Jacquie Petrusma,Minister for Parks
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is ensuring that our special natural places are protected and presented in ways that allow people of all abilities to enjoy the natural and cultural values they contain.
Today marks an important milestone in the history of the work of the Seymour Community Action Group Inc. (SCAGI) to rehabilitate 54 hectares of Crown Land at Seymour on Tasmania’s beautiful East Coast.
Seymour Swamp has an interesting land use history. In 1857, it was brickworks, with clay dug from the area where the swamp now lies and shaped into blocks before being baked in a large sandstone kiln.
Today, this former industrialised area with a history of gorse infestation, has been restored as an important wetlands site, which has now been added to the Seymour Conservation Area.
The wetlands have been lovingly restored by a group of enthusiastic and skilled SCAGI members, who are very passionate and committed to caring for this important landscape and rich habitat that supports a number of important flora and fauna species. As well as supporting environmental values, the area is of social significance to the local community, many of whom have worked as part of SCAGI to restore this vital ecosystem.
Through the efforts of SCAGI and partner organisations, plant species of conservation significance have been recorded at the site, including lowland spiral orchid (Spiranthes australis) and mossy pennywort (Hydrocotyle muscosa). Other significant plants are recorded from the adjoining land, including the existing conservation area, and may now begin to colonise across the extended reserve.
The land also contains year-round fresh water recognised as being a “high conservation value waterbody” which is importantly home to the green and gold frog (Litoria raniformis), which is Tasmania’s largest frog and listed as vulnerable under both the State and Commonwealth threatened species legislation.
The work of SCAGI epitomises the aims of the United Nations Decade on Ecosytem Restoration 2021-2030, with the group also winning the 2021 Landcare Tasmania Community Group Award in recognition of their years of commitment and dedication to this important restoration work.
With the gazettal today of the previous public reserve now being declared part of the Seymour Conservation Area, SCAGI members who have put in many hundreds of hours in on-ground work are to be commended, acknowledged and celebrated for their incredible efforts.
We also acknowledge and thank the hundreds of volunteers, including community groups such as Wildcare and Landcare groups that work right across Tasmania’s reserve estate, supporting and complementing the work of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania more broadly – caring for Tasmania’s special places, wildlife and cultural heritage.
I am incredibly grateful for the commitment and dedication of all of our exceptional and wonderful volunteers and for the important work that they do.
