Cradle Coast NRM

19/06/2026

Wildlife Wonderland at the Healthy Harbour Office! 🐙🌿

Looking for a fun family activity this Saturday? Cradle Coast NRM is bringing the Healthy Harbour Office to life with a wildlife-themed wonderland packed with hands-on activities for children of all ages at the Strahan Winter Solstice Festival.

🎨 Aquatic wildlife crafts
🛼 Pin the Tail on the Baby Skate
🐟 Live displays, including a mini Macquarie Harbour aquarium
🌊 Interactive learning about local wildlife and the environment

Join us for a day of fun, discovery and creativity while learning more about the unique marine life of Macquarie Harbour.

📅 Saturday 20 June
⏰ 10am – 4pm
📍 Healthy Harbour Office, Shop 1, Union Steamship Building (opposite Gordon River Cruises)

We look forward to seeing you there!

This project is funded by the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust, Saving Native Species Program and Maugean Skate Program and delivered by Cradle Coast NRM, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

17/06/2026

🌿 W**d Wednesday: Spanish heath

Spanish heath (Erica lusitanica) is a hardy, fast-growing shrub that can reach up to 2 metres tall. Flowering in winter and spring, it produces masses of small white tubular flowers with pink buds. It can be mistaken for native heath species but differs in its four-petalled flowers and whorled or opposite leaves.

This invasive w**d forms dense thickets that dominate the understory, crowding out native plants and reducing biodiversity. It produces huge quantities of tiny seeds that spread easily via wind, water, vehicles, soil movement, and human activity, especially during slashing or gardening, making it highly persistent and widespread.

Be alert, avoid disturbing the plant, and report sightings to iNaturalist and/or your local council NRM officer to protect Tasmania’s native ecosystems.

The Cradle Coast Regional Priority W**ds Project is supported by the Tasmanian Government.

**dwednesday

15/06/2026

Discover our new Maugean skate website!

We’re excited to share the launch of a brand-new website dedicated to the Maugean skate, one of Tasmania’s most unique and threatened species.

This new website brings together:

• background on the Maugean skate and why it’s so special 💙
• insights into its rare habitat in Macquarie Harbour 🌊
• key threats impacting its survival ⚠️
• latest research and conservation efforts underway 🔬
• resources and links to learn more or get involved 🤝

Whether you’re new to the species or already passionate about protecting it, the site offers a clear and accessible way to explore its story.

Take a look and learn more:

https://maugeanskate.com.au/

Check out the link on the events page to our Maugean Skate Kids Activity Hub at the Winter Solstice Festival, Strahan on Saturday 20th of June. It’s a great chance for kids and families to learn, explore and get involved.

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Photo Credit to Cynthia Awruch

15/06/2026

Help Shape the Future of the Cradle Coast Region

Cradle Coast Authority is seeking passionate and committed individuals to join the Cradle Coast Natural Resource Management (NRM) Committee.

This is an opportunity to help guide strategic priorities, partnerships and investment that support healthy environments, resilient communities and sustainable regional economies across our region.

We are currently seeking:
🔹 One Aboriginal Community Member
🔹 Two Independent Members

We particularly encourage applications from Aboriginal people and recognise the vital contribution that Aboriginal knowledge, culture and connection to Country make to natural resource management.

If you can bring leadership, expertise, lived experience or community perspectives relevant to natural resource management, we'd love to hear from you.

📅 Applications close Sunday 12 July 2026.

To apply:
✔ Review the role statement
✔ Complete a brief Expression of Interest form
✔ Submit your résumé or CV

For more information or to apply: https://cradlecoast.com/news/expressions-of-interest-regional-nrm-committee-members/

For more information, contact Dr Bonnie Bonneville, Regional NRM Manager:
📞 (03) 6433 8400
📧 [[email protected]]

Help make a difference for our landscapes, communities and future generations.

10/06/2026

W**d Wednesday: New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax)

New Zealand flax is an emerging environmental w**d that can invade bushland, waterways, and coastal areas, displacing native vegetation and reducing habitat for native wildlife.

Looking for native alternatives?

