’Astonishing’: Bob Brown finds – and wants to protect – lost valley of 2000-year-old pines

Bob Brown says he’s found a pristine lost valley with the world’s largest groves of 2000-3000-year-old Huon pines. Now he wants to make it an election issue.

Bob Brown claims to have discovered a lost valley of pristine rivers, rainforest, abundant threatened species and the world’s largest remaining groves of 2000-3000-year-old Huon pines. Now he wants to make it an federal election issue.

The veteran conservationist has spent half a century exploring his beloved Tasmania, but couldn’t believe what he encountered earlier in February pack-rafting in a remote corner of Tasmania’s Tarkine region.

“It was astounding,” said Dr Brown of what he discovered along the Wilson and Harman rivers, speaking with an intensity reminiscent of accounts of his epiphanous journey down the Franklin River in 1976.

“It’s a rainforested river catchment intact in 2022, with the core vegetation component being Huon pines, one of the oldest living species on the planet, most of which we thought had been logged out.

“But now here in this valley is a thriving, ancient ecosystem dating back to Gondwanaland, when the dinosaurs were still on the planet. It’s hard to find the words for it because it is unique in the true sense of that word.

“I was expecting to find a few Huon pine trees here and there, as I’d seen on the Franklin River, but was astonished to find that the pines were leaning out over the river all over the place. And when you go back from the river, there’s groves of Huon pines, towering over the rest of the rainforest like castles. I haven’t seen that anywhere. I thought nothing like that was left on earth.”

Dr Brown’s 1976 trip was the catalyst for a successful push to stop the wild river being dammed, also helping Bob Hawke win the 1983 federal election.

He has written to Scott Morrison, Anthony Albanese and Adam Bandt asking them to join him on the Wilson this election campaign and to intervene to halt plans for tin mining in the area.

The unique Huon pine groves alone justified national and World Heritage listing, far eclipsing the only surviving reserve of the slow-growing pines on the Denison River, further south, he said.

“One measured at just over 7m in circumference. These pines are up to 3000 years old. It’s a global gem of a valley that we didn’t know existed.”

Perth-based Venture Minerals has made its own discovery in the area, in Tasmania’s Northwest: “one of the world’s largest tin deposits”, more than 80,000 tonnes, as well as 3.2m tonnes of tungsten. VM confirmed it was seeking federal environmental approval to construct “the world’s premiere new tin mine” in 2024.

Managing director Andrew Radonjic said the company had acknowledged the area’s “environmental sensitivities and value” by shifting proposed mining from open-cut to underground.

He believed the mine could play a positive environment role, replacing “irresponsible” seabed tin mining overseas, being carbon neutral and helping the world adopt electric vehicles.

A record tin price – $45,000 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange – was driven largely by demand for EVs.

“Tin is recognised as fundamental to the battery revolution and EV manufacturing and is the key component of solder, the glue that connects electronic circuits,” Mr Radonjic said.

“The mine represents a tiny fraction of the Tarkine. Without tin, decarbonisation is extremely difficult. The inability to decarbonise the economy will have a much bigger impact than on 50 hectares in Tasmania.”

Dr Brown is unconvinced, flagging a campaign to have the area – already recommended for national heritage listing along with much of the Tarkine – added to the National Estate. He is also seeking to prevent VM receiving “critical resource” subsidies.

“Australian taxpayers need to know that this company is seeking their resources to destroy one of the most extraordinary river valleys left intact anywhere on the planet,” he said. “This tin deposit is less than 2 per cent of the world’s available tin. It’s a nonsense to say that we need it to have EVs or other gadgets.”