Dicksonia antarctica Relocation in Tasmania: The Facts Behind Fernmania’s Work

Fernmania has been part of an uncomfortable public debate around Dicksonia antarctica in Tasmania.

Some campaigners have portrayed businesses like ours as if we decide where native forest is cleared, when clearing happens, and why it happens. That is not how this works.

Fernmania does not determine forestry approvals, government works programs, or private clearing decisions. Those decisions sit with landowners, government bodies, regulators and project managers operating under Tasmanian law and the relevant management frameworks. Commercial harvesting of Dicksonia antarctica is regulated in Tasmania, and salvage harvesting is tied to authorised logging and clearing operations under those systems. Our role is different.

Fernmania operates as a government-certified, inspected and licensed relocator of Dicksonia antarctica. We step in before approved forestry or clearing operations so tree ferns that would otherwise be destroyed can be removed, relocated, and given another life in gardens, landscapes, and projects across Australia and overseas. We operate under monitored harvesting licences and have worked alongside private contractors engaged in approved projects. That distinction matters.

If a tree fern is standing in the path of an already-approved operation, the choice is not always “leave it untouched” or “sell it.” In many cases, the practical reality is whether that plant is destroyed during clearing, or salvaged and relocated for ongoing use - given a new life in a new place where it is appreciated and cared for. Fernmania is part of that second outcome.

What We Actually Do

Fernmania combines relocation, on-site cultivation, water conservation, and reuse of natural resources as part of its operation.

We do not rely solely on salvage. Fernmania grows its own stock on site, supported by extensive infrastructure including water storage and controlled growing environments. We also reuse and propagate sections of Dicksonia antarctica wherever possible, ensuring more of each plant continues its life cycle.

This is about preservation through action - not just removal.

The Criticism, and the Missing Context

Public campaigns have targeted the tree fern trade, urging retailers to stop selling salvaged tree ferns and accusing the industry of destructive practices. Fernmania has been named in that conversation. That criticism exists.

What is often missing is the context around how clearing decisions are made. Approved forestry and land clearing operations are not initiated by Fernmania. We are not writing forest policy, approving land-use changes, or authorising works. Those responsibilities sit with government and regulatory bodies under established legal frameworks, including Tasmania’s forest management systems and wildlife trade management plans.

A Practical Question Worth Asking

If an approved clearing job is going ahead anyway, what is the better outcome?

Is it better that salvageable tree ferns are destroyed on site, or that licensed operators relocate them to homes, gardens, commercial landscapes, and public spaces where they can continue to live?

People can absolutely have different views on forestry policy. That’s a valid discussion.

But blaming a relocator for decisions it does not make skips over the real issue. Our role is not to decide the clearing - it is to step in and save what can be saved.

Where Concerns Should Be Directed

If the concern is with native forest clearing, land-use approvals, or environmental policy, those concerns should be directed to the government agencies, regulators, and decision-makers responsible for approving and overseeing those activities. That is where the authority sits.

Fernmania works within that system to relocate Dicksonia antarctica that would otherwise be lost. That is fundamentally different from causing the clearing itself.

Fernmania has been the subject of multiple complaints and investigations by various levels of government in response to these claims, and each time no wrongdoing has been found. In some cases, government representatives have also acknowledged the strength of Fernmania’s sustainability practices, even if that recognition has not been made publicly.

A More Balanced View on Dicksonia antarctica Relocation

This issue deserves facts, not slogans. Fernmania is a Tasmanian business operating as a licensed relocator and grower of Dicksonia antarctica, not as the authority deciding where forests are cleared. Our work combines relocation, cultivation, and resource reuse.

Saving plants that would otherwise be destroyed is not the same as deciding they should be cleared in the first place.

Thank- you for reading about our side of the story, it is easy to be mislead sometimes by heresay and perceptions.

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