Envirofund Project Tasmania

Environmental Work
PROJECT PHOTOS	MAPS	GREEN CORPS PHOTOS
The Mathom Farm Proposal	Mathom Farm applied for National Heritage Trust funding in July 2002. The project we proposed involved the fencing of the Leven River riparian strip on our property in order to prevent stock access to the river bank, and to establish belts of trees across the property with the purpose of: providing wildlife corridors reducing erosion controlling surface water movement providing shelter for stock Even before the submission was considered and approved by the NHT we began the fencing of the river bank as a matter of priority. Fencing was complete by the beginning of the 2002/2003 milking season. Native, indigenous tree species were selected and Woodlea Nursery of Scottsdale was contracted to grow 2000 individuals. In March 2003 the NHT announced that Mathom Farm had received Envirofunding to the amount of A$5910.
The Present Situation	At the end of the autumn of 2003 it became apparent that the riparian strip grew weeds at a rate that we could not reasonably keep up with. Following the withdrawal of grazing pressure willow, blackberry, hemlock and ragwort established themselves rapidly. It was obvious that we could not enter a covenant and go ahead with our original proposal to totally exclude stock. Although this will result in a reduced funding level, we decided to use the riparian fencing to control stock access rather than to prevent it. We now use the goats to control weed growth and to this point we have been successful. Work on the tree belts began after 2nd germination of weeds in May 2003. Firstly they were sprayed off with Glyphosate at minimum application rate. Next, they were fertilised with a balanced NPK formula that suited native species. The sites of the belts were then line-ripped along the tree planting rows to a depth of 30cm. Woodlea nursery delivered 1200 Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), 400 Paperbarks (Melaleuca spp.) and 400 Tea Tree (Leptospermum spp). All trees had been grown in Hiko trays, removed from the trays and packed in waxed boxes before shipment.
June/July 2003	Greening Australia and members of the Green Corps spent 3 days on the property fencing tree belts and planting trees. Because the members of the Corps were involved in completing Certificate II from the Rural Training Package this was an ideal opportunity for them to practice their fencing skills and receive direct on-the-job training. All of the trainees were very enthusiastic, polite and a credit to their organisation and its staff members. An official launch will be held on July 11th with representatives of The Federal Senate and the State House of Representatives present. Later, a field day will be held for local Landcare groups.