity, because we’ve screwed them over the past 200 years.’

‘I don’t think there’s much of a debate … it needs an education thing.’

Sarah Rees, who has been campaigning for this park as long as anyone, says that while voting is important, they’re focusing on the fun.

‘We’re not going to make it a political football. We’ve done that too many times’, she says.

‘We’ve received too many false promises, and we’re just not interested in participating in that anymore. For now, we’re just bringing people out here to have fun.’

Big Names Backing the Park

The proposed park has attracted support from global icons in conservation, as well as high-profile outdoor adventurers who know the local area.

Maybe the most famous conservationist of all, Sir David Attenborough, has lended his voice to the campaign.

‘The maintenance of an intact ecological system is the only way to ensure the continued existence of biodiversity, safeguard water supplies and provide spiritual nourishment for ourselves and future generations. It is for these reasons, and for the survival of the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum, that I support the creation of the Great Forest National Park for Victoria.’

So too had the late and great Dr Jane Goodall, known for her work in conservation for decades.

‘The Great Forest National Park is a project to secure the future of a threatened ecosystem. If we act now, we will be ensuring the forest can continue to provide services that support us – clean water, fresh air, and storage of carbon. If we fail now, what future will we have chosen for our grandchildren and their grandchildren?’

Many grassroots groups, large organisations, and brands have been backing the creation of this park, including Patagonia, for what they all see as a huge benefit to plants, animals, people, and the planet alike.

Does the Great Forest National Park sound like something you would like to see happen? Here’s how you can help

Firstly, follow and support Great Forest National Park.

Secondly, write to your local MP to show your support.

And finally, show your support at the ballot if you’re in Victoria.

With the Victorian state election only a few weeks, you can see which members and senators support the proposal, and can vote accordingly.

Feature photo by Sarah Rees