The Huon Story Edn 13 - Flipbook - Page 30
Fire
Is our Friend
The r e i s n o d e n y ing the natura l b e a u t y o f o ur ope rational
si tes ; d o t t e d a round re gional
Ta sm a n i a w e a re fortunate to
b e s u r ro u n d ed by the oce an,
the f o r e s t s , t he w ate r w ays
a nd t he w i l d l i f e in many of
ou r wo rkp l a c es.
O u r s i t e a t Wha le Point is no
ex cep t i o n , w here w e have
H os p i t a l B a y and the H uon
R i v e r es t u a r y t o our e ast,
one o f t he l a rg e st stands of
the en d a n g e r e d B lack gum
(Eu c a l y p t u s o vata) re maining
i n s o u t he r n Ta s mania onsite ,
a nd t he Ke r m a ndie Rive r to
ou r n o rt h .
H ow ev er, t he s ite ’s industrial
hi sto r y i n t he 19 th and 2 0 th
ce n t u r i es ha s s e e n contaminatio n o f t he s oil and the
i ncu rs i o n o f i n v asive w e e ds,
30
w hich ou r En viron men t an d
Sustain abilit y t eam have
be e n workin g on s t abilis ing and improvin g s in c e we
be gan buildin g ou r s t at e of
the art s almon n urs er y t here
in 2 017.
Just in t he pas t 12 mon t hs
w e hav e u n dert aken a hu ge
soil re m ediat ion projec t an d
plante d an addit ion al 100
B lack g u ms an d we are n ow
starting t o put s ome s erious e f fort in t o c learin g t he
unde rst orey in t he exis t in g
stand of ovat a t o eradic at e
w e e ds s uc h as gors e, Span ish he at h an d blac kberries
and to en c ourage t he re -es tablishmen t of n at ive gras s es .
O ne of t he key s t rat egies
that w e have been u s in g
as part of t he overall weed
manag emen t plan at Whale
Point is c ult ural burn in g.
The Tasman ian Aborigin al
pe ople have been us in g
fire as a lan d man agemen t
tool for t en s of t hou s an ds of
y e ars.
THE HUON STORY
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At c ert ain t imes of t he y ea r
A borigin al people s e t f i r e t o
t he bus h t o en c ou rage n ew
growt h an d preven t sc ru b
from t akin g over. The f i r es
t hey u s e are s mall-s ca l e c o o l
fires , whic h burn at a m u c h
lower heat in t en s it y t ha n a
bu s hfire, res u lt in g in o n l y t he
un dergrowt h bein g bur n ed ,
while t he t ree c an opy r e main s prot ec t ed.
This practice was traditionally used to prevent bushfire
and manage hunting grounds
as well as clearing areas to
make it easier for travel.
Today t he Tas man ian Ab o rigin al c ommun it y u n d er t a ke
t radit ion al c ool bu rn in g o n
A borigin al man aged l a n d
t o preven t a build u p o f f u el
loads , eradic at e weed s a n d
en c ou rage n at ive faun a t o
t he area an d, as it s b en ef i t s
bec ome c lear, t he pra c t i se
is bec omin g more an d m o r e
prevalen t on privat e la n d holdin gs arou n d t he st a t e.
Huon Aquaculture
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Edition Thirteen
