Coastcare
From plucking invasive weeds on wild west coast beaches, to re vegetation and conducting penguin tours, there’s inspiring Coastcare activities happening all over the state.
There are lots of opportunities, resources and support available for setting up a Coastcare group. With over 50 active Coastcare groups there is ample opportunity to get involved on a coastcare project in your area or even start your own Coastcare group.
The Coastcare Handbook by the Southern Coastcare Association of Tasmania (SCAT) includes great content on group support, monitoring and evaluation, practical advice and resources on coastal management.
Coastcare Handbook of Tasmania Part 1
Coastcare Handbook of Tasmania Part 2
Working together
Community care groups are highly active around various sections of Tasmania’s vast and stunning coastline. Great things are possible when volunteers work together to find practical solutions to local problems. Some of the issues that groups on the coast tackle include dune erosion, weed control, storm water pollution, feral cat management and protection of native species.
Meet Coastcare volunteer Chris Johns
For people considering getting involved in Coastcare, what are the benefits?
There are many, the top of the list for me is meeting new people and creating friendships that are long lasting. The other really big one is getting to know your patch. We don’t seem to take much notice of the environment but when you develop a connection with an area, there’s a little light that comes on in your head. You realise how dynamic and ever changing Nature is. And when we ‘do’ something, how that reverberates. Other benefits are keeping fit and ditto for the head!
You’ve been involved for well over a decade, why do you keep doing it?
10 years! What 10 years? Haven’t really been counting – once you start it gets in your blood. The above comment about Nature drives that commitment. We are also Australian Demeter Biodynamic producers and I’m inspired by Alex Podolinsky (founder of Australian BD). What he has to say about man, nature, environment and farming is absolutely incredible and entirely practical with on ground work. I guess it has just become a part of who I am.
What’s your greatest achievement as a community volunteer?
At the beginning pulling boneseed. I didn’t know what it was and it looked so pretty with the yellow flowers! But after 10 years work, in this particular area (Dodges Ferry, Southern Tasmania) it has gone and other pretty things have taken its place; this time local native plants. The other major achievement is gaining the skills and knowledge to be confident in undertaking planning and management of various projects in natural environments, including managing volunteers and working with sometimes very different stakeholders.
Other Coastcare Resources
Coast Reading Room
A “Detailed First Pass” coastal hazard assessment for a long complex coast: Kingborough LGA, Tasmania. By Chris Sharples and Paul Donaldson, University of Tasmania (September 2012) – a presentation at the Coast to Coast 2012 conference
Shorebird Monitoring – North West Tasmania: A gem of a booklet with illustrations and descriptions. shorebird identification booklet
‘Nowhere Else on Earth’ – A new report launched by Environment Tasmania which highlights the remarkable diversity of marine life in Tasmanian waters. Including key features of Tasmania’s Marine Environment, marine species and bioregions. Read the full report
Guidelines for Works in areas of Little Penguin Habitat – information to help land managers and community groups to adopt best practice for managing works in areas of Little Penguin habitat, from the EPA website. Including: life cycle of penguins, planning, timing of works, vegetation types and revegetation, use of chemical, penguin fencing, public works and maintenance
Feral Oysters – a guide to controlling Pacific Oysters – from NRM South Includes: oyster identification, oyster control strategy, developing a control program
Coastal Management in Australia – a detailed background to coastal management systems in Australia, including case studies. Provided free online by the University of Adelaide Press. Includes: era of change, understanding coastal processes, human impact on the Australian coast, managing the Australian coast, future directions and more… 361 pages
A Guide to the Seashells and other Marine Molluscs of Tasmania – an online resource by Simon Grove, lists of classes, sub classes, orders, families, genera and species of molluscs found in Tasmania
Oz Coasts – a website providing very comprehensive information about Australia’s coasts, including its estuaries, coastal waterways and climate change impact. ‘This helps to generate a better understanding of coastal environments, the complex processes that occur in them, the potential environmental health issues. Oz Coasts is managed by the Seabed Mapping and Coastal Information section at Geoscience Australia, and represents a collaborative effort of more than 100 scientists and mangers from across Australia’ from the OZ Coasts website
The Tasmanian Shoreline Monitoring and Archiving Project (TASMARC) a web page. It provides access to the results of shoreline surveys carried out at 30 sites around the Tasmanian coastline. It provides information about seasonal and long term changes in the shape and position of beaches. Includes survey instructions and template for recording data.
There were some fabulous presentations in the On the Coast Workshop Stream at the State Landcare Conference, Linking Landscapes and People. Have a look!
- Tasmania’s Coastal Policy – where are we at and where should we be? – Jess Feheley, Environmental Defenders Office. Link to the presentation.
- Citizen Science Helping to Manage the Impacts of Climate Change: the TASMARC Project – Chris Sharples, UTas. Link to the presentation.
- Climate change, species change and local impacts – Howard Jones, St Helens Coastcarer. Link to the presentation.
- Biological control of weeds in Tasmania and specifically ragwort, gorse and broom – John Ireson, Tas Institute of Agriculture. Link to the presentation
- The plastic tideline, South West marine debris clean-up – Matt Dell, Wildcare Coastal Custodians. Link to the presentation with Matt’s notes.
Find heaps of resources on coastal policies, research, practical tools, works manuals, ID guides and much more in the Landcare Tas Reading Room
