On Thursday the 29th of July we got together at a beautiful riverside site at Mountain River to get our hands in the dirt and plant some natives.  

Image: Tress in the ground at the Mountain River Planting site, where we will be helping to halt erosion and provide better habitat for wildlife 

The aim of this planting is to hinder riverside erosion and create bandicoot habitat. Mountain River is a hot spot for wedge tailed eagles, and so by increasing habitat for their prey, such as bandicoots, we are improving the habitat for the eagles too. 

The site is also undergoing removal of blackberry, the invasive weed, which has been dominating the river side. Its roots have been holding the soil in place, and so now we need to replace the blackberries with other plants to hold the soil.

17 hardworking volunteers, including volunteers from Franklin Landcare Group and  UTAS Landcare Society helped plant 170 native plants.  Some of the species we planted were silver and black wattles, tea trees, white gums, dogwoods and native grasses.  And we had fun doing it, too! 

Image: Volunteers working hard by the riverside 

The volunteers did a fantastic job, getting the plants in the ground well and in no time at all. 

This planting is a part of Landcare Tasmania's larger electorate wide project to increase habitat quality for raptors and our native wildlife and ecosystems as a whole. 

The planting received funding from the Australian Government's Communities for the Environment Program, and support from Franklin MP Julie Collins

Image: The Mountain River Planting site, where we will be helping to halt erosion and provide better habitat for wildlife