With an explosive crack, a whoosh of air through its branches and a thunderous thump, the last tree fell in the forest.

Until that moment standing 45 metres tall and straight as a die, the stringybark eucalypt was cut down in the logging coupe Butlers 11C in central Tasmania. Its fall was softened by hopes this would be the last tree ever logged in the 30-year struggle over public forests fringing Tasmania's World Heritage Wilderness.

Saw point: Tree faller Robert Marriott cuts down the final tree in forests nominated for World Heritage listing at Butlers George in central Tasmania. Credit:Peter Mathew

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee meets in Phnom Penh from Sunday and will decide whether to add 170,000 hectares to its Tasmanian wilderness listing - including the long-disputed forests of the Weld, Styx, upper Florentine, and Butlers Gorge.

''Here is the most contentious of heritage boundaries in Australia,'' said Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke. ''And it looks like it's about to be resolved permanently.''