Just before the Christmas holiday kicked in the TLC's first TV ad was launched on SBS, and I might be biased, but it's looking pretty schmick.

The ad wouldn't have been possible without the generous donation of time and talent from Mark Ringer and Andrew Charles, who guided the creative concept development, Red Jelly Hobart for production development at cost and the SBS Foundation for awarding TLC free-to-air advertising time.

ABC Tasmania 7:30 report on sphagnum moss core sampling to reveal climate change information at Skullbone Plains - November 2012.

This TV segment covers the coring of peat at Skullbone Plains with Dr Jennie Whinam and 2 international scientists from the International Mire Conservation Group. This exciting work will form the basis to a publication next year.

View video here - Link

The TLC is very pleased to be a partner of the Australia Connectivity Council and the National Wildlife Corridors Plan.

The National Wildlife Corridors Plan, which includes the Tasmanian Midlands has been released by the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

The plan is a vision for reconnecting the Australian landscape through a network of wildlife corridors across Australia and also outlines a process for communities to identify and nominate areas they believe will contribute to a national network of wildlife corridors.

"An area that meets the criteria and is declared as a National Wildlife Corridor may be eligible for priority funding under a range of Australian Government funding programs" Environment Minister, Tony Burke, said. 

Thank you to the team of 21 volunteers for a tree-mendous effort on our recent working bee at our Silver Peppermint Permanent Reserve.

This wonderful dry eucalypt forest bordering the Mount Bethune Conservation Area near Mt Field National Park, protects threatened Eucalyptus tenuiramis (Silver Peppermint) woodland.

 One of the biggest risks to the natural values in this area of Tasmania is illegal fire wood collection. The TLC is actively working with the community to encourage the positive use and value of the Silver Peppermint Reserve. We are also working with the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service who manage the Mt Bethune Conservation area to stop illegal fire wood cutting and together, have been successful in prosecuting several individuals in recent years.

 On our September working bee our supporters had a successful day erecting “no wood cutting” signs, weeding, digging trenches, surveying tracks, repairing a fence and moving small limb wood to encourage the natural regeneration on impacted sites.

 Thank you for all of the volunteers for such a fun and productive time.

 To read more about the all our TLC permanent reserves click here>>

 For more information on volunteer activities,  read more and register here >>

Fletcher McCormack is a student  at Tarremah Steiner School. Fletcher used his skills and passion for bird photography to create and sell greeting cards. 

Fletcher says, “In Year 8 we are asked to work independently on a project that we are passionate about. I am passionate about birds, photography and bushwalking, so I combined the three to do a project on bird photography. 

As part of my project I wanted to do something to protect a bird habitat. Working with my mentor, accomplished bird photographer Els Wakefield, we decided that the TLC would be the best way to do that.

I have taken some bird photos that I thought would look good on greeting cards and chose five images and had them professionally printed. I’ve been selling these cards in packs of five for $8. All the profits go to the TLC to help to fund sensor cameras on the TLC Blue Tier permanent reserve.

Cards can be bought at Tarremah Steiner School’s front office (Nautilus Drive, Huntingfield, Tasmania). I am happy to mail two packs or more for $8 per pack plus postage. I can be contacted at [email protected] ".

Thank you Fletcher for your great initiative!

Pirates of Debris Descending on Recherche Bay

The TLC has been working in partnership with the Bookend Trust since 2011. The Bookend Trust and the TLC have a mutual goal of inspiring students and the wider community to work towards positive solutions to conservation issues through education. Our role in this partnership is to host small groups of high school students at our permanent reserves, providing them with the opportunities to explore and discover the answers to their conservation questions.

The latest project, “Pirates of Debris”, will be led by seven students from the Jordan River Learning Federation, and hosted at TLC’s Recherche Bay Reserve in Tasmania’s far south. This project will explore the subject of marine debris and its effects on the environment. TLC’s Reserve Management Officer, Tim Devereux, will join the project as a qualified guide and to represent the TLC in sharing the Recherche Bay Reserve with the students and the greater community.

The students will provide daily internet updates to the 2,000+ students that follow the project through a program known as ‘Expedition Class’, with many of these students exploring and discovering the topic of marine debris in their local area.

