Karri forest is a tall open forest type dominated by Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri), one of the tallest hardwoods in the world.[1]
Karri forest occurs only in the south-west corner of the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia, in the Warren biogeographic region.[2] The Warren region is also known as the Karri Forest Region, but this is a misnomer, as only about half of the region is vegetated with karri forest.
From the 1880s onward, karri forest supported timber and firewood industries when access to the forest was improved by a network of the state's railway lines. Small settlements such as Karridale, Deanmill and Pemberton were established around timber mills, and have since become centres for regional tourism.
Some of the remaining areas of karri forest were initially protected in reserves such as Brockman National Park, Warren National Park, Beedelup National Park, and Gloucester National Park. Following campaigning by environmentalists and others the WA government ended the logging of 2 million hectares of native forests, including Karri, in 2024.[3]
- ^ Christensen, Per (1992). The Karri Forest. Department of Conservation and Land Management.
- ^ Marchant, N. G. (2000) Karri forest in microcosm : William Bay National Park. Landscope (Como, W.A), Spring 2000, p. 42-47
- ^ Hardinge, Alice; Beckerling, Jess (2024-01-16). "Campaigns to End Logging in Australia (Commons Conversations Podcasts)". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2024-02-29.