The Central Plateau Conservation Area is located on the top edge of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area with the Walls of Jerusalem to the west and yingina/Great Lake to the east. It encompasses over 900 square kilometres of beautiful, wild, wintery tarns and sub-alpine heath and is the largest highland region in Tasmania.

The ecosystem is fragile, yet strong enough to withstand sub-zero temperatures, snow and ice, as well as extended dry summer periods. The pencil pine is one of the fragile but hardy endemic trees that is only found in the Tasmanian Highlands. Many trees are upwards of a thousand years old. There is one particular pencil pine growing on the edge of a tarn that I religiously visit and photograph throughout the year. For now it stands strong through the seasons.