Just off the Tasman Highway near Pittwater lies a hidden treasure; 40 ha of protected old growth white gum woodland that has been managed for conservation since the early 1800s.
Robyn on a mission to protect her forest
‘Most of Milford Forest has never been logged,’ said Robyn Lewis, the current custodian. ‘Some of the trees are up to 400 years old and full of nesting hollows. It’s regarded as the most biodiverse habitat in Clarence municipality, and one of the best in southern Tasmania.’
The Lewis family has owned Milford since the original land grant in 1829, and Robyn became custodian after the death of her husband Charles Lewis in 2017.
‘It’s home to a number of federally listed critically-endangered species,’ she said, ‘including two orchids found nowhere else in the world. There are wedge tailed eagles, lots of bandicoots, Tasmanian devils and quolls.’
Because the land is a pre-1840 title, it goes to high water, which means Robyn can also protect the beach, a haven for nesting shorebirds and migratory birds, including Eastern curlews, red necked stints, and bar-tailed godwits.
‘Dogs are the worst offenders,’ she said. ‘They eat eggs and fledglings, and chase the birds. Horses and people trample eggs and nests, too.’
She estimates that the ‘no entry’ signs she has recently put up have reduced traffic along the beach by 99%. ‘We have to stop treating wildlife with such disrespect. If we take animals and birds out of the ecosystem, it falls apart. We depend on them.’
Robyn studied Economics and Botany at the University of Tasmania, then did her Masters degree at Oxford University, specialising in forest ecology. She has a seven-year plan to open the forest to ecotourism and set serious conservation plans in place.
She has recently built a solar powered eco-haven to help connect people to the land, and already has a number of schools interested in visiting. ‘Conservation has to be both intergenerationally sustainable and regenerative,’ she said. ‘Unless there’s positive gain, we’re just treading water.’
Managing Milford, which includes a commercial zone as well as the forest, is a full-time job for Robyn, who also runs the Milford Forest Landcare group and is the recent winner of the City of Clarence Business Excellence and Service Award for Environmental Sustainability.
She’s convinced that the current environmental destruction can be stopped. ‘It depends on people like me doing things on a small scale, walking the walk, putting their money where their mouth is. Join a Landcare group, clean up beaches, whatever you can do to help the environment. It’s absolutely critical.’
Community group Clarence Climate Action has chosen Robyn Lewis as this month’s Climate Champion.
Eastern Shore Sun, May 2023, page 13