To continue the effective management of sea-spurge and marram grass across this remote coastline, the SPRATS Branch is always on the lookout for volunteers with remote-area bushwalking skills who are able to operate safely and productively in these sometimes challenging environments.Over 17 years, the SPRATS Wildcare Branch has undertaken over 8,500 days work to remove 14.4 million sea spurge plants. Before the SPRATS program began, the number of weeds in the area was estimated at approximately 11.1 million sea spurge plants and 124,000 marram grass clumps. Since then, SPRATS volunteers have reduced the number of sea spurge plants to about 12,850 and marram grass clumps to about 2,800. This is approximately a 99 per cent reduction in sea spurge plants and a 98 per cent reduction in marram grass clumps. Weeding sea spurge. Photo credit: Jon Marsden-Smedley In Summer 2023, 7 teams of 4-5 volunteers spent 12 to 24 days traversing various sections of coast and again recorded reduced numbers of sea spurge and marram plants in the target region. However, other parts of Tasmania, the Bass Strait Islands and South coasts of Australia are recording increasing numbers of new sea spurge infestations, as seeds from heavily infested sites (for example, areas north of Macquarie Harbour) are transported by ocean currents and invade new beaches. To address this growing threat, SPRATS members have contributed to trials for a biological control agent, the fungus Venturia paralias. Preliminary results are encouraging and show that the fungus can survive and spread in Tasmania. If trials continue to demonstrate success, the next challenge for Tasmania will be to procure sufficient stocks of the fungus and to coordinate its release and monitoring. Wildcare could be at the heart of this new and ambitious program which has the potential to greatly reduce the threat of sea spurge spread throughout all of Tasmania’s beaches and dune systems. Anne Boothroyd Wildcare SPRATS President
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