FIGURE 14: Soil acidification risk

FIGURE 14: Soil acidification risk

On-farm Biodiversity and Vegetation

On-farm native vegetation management is identified as a high priority for regional investment in the Cradle Coast region. Native vegetation on farm plays an important role in agricultural production, as well as contributing to biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. Clearance, conversion and fragmentation of native vegetation in production landscapes has had significant impacts on the viability of many native species, communities and ecosystems. It has also impacted agricultural productivity potential by disturbing ecosystem processes and the delivery of ecosystem services and diminished farm resilience in the face of climatic and environmental change. Trees may be planted or exist in a range of woody vegetation systems on farms, such as: • Shelterbelt (trees often along pasture edges to provide shade/shelter) • Riparian vegetation (woody vegetation along rivers, creeks, streams and dams)

• Pasture trees (scattered trees in existing pasture or cropping areas) • Silvopasture-forage (forage shrubs planted in belts within pasture) • Silvopasture mixed (fodder shrubs and plantation trees intercropped with pastures) • Plantation (trees planted for timber production) • Remnant native vegetation (fragments of remaining natural woody vegetation within farming landscapes) Across intensively farmed parts of the region, levels of native vegetation cover are reported at less than 10% in districts such as Montagu, Stanley, Burnie, Cuprona and Forth. In other districts such as Forest, Togari, Flowerdale, Ulverstone and Sheffield, levels of native vegetation cover are reported between 11-30% (See Figure 15). Increasing native vegetation cover across farms through a variety of woody vegetation systems will lead to enhanced agricultural resilience and improved environmental outcomes, including increased carbon sequestration in the long term. Native vegetation on farms reduce evaporation from soil and forage, may increase seasonal pasture growth, reduce animal energy requirements and improve animal health outcomes. Protecting and enhancing areas such as riparian zones can reduce evaporation from waterways, help protect banks from erosion, provide habitat for native fauna and beneficial insect species as well as reduce nutrient fertiliser runoff and faecal coliform contamination from livestock.