Newsletter item – Tasmanian Land Conservancy, 8 December 2021
A new reserve on the west coast: Eagle Rock
The Tasmanian Land Conservancy is thrilled to announce that we have established a new reserve on Tasmania’s west coast, surrounded by the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area – it’s a great way to wrap up our 20th year!
The reserve, now known as Eagle Rock, was a gift to the TLC from the Elsie Cameron Foundation.
This part of Tasmania has unique and under-conserved habitats quite distinct from other regions of the state, but opportunities to purchase and conserve land here are few and far between. While the TLC has been working to protect nature in the northwest region for more than a decade through covenanting programs, and in particular working recently with the Cradle Coast Authority to secure protection for saltmarsh communities and freshwater crayfish habitat, this will be our first reserve in the region.
Eagle Rock Reserve is part of an important cultural landscape – it is a near neighbour of King’s Run, where natural and cultural values are protected through a partnership with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the broader effort to protect nature in this region, carried out by dedicated organisations and individuals for decades.
Dominated by the striking Eagle Rock, a 40m outcrop, the 430 hectare reserve is made up of coastal heathland, wetland and small areas of dry coastal eucalypt forest. Eagle Rock Reserve provides significant habitat for a number of threatened plants and animals and allows us to protect wetlands and swamp forest unlike any seen on our other reserves.
‘West coast Tasmanian devils are becoming increasingly vital to the recovery of this species across the state. This is the most genetically diverse devil population, and one where we’ve seen some notable recoveries from facial tumour disease. I’m delighted that the TLC has the chance to protect a landscape that is home to these animals, and that we’re playing our part in protecting them for the future.’
– Dr David Hamilton, TLC Conservation Ecologist and Tasmanian devil researcher with UTAS
Eighteen threatened plants are recorded on the property; the four nationally threatened species include a critically endangered orchid, the western leek-orchid. Unsurprisingly, Eagle Rock Reserve is home to wedge-tailed eagles, white-bellied sea eagles and grey goshawks, and is likely to provide nesting habitat. Orange bellied parrots have been observed on the property on their migration north and south.
Eagle Rock Reserve is surrounded by the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area, but the real estate listing for the property suggested this ‘coastal heathland is a blank canvas looking for development’. Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Elsie Cameron Foundation, the real value of that richly painted canvas can now be recognised and protected in perpetuity.
Images courtesy Rob Blakers.
