Half Day Trip: Includes morning tea & lunch

Commencing at Spring Bay Mill, you will be guided on a horticulture journey that showcases Spring Bay Mill’s sustainability mission - where they are practicing ecological regeneration and promoting sustainable living for a new positive effect in the world. Since its inception as a sustainable events venue, Spring Bay Mill has planted and grown over 20,000 local native plants including dozens of rare and threatened species, built habitat opportunities for local wildlife, and propagates over 10,000 plants annually at their on-site nursery.

After a spot of morning tea you will enjoy a leisurely coastal walk down to the neighbouring cultivators of climate solutions Sea Forest, who will show us their research and cultivation of Asparagopsis, a common seaweed native to the waters of Tasmania. Asparagopsis is included in low quantities as a feed supplement and greatly reduces the production of methane from livestock.

To top it off, you will enjoy lunch provided by Spring Bay Mill.

This Field Trip is sponsored by:

Your Hosts

MARK FITZGERALD & SPRING BAY MILL

Meet Mark Fitzgerald, a seasoned horticulturalist with over two decades of expertise in Landscape Design and Installation.

Currently serving as the Head of Horticulture at Spring Bay Mill (SBM), Mark and his dedicated team have undertaken an extraordinary mission over the past five years. Their goal was to revive the 43-hectare site of the former wood chip mill, transforming it into a sustainable habitat for various local wildlife species, (including wallabies, echidnas, possums, birds, lizards, and insects). This monumental effort involved planting more than 20,000 native grasses, shrubs, and trees endemic to the area.

Mark takes pride in his role as the host of SBM’s horticultural tours, where he shares insights into their meticulous plant selection process. Visitors actively participate in habitat

improvement initiatives, including preparing and replanting areas to promote native re-wilding. The success of SBM’s sustainability efforts hinges on their careful choice of plants with local provenance and the ability to thrive in the coastal climate, native soils, and alongside indigenous plant species. The site features a range of commonly planted species such as Coastal Tussock grass, Kangaroo grass, Tasman Flax Lily, East Coast / Silver Banksia, and Coastal Spinach, while also focusing on conserving rare and threatened species like the Silver Peppermint Gum and Morrisby’s Gum. To minimise their ecological footprint, SBM practices responsible land restoration, erosion control, weed management, and efficient rainwater harvesting, showcasing their commitment to environmental stewardship. 

Mark’s leadership and the collective efforts of the horticultural team at SBM stand as a testament to the positive impact of responsible horticulture and its significant contribution to environmental preservation and the well-being of native wildlife.

SAM ELSOM & SEA FOREST

Sam Elsom is a passionate environmentalist and entrepreneur, he began his career in fashion, building the apparel brand Elsom around sustainable design and ethical manufacture. Today he is CEO of Sea Forest, a Tasmanian environmental technology company developing the scaled cultivation of the native red seaweed, Asparagopsis. 

Sea Forest is a science-based environmental technology company cultivatingseaweed as a natural solution to climate change and global food security. 

The company is the largest seaweed producer in Australia. Its 1800-hectare aquaculture facility at Triabunna and an additional 30-hectare waterfront site at Swansea comprise the largest marine lease in the Southern Hemisphere.

The facilities comprise onshore algae ponds and an underwater farm that enable Sea Forest to cultivate different life stages of Asparagopsis taxiformis, a miracle red seaweed that is able to abate methane emissions from cattle and sheep. When included as a fraction of an animal’s regular diet, Sea Forest’s seaweed-based animal feed supplement, named SeaFeed, can cut the amount of methane each animal produces by up to 90%.

Methane is the most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, accounting for around 20% of global emissions. But methane is also 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat. In its first year in the atmosphere, its global warming potential is 120 times that of CO2.

Around 15 per cent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock production. So Sea Forest’s innovation, SeaFeed, can help bring down these emissions significantly.

According to the CSIRO, if just 10 per cent of global cattle and sheep producers adopted Asparagopsis-based supplements as an ingredient to feed their livestock, it would have the same impact for our climate as removing 100 million cars from the world's roads, and potential increases in livestock productivity could create enough food to feed an additional 23 million people.

Sea Forest is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact on sustainability. Through the non-profit Sea Forest Foundation it is also working with the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania to restore Tasmania’s endangered giant kelp forests.

A 2021 report by the Australian Seaweed Institute says the seaweed industry presents Australia with a high-tech and high-value economic opportunity. It predicts the domestic seaweed industry could generate $1.5bn annually by 2040 and create 9,000 jobs, while reducing greenhouse emissions by 10 per cent.

Important Information

This field trip involves walking and therefore requires participants to come prepared:

What to wear
- sturdy walking shoes
- comfortable clothes (long sleeves, trousers)

What to bring
- comfortable backpack to carry water, lunch & personal belongings

- water bottle
- raincoat
- sunhat
- medications (asthma puffer /epipen

Catering
Morning tea and lunch are included in the field trip.

Your time with us on the field trip
Field Trip participants are required to stay together as a group and follow the Hosts and Landcare staff instructions.

Toilet stops
Public Toilet Map 

Read all about tickets, program, field trips, sponsorship and more here: 

http://www.landcaretas.org.au/conference2023