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Landscape
and Natural Beauty
A number of the Tarkine's landscapes are exemplary and include:
- The largest tract of temperate rainforest in Australia. Located
in the Tarkine's north-east in the upper reaches of the Rapid,
Keith, Donaldson and Savage Rivers, the vastness of this rainforest
is impressive. The densely rain forested upper Savage River
is exceptional due to its deeply incised gorge system.
- The Meredith Range - an undulating granite plateau comprising
the Meredith Batholith, the largest exposed area of granite
in western Tasmania.
- The Norfolk Range - a feature of the Western Coastal Platform
characterised by an undulating to flat topography. This region
is blanketed in a tapestry of heath and button grass (Gymnoschoenus
sphaerocephalus) moorland, pockets of a variety of forest types
at differing stages of succession, and gorge-like drainage lines.
- The Tarkine's coastline is broadly linear with a contrasting
arrangement of jagged rocky headlands and cliffs, extensive
dunal systems, long sandy beaches, small coves, lagoons, grassy
woodland, and coastal heath land and swamp. It includes Sandy
Cape, a picturesque area with a high density of archaeological
sites.
- In so far as any undisturbed patchwork of diverse ecosystems
and geomorphology can be considered beautiful or aesthetically
pleasing, the Tarkine Wilderness undoubtedly qualifies.
The
natural beauty of the region not only relates to the high degree
of biophysical naturalness (Commonwealth of Australia 1997), but
also to the changing nature of landscapes.
Any
experience of natural landscapes depends on a range of factors including
the season, weather, and the quality of ambient light. Nature's
beauty has a somewhat elusive quality described by Smith (cited
in Dixon 1982) as being "characterised by the complete dominance
of nature". This is intrinsic to the human experience of the Tarkine
Wilderness.
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