Forgotten Australian forest experiment shows thinning can match carbon storage and boost wildlife habitat

A silvicultural trial in Victoria's Central Highlands, abandoned for nearly 30 years, was rediscovered in 2014 and produced results that challenge common assumptions about logging and carbon. At Tanjil Bren, heavily thinned mountain ash stands grew trees roughly 20% larger in diameter than unharvested controls, and stored as much or more carbon in wood within three decades despite losing most of their trees during harvest. The same thinned plots also supported Leadbeater's possums, with camera traps detecting them in every thinned treatment plot and none in the untouched controls. Researchers say the experiment reframes the old conservation-versus-production debate. Thinning applied with care can deliver timber, match carbon storage, and improve habitat at the same time. The findings are site-specific and not a universal prescription, but they underline why long-term forest experiments need to be protected before access roads grow over and institutional memory fades.