Awarded to SPRATS, the Sea Spurge Action Teams, for 10 years work eradicating sea spurge from Tasmania’s rugged southwest coastline. During this period more than 150 remote area volunteers have removed 14.2 million sea purge plants from 600km of coastline using 6000 hours of labour valued at over $1.4 million.
Now, 99.5% of the treated area is sea spurge free. Areas have also been treated for marram grass and two of the region’s only blackberry infestations.
Volunteers would undertake trips of between eight days and three weeks, arriving by foot, helicopter, boat or fixed-wing aircraft. Methods used include hand weeding, ground and aerial spraying. SPRATS is a WildCare group working in partnership with the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.
Both sea spurge and marram grass are recognised as threats to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. They can change the shape and structure of dune and beach environments by displacing native plants, they adversely impact coastal herbfields, grasslands, shrublands, shorebird habitats and marsupial feeding areas.