Photo: L to R, Andrew Hughes and the team from Jordan River with TLC's Tim Devereux chart their course to Recherche Bay.Photo credit: Matthew Newton

During the months of May, June and July the TLC has hosted three teams of International Student Volunteers. The three groups of students have been given a range of wetland and woodland projects at Lutregala Marsh, Flat Rock, Long Point and Liffey Reserves.

The on-ground tasks have been varied from weeding, rubbish removal, fencing, planting trees, the rehabilitation of disturbed sites and track maintenance.

“This was the first time I had travelled overseas to volunteer and it was the best experience of my life!” said Megan from the USA. “I met so many great people, saw the most amazing things and made a difference!”

It was not all work for the students as they had fun through facilitated activities, mixing with local conservation-minded people and experiencing first hand, being in a different culture. This experience has given the opportunity to take a new perspective that can be life-changing for the students. 

Since 2006 the International Student Volunteers (ISV) has been working in partnership with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. ISV is a world-wide not for profit organisation that gives university students the opportunity to volunteer on projects that enrich sustainable communities. The ISV program combines volunteering, education and adventure travel to create a fun rewarding experience. Read more >>

Image: ISV students clean-up at Flat Rock Permanent Reserve. Photo: Matthew Newton

A Tasmanian Land Conservancy party gets an Autumn view north to Lake Lea from Daisy Hill, with snow on the Black Bluff Range. 

Dr Keith Corbett and wife Sib have spent many months over the years visiting and researching the Cradle Mountain world heritage area and our adjacent Vale of Belvoir TLC permanent reserve. Keith has recently published an article for the Hobart Group of the Australian Plants Society.

His article about this iconic Tasmanian wild-river valley of natural grassland and old-growth rainforest is accessible here and a geological map of the area here.

You can also read more about the unique flora of Tasmania by visiting the Australian Plants Society - Tasmania Inc. website here.

Thank you to all our supporters who made the permanent protection of this wonderful place possible in 2009.

Photo: Phil Hurle, Australian National Botanical Gardens preparing specimens collected from Skullbone Plains

Our Bush Blitz to Skullbone Plains in Tasmania’s central highlands was a huge success — with between 520 to 550 species of plants and animals collected during the week.

Now that the fieldwork is now over, the team of 20 scientists are back in their labs identifying the specimens. This can often take many months, if not years to complete. Each specimen will be painstakingly described and documented before being entered into the collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the Tasmanian Herbarium, as well as other museums, universities and herbaria around Australia. They will be carefully preserved and made available for research.

The nursery team are busy preparing cuttings from each species and expect it will take from 12 to 18 months before the cuttings are ready to be planted out in the Tasmanian section of the Botanic Gardens.

Phil Hurle, nursery manager at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, has a slightly different type of collection. He has collected live specimens from over 60 species of iconic Tasmanian plants found on Skullbone Plains.  Carefully packed, the plants have made it back to the Botanic Gardens in Canberra in good condition. 

These plants are a beautiful addition to the Gardens and preserve living examples of many species. They are also a living scientific collection. Each individual plant is given a unique number and recorded in a database along with details of where and when it was collected. Every living plant is also complemented by a pressed and dried specimen in the herbarium.

Bush Blitz is a multi-million dollar continental biodiversity discovery partnership between the Australian Government, BHP Billiton and Earthwatch Australia that aims to document the plants and animals across Australia’s National Reserve System.

Skullbone Plains is a recent addition to the National Reserve System that is managed for conservation by theTasmanian Land Conservancy.

(TLC supporter and professional photographer)

We get many lovely comments about the photography taken at our TLC Reserves. Much of this work is generously donated for use to the TLC by members of Nature Photographers Tasmania, including the talented Claire Needham.

Claire has now contributed a number of her images from the TLC's Skullbone Plains and Vale of Belvoir in a 168 full colour page book for sale for $49.95

The book, which is edited by Ian Wallace, features the work of12 Australian photographers, and Claire is offering signed copies and free greeting card.

