20 Landcare members recently returned from a 5 day Lismore Land Protection Group Landcare trip to Tasmania.
Members of the Lismore Land Protection Group travelled to Tasmania during August 2009 to meet with management committee members from the Tamar Natural Resource Management Group, representatives from Launceston City Council, Wynyard Landcare Group, Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association and Cradle Coast NRM.
Property visits included meeting farmers around Epping Forest that participated in a National Landcare Program funded sustainable agriculture practices & drought preparedness project. The group also met with a group of graduates from Canberra from the Department of Climate Change; where some interesting discussions were held about agriculture.
Willow removal projects at Hoblers Bridge, mixed farming at Pipers River and a Eucalypt dieback program at Rowella were also on the agenda. Different crops that the group learnt about included opium poppies and pyrethrum daisies. The paddocks were very wet and the rivers very wide with the region having recently experienced flooding. The group also visited the Tamar Island Wetland Reserve, Friends of Burnie Penguins and the Cataract Gorge Reserve to meet volunteers who undertake community based environmental projects.
Visits to Brickendon historic farm village at Longford and Highfield historic site at Stanley gave the Landcare members an insight into the early farming history in the state.
The bus for the trip was funded by the Lismore Land Protection Group's DAFF FarmReady Industry Grant.