🌿 Tasman Flax-Lily - Dianella tasmanica

This beautiful Tasmanian native, features wide, glossy, bright green strap-like leaves. In spring, it produces delicate blue-purple flowers followed by stunning large, glossy, deep-blue berries. It doesn't like full sun as it is mostly an understory plant in native bushland.

🌿 Spiny-Headed Mat-Rush - Lomandra longifolia

A very hardy Australian native that forms bold, dense tussocks of tough, evergreen foliage, hereby creating an excellent, multi-level shelter for small birds, frogs, and lizards (such as skinks and blue-tongues) to hide from predators. Small birds frequently use the dense tussocks for nesting or foraging for ground insects. Fragrant cream to yellow flower spikes appear in spring, tolerates full sun.

Be alert, avoid disturbing New Zealand flax, and report sightings via iNaturalist or to your local council NRM officer to help protect Tasmania's native ecosystems.

The Cradle Coast Regional Priority W**ds Project is supported by the Tasmanian Government.

**dWednesday **ds

10/06/2026

Kicking off soon: Sign up for Soils for Life's ‘Ask Me Anything’ webinars to air your burning questions and connect with pasture and nutrition specialists, consultants and fellow dairy farmers🐄

Encouraging regenerative agriculture and landscape management to enhance the natural environment and enable sustainable production - for the benefit of all.

08/06/2026

Building Partnerships to Tackle Priority W**ds on Tasmania’s West Coast 🌿

A few weeks ago, our team visited Tasmania’s West Coast to meet with local stakeholders working on emerging and priority w**ds in the region.

We brought together West Coast councils, state agencies and mining partners to strengthen collaboration and coordinate efforts on w**d management 🤝

Key species discussed included African feather grass, Elijah’s tears, Himalayan honeysuckle, lupins and New Zealand flax.

Early action and strong partnerships are essential to protecting the West Coast’s unique landscapes and biodiversity. It was great to see a shared commitment to working together on these challenges.

We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing collaborative w**d control efforts across the region. 💪

The Cradle Coast Regional Priority W**ds Project is supported by the Tasmanian Government.

05/06/2026

In celebration of World Environment Day, Cradle Coast NRM showcased the Our Natural Advantage project's on-farm natural capital accounting demonstration at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) Dairy Research Facility, highlighting industry sustainability frameworks, natural capital enhancement, and on-ground actions that support both farm productivity and biodiversity outcomes.

Delivered in partnership with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, the demonstration aims to clarify the confusion around what natural capital accounting is and what role it could have in supporting farmers. The demonstration shows how an on-farm account on a working dairy farm can support farm business planning, including meeting supplier and industry expectations, emerging market opportunities, boosting productivity and farm economic and climate resilience.

The demonstration shows that there are simple ways farmers can improve natural capital on their farms from protecting and enhancing the vegetation that is currently on farm, planting new shelterbelts, controlling w**ds and considering agroforestry.

The event concluded with planting 400 seedlings, commencing one of many practical on-farm actions being undertaken to strengthen natural capital and support resilient farming landscapes.

Find out more here: https://cradlecoast.com/on-farm-demonstrations/

This project is supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program and delivered by Cradle Coast NRM, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel in partnership with Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture with support from Dairy Australia - Tasmania and Lactalis-Mainland Dairy

04/06/2026

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: AI Technology Protecting Tasmania’s Wildlife

A major conservation goal is now within reach, thanks to an Australian Government-funded “Gamechangers” project supported by the Saving Native Species program. Delivered by Cradle Coast NRM, Biosecurity Tasmania and Thylation, the project is helping pave the way for Felixer cat grooming traps to be safely used across mainland Tasmania.

Felixers use AI technology to identify feral cats while avoiding non-target species. A key challenge in Tasmania has been ensuring Tasmanian Devils are not mistakenly identified as cats.

Over the project, more than 3000 images of devils were collected to train the AI model. In a recent trial, Felixers successfully identified every Tasmanian Devil as a non-target.

With Biosecurity Tasmania and Tasmania’s NRM organisations now committed to extending the project, this game-changing technology is one step closer to helping protect native wildlife from feral cats across Tasmania.

Read more about this project on our recent Cradle to Coastlines:

https://cradlecoast.com/resources/cradle-to-coastlines-autumn-edition-2/

This project received grant funding from the Australian Government’s Saving Native Species Program.