Oh deer, yet again the Liberals are neglecting to take proper action on invasive species management and protecting wild places in Lutruwita / Tasmania.
The Greens are devastated for the Seymour Community Action Group, whose wetlands restoration project has been damaged by invasive deer.
For decades, the Seymour community have been restoring local wetlands, removing gorse, and replanting native vegetation. This community did such exemplary work that the site was only recently included into the neighbouring conservation area.
Despite the 2024 State of Environment report the removal of archaic colonial protections placed on fallow deer, and to properly resource biosecurity efforts, and to restore and monitor critical wetland ecosystems, the Liberals have stalled actioning any of these recommendations.
The community should not be coping the costs of this Governments negligence to manage invasive species.
Already this year the Greens tabled a petition in Parliament, on behalf of community members in Mole Creek, seeking a fund for land-owners adversely effected by damage caused by rabbits, and such a fund should be available for those impacted by any invasive species.
Not only are the Liberal evasive on supporting land-owners, they appear to have abandoned efforts to safeguard the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
In 2021 the Tasmanian Government received $440k from the Federal Government for a project to survey and eradicate deer within the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. This year Tasmania has been granted less money to do more, with $400k for biosecurity in the whole TWWHA, to be thinly spread across deer and cat monitoring and weed control in key areas.
This simply doesn’t go far enough to manage the growing invasive species issues and protect the Outstanding Universal natural and cultural values in the TWWHA.
Climate change is predicted to facilitate the further expansion of the deer population into the Tasmanian Wilderness but the Government as silent on climate action as they are on their 2024-2029 Cat Management Plan that still doesn’t exist.
The Greens are again calling on the Liberal Government to urgently step up and to act on invasives, including providing support for landowners and community groups, and investing in proper biosecurity measures in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
