(This article is about the region in Tasmania. For the bioregion, see Tasmanian Southern Ranges.) South West Tasmania is a region in Tasmania that has evoked curiosity as to its resources over the duration of European presence on the island. The more recent is the consideration as a potential area of resources for development and its consideration as World Heritage wilderness. The most notable controversies occurring in the region in the late twentieth century was the flooding of Lake Pedder and the proposed damming of the Franklin River by the Franklin Dam.