Natural values and context
Pine Tier is a 1,914-hectare landscape in the Central Highlands. Now part of the Tasmanian Land Conservancy’s Five Rivers Reserve, it contributes to the largest contiguous area of privately protected land in the state – more than 20,000 hectares of highland country.
Located about 140 kilometres from both Hobart and Launceston and near the communities of Bronte Park and Miena, Pine Tier contains and is bordered by alpine rivers, creeks and wetlands – including Pine Tier Lagoon and the Pine, Little Pine and Nive rivers. The reserve sits within a protected corridor stretching more than 23 kilometres, from the Top Marshes Conservation Area in the east through Trawtha Makuminya, Five Rivers and Skullbone Plains, linking to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in the west.
The reserve protects three threatened native vegetation communities:
- Highland Poa grassland – covering more than 1,200 hectares and representing nearly 6% of its mapped extent in Tasmania;
- Highland grassy sedgeland – concentrated along valley floors and watercourses;
- Sphagnum peatland – a nationally listed, sensitive ecosystem.
These communities make up over 70% of Pine Tier’s native vegetation. The varied landscape – from open grasslands and sedgelands to eucalypt woodland and forested slopes – supports a wide range of species, including:
- Tasmanian devil, eastern quoll and spotted-tailed quoll – all recorded on or near the reserve;
- Wedge-tailed eagle – with potential nesting habitat along sheltered slopes near the Pine River;
- Ptunarra brown butterfly – a nationally endangered species likely to be present in significant numbers;
- Swift parrot – observed foraging in flowering eucalypts.
Mature eucalypts provide hollows for arboreal species and birds, and the mosaic of habitats supports diverse fauna, from woodland birds to wide-ranging carnivores.
Conservation significance
Pine Tier strengthens ecological connectivity across the Central Highlands. Its extensive highland grasslands and sedgelands, broad river frontage and intact habitat offer stronghold conditions for several threatened species. As part of Five Rivers Reserve, it enhances landscape-scale conservation – essential for climate resilience and the long-term survival of Tasmania’s unique biodiversity.
