MAPPING ‘HENTY LINE’ GORSE The land around the Henty Main Road in Zeehan had been severely degraded by an invasion of gorse growing as a monoculture and smothering native vegetation species. The West Coast Weed and Fire Management Group supported by Cradle Coast NRM undertook control works on 212.5 hectares of gorse contaminated land, continuing a history of planned weed control in this area.
Gorse control in the West Coast has largely been focused on high value cultural sites such as the Old Zeehan Smelter. In addition to killing and removing gorse, four separate gorse control sites around Zeehan that were experiencing high grazing pressure have been fenced off to encourage native revegetation. A total of 0.43 hectares were cordoned and planted with 1000 appropriate, site specific native tube-stock species sourced from the West Coast. To continue momentum in this gorse control project, a collection of community education materials were produced including brochures and posters for public display and distribution. The brochure was delivered through Australia Post to all residents and businesses within the area covered by the West Coast Weed and Fire Management Strategy, totalling 2,340 households and businesses. Maintaining the public’s awareness of the importance of gorse control is assisted by the high traffic use on Henty Main Road and the visual reminders of this crucial work which are evident there.
Gorse along the Henty Line
INFORMATION SHEET ZEEHAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The project was delivered by the West Coast Council and West Coast Weed & Fire Management Group, supported by Cradle Coast Natural Resource Management (NRM) through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country
PO Box 338 30 Marine Terrace Burnie Tasmania 7320 Phone: 03 6431 6285 Fax: 03 6431 7014 E-mail: nrm@cradlecoast.com www.cradlecoastnrm.com.