Environment

Highlighting the issue of weeds in Tasmania

Weeds are invasive plants that degrade our natural areas, reduce the sustainability of our agricultural industries and affect the health of people and animals.

Weeds have a severe impact on our natural environment and agricultural lands. It is conservatively estimated that weeds cost Tasmania more than $58 million per annum for control activities and lost primary production. While the figure for Australia exceeds $4 billion annually in lost production and cost of control.

In June 2005, survey forms were sent to 5,093 rural landholders courtesy of the TFGA database and DairyTas. Each landholder was asked a series of questions on pasture and cropping weeds. From these results John Ireson (TIAR) published the publication on the ‘Weeds of pastures and field crops in Tasmania: economic impacts and biological control’.

The TFGA Weeds Standing Committee utilized this publication to list the TFGA Priority List by NRM Regions.

Click here to view the PDF document.

For more information on the TFGA Weeds Standing Committee priorities, TFGA priority list of weeds and Minimising the spread of weeds on-farm click here.

Making Sense of Environmental Legislation

The TFGA is embarking on an exciting new initiative to develop an Environmental Legislative Guide for Tasmanian Farmers.

The TFGA is developing a practical guide that interprets a wide range of environmental legislation to help provide Tasmanian farmer's with the answers they need.

Click here to view the Media Release

FarmSAT

The Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association (TFGA) is leading a new project to develop and trial a voluntary Farm Self Assessment Tool for Tasmanian agriculture.

Focusing on a self assessment approach to on-farm environmental issues, the aims of FarmSAT are to:

Assist producers to assess and demonstrate their environmental credentials;
Support producers to manage environmental requirements; and
Generally raise awareness of environmental issues relevant to Tasmanian agricultural businesses.

Click here for more information on FarmSAT.

Native Forest Policy & Non-Forest Legislation

Native Forest Policy

On 15 November 2005 the Tasmanian Government released a revised Permanent Forest Estate Policy (PFEP), which sets out controls to be applied to the clearance and conversion of Native Forest. This replaces an earlier PFEP which was put in place in 1998, following and as a result of the signing of the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement in late 1997. The new PFEP severely tightens controls on clearance and conversion. Click here for more information.

Native Non-Forest Vegetation Legislation

This was followed on 24 November 2005, by the release of proposed legislation to control the clearance and conversion of Threatened Native Non-Forest Vegetation (NFV) Communities. This represents new regulation on an issue which has not been subject to regulation to date. The proposed legislation was released in a package of documentation, which also included a Regulatory Impact Statement and a plain language explanatory booklet. Public comment was sought on the proposed legislation, which closed on the 24th February 2006.

TFGA held a number of regional meetings around the State to obtain member's feedback on the proposed legislation, feedback that assisted TFGA to prepare its formal submission in response to the legislation.

For a copy of the TFGA submission click here.

The Protected Areas on Private Land Program
The TFGA has over the last three years been working in a joint partnership arrangement with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment and the Australian Bush Heritage Fund (ABHF) to implement the Protected Areas on Private Land Program. Recently the Tasmanian Land Conservancy has replaced the ABHF as the conservation project partner.

PAPL promotes and negotiates voluntary conservation covenants between the Tasmanian Government and private landowners with important natural values on their properties. The Program aims to contribute to Australia's Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Reserve system by protecting under-reserved vegetation communities, freshwater values, threatened species and areas containing other significant natural values. PAPL also assists the Conservation of Freshwater Ecosysterms Values Project through negotiating conservation agreements to conserve land with significant freshwater dependent values.

Click here for more information...

Natural Resource Management
Natural Resource Management (NRM) is the term nowadays for what would have been called Environmental Protection a few years ago. It goes without saying that agriculture is very closely linked to soil and water, and in Tasmania it is equally closely linked in many areas to native vegetation and game issues. These linkages reflect the fact that farmers use or otherwise have to manage these "natural resources" in one way or another.

Over time Government has taken an increasing interest in how farmers manage the natural resources on their properties, both with regard to their expression on those properties and with regard to the impact of farm activities on those natural resources off site. The increasing interest in dry land salinity is a case in point.

As farming becomes more intensive and the potential impact of farming activities on natural values more marked, Government interest has moved from the establishment of Departmental extension programs through variety of training programs, to the establishment of formal policies - to outright regulation. This is reflected to a greater or lesser extent in water administration (irrigation, dams), native vegetation clearing, game management, soil management (erosion, salinity) and administration of chemical usage.

Click here for more information...

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