Knocklofty Reserve

FRIENDS OF KNOCKLOFTY: A BRIEF HISTORY

The Friends of Knocklofty evolved in 1992 out of a meeting of a group of local people. In particular, the group was concerned to eradicate the many invasive plants – gorse, blackberries and broom to name a few – and to restore native habitat where those invasives, fire, over-grazing, timber-cutting, quarrying and rubbish had all but devastated the original bush and grasslands of the Reserve.

Since that time, in partnership with the Hobart City Council, Friends of Knocklofty have been able to eradicate many of the largest invasive plants and to plant out over 30,000 local, indigenous plants. In turn, native wildlife including pademelons, wallabies and quolls amongst the marsupials, reptiles such as snakes, lizards and frogs, and many native bird species birds have returned to the Reserve. What was once a badly degraded landscape is now a place of biodiversity.   

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY

Friends of Knocklofty acknowledges with deep respect the Palawa people of Lutruwita (Tasmania) on whose land we have the privilege to meet and work.  

For the Palawa People, Lutruwita is their country. They have known and cared for this place for millennia. The beautiful bushland that is today known as Knocklofty was part of the homelands of the Muwinina clan of the Southeast nation of Palawa People. The Muwinina knew this place as their home, and cared for the land, its plants, trees ,and animals. Their care for their country was exemplified in the health of the people and the wider biotic environment.

The British invasion in 1803 of these Palawa lands unleashed a war upon the Palawa and their lands. Today, the Friends of Knocklofty acknowledge the effects of that war in the on-going impacts of colonization on the Palawa of Lutruwita. We stand for historical truth-telling and recuperative care of the land of the First People.

Further Reading

Breen, Shayne (2025) First Tasmanians: A Deep History, Melbourne,:MUP.

Smythe, Suzanne (2018) Knocklofty: Hobart’s Backyard, Hobart: Fuller’s Publishing.

https://tacinc.com.au/pulingina-to-lutruwita-tasmania-place-names/mapKnocklofty