LFW Members – Romy Greiner & Duncan Chalmers
Tucked away in the hills of Nietta, Romy Greiner and Duncan Chalmers’ farm is more than just agricultural land. It’s a testament to what can be achieved through conservation farming.
As passionate stewards of the land, Romy and Duncan share a deep care and respect for their home, as well as the species they are lucky enough to share it with. While managing the daily demands of running a farm, Romy and Duncan are also committed to restoring the landscape, enhancing biodiversity, improving soil health, and ensuring that agriculture and conservation can coexist harmoniously.
Though much of their 84-hectare property was historically cleared for grazing, a third of it still contains pristine native forest, which plays a vital role in linking to the adjacent Leven Canyon Regional Reserve. Alongside pastures, softly undulating hills boast Eucalyptus obliqua forest over rainforest and Acacia dealbata forest, as well as waterholes that provides crucial habitat for frogs and aquatic invertebrates. And the importance of these enduring natural values wasn’t lost on Romy and Duncan.
‘We found this property and knew it gave us the perfect mix of nature and agricultural values,’ said Romy. So they quickly set about ensuring these areas were kept in top condition.
When they first arrived more than eight years ago, the pastures were severely impacted by grazing pressure from pademelons. Recognising the need for a sustainable solution, one of their first actions was to install wallaby fences to mitigate the damage caused by heavy macropod grazing, particularly from wallabies, on the pastures. But more importantly, the fences have prevented the cattle from accessing the surrounding native forest, allowing natural revegetation to occur along the edges of the forest.
And it hasn’t just been passive revegetation; Romy and Duncan have actively set about regenerating the native bush on their land.
‘We have been revegetating former grazing areas that lie outside the wallaby fence with endemic plants, particularly myrtle beech, sassafras, blackwood and messmate stringybark,’ said Romy. ‘It’s been a great pleasure seeing our revegetation and regeneration efforts coming to fruition.’
Gaps in native vegetation caused by windstorms have been planted with species such as myrtles, celery top pine and blackwoods. Poa tussocks are springing back after the cattle were excluded, providing excellent shelter for bandicoots and other small critters.
The property isn’t just rich in flora. Many of Tassie’s precious native animals are at home on Romy and Duncan’s property.
‘We adore the wombats, devils and quolls that live here. We love seeing native birds, echidnas, lizards and frogs, and we respect the snakes,’ said Romy.
The bird life here is also diverse and dynamic, with seasonal visitors including swallows, swamp harriers and cattle egrets.
‘We are always excited to see Tasmanian wedge tailed eagles soaring above, which happens frequently,’ said Romy.
Despite all the conservation victories Romy and Duncan have had, managing this land is not without ongoing difficulties.
‘The primary challenge for us is the continuing pressure from invasive plant species, in particular foxglove, blackberry, thistles and gorse from adjacent forestry plantations,’ said Romy.
The property’s charm also extends beyond its natural beauty. After a downpour, glorious rainbows stretch across the blue sky, while the scent of the earth and fresh blooms introduce an intangible beauty.
“We feel very privileged to be custodians of this place”, says Romy. “We very much hope its natural values and those of the surrounding land can persist in the face of climate change and other great human-made challenges”.