Gippsland Forest Dialogue

Gippsland Forest Dialogue has run for 3 years organising community dialogues on various topics and themes regarding the future of our forests, in a challenging time of climate change and emergency impact on communities and forests. The group has over 150 members spread across Gippsland and includes academics, industry people, community leaders, environmentalists, traditional owners, tourist operators and most importantly locals who care about our forests

The premise of the dialogues is that forests are for everyone, and we want to bring everyone together to “talk across fences”, to share knowledge and perspectives and build trust and relationships in communities which have fractured due to the pressures of persistent disasters and significant policy change such as the cessation of native forest harvesting. Talking about forests is not just about their health, it’ s about the health and wellbeing of those who live amongst them.

The dialogues are open to anyone and celebrate diversity of opinion. GFD is community driven and not aligned to a particular view or position.

The resilience of Gippsland communities has been sorely tested the past 15 years, and we see dialogues as a way to bring people together, building connection and finding strength in a diversity of perspectives on the future of the forests in which Gippslanders live, 60 % of Gippsland is forested with many isolated communities.

The dialogue process follows a model developed at Yale University in America and now practiced in over 30 countries around the world.

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