For more details contact Claire on her email at [email protected], visit her website at www.claireneedham.com or call 0400 160 394

IMMERSION - NOW EXTENDED UNTIL THE 19TH FEBRUARY 2012

VALE OF BELVOIR - A SOUND/VISUAL INSTALLATION

TLC supporter Lorraine Biggs and fellow artist Lila Meleisea spent a year on a residency project in the Cradle Mountain and Vale of Belvoir (TLC permanent reserve) areas to work on a new collaborative visual/sound project.

In the Vale they made site visits in all sorts of weather to collect sounds and film footage which they have combined for this installation.

You can see the installation at the Cradle Mountain National Park Ranger Station Interpretation Centre Gallery until 19th February 2012. The installation is then available for viewing at LARQ Gallery, 8 Hunter Street Queenstown from 25th February to 24th March 2012.

For more information please download the catalogue here.

Over the next few weeks we are going to feature products from a range of Tasmania's finest photographers that have supported The Tasmania Land Conservancy with there work. Just in time for Christmas !

This week it is the work of Andy Townsend. He has two calendars featuring TLC reserves.

The Vale of Belvoir and Skullbone Plains

Over the next few weeks we are going to feature products from a range of Tasmania's finest photographers that have supported The Tasmania Land Conservancy with there work.

First of the ranks is the 2012 Wild Tasmania Calendar by Rob Blakers, Chis Bell and Grant Dixon. It features fantastic images from around Tasmania including the TLC's Skullbone Plains reserve.

You can start your Christmas shopping here.

Thank you to all who braved the wet weather for our ten year family celebrations at Chauncy Vale on the 29th October.

A special thank you to those who helped make the day a real success with guiding walks, set-up and pack-up, face painting, house tour and sign launch and gold coin donations to cover hosting costs. A special word of thanks to the Friends of Chauncy Vale and Heather Chauncy for the tremendous help before and on the day and allowing us to use the wildlife sanctuary as the venue.

Congratulations to the winners of the lucky draw book prizes - Jo McRae, Deb Wace and Josephine Korn win "Family bush walks in Tasmania's Huon Valley" and Hilary Fawcett, Sam Mulcahy and Jet Lan win "Animals of Tasmania, wildlife of an incredible island".

Saturday the 29th October proved to be wet and wonderful for the TLC 10th anniversary family celebrations at Chauncy Vale Wildlife Sanctuary and Flat Rock Reserve.

Thank you to everyone who made it happen , made it special and came along to join in the fun.

The winners of the 3 copies of the book "Animals of Tasmania" by our own Sally Bryant and Tim Squires are:

Jet Lan, Hilary Fawcett and Sam Mulcahy

The winners of the 3 copies of the book " Family Bushwalks in Tasmania's Huon Valley" by Nell Tyson and Annie Rushton are:

Josephine Korn, Deborah Wace and Jo McRae

Congratulations to you all !

Project Skullbone is an exciting initiative from our friends at the BookEnd Trust. They are currently running five-day camps with four Tasmanian school groups at the TLC's Skullbone Plains Reserve to provide students with the opportunity to learn outside the classroom as part of research projects in world-class Tasmanian wilderness areas.

You can follow the real life expeditions of students from the four schools around Tasmania- Ogilvie High School, Jordan River Learning Federation, Scottsdale High School and Ulverstone High School. A daily update is available from the BookEnds blog click here.

Dr Sally Bryant, Manager of TLC Reserves and Research says the project is a win-win. "We are very pleased to help support challenging educational opportunities for Tasmanian students, while also gaining valuable information about the conservation values of our TLC permanent reserves."

Well done Bookend Trust, project leader Andrew Hughes and all students involved.

To help support the TLC to protect other important places please support our New Leaf project here

Photo Credit: Kip Nunn

[Caption:"A perfect April morning at "the bones""]

Dear TLC supporters,

I am shortly moving on from my role as CEO of the TLC after ten years at the helm. Since being part of the founding group of the organisation back in 2001 we have already achieved so much for conservation in Tasmania and I want to thank you for your support and encouragement over that time.

I believe that Tasmania has an important global role to play. We have one of the most diverse and beautiful islands as well as one of the world's most advanced reserve systems. With careful additions like the reserves established by the TLC we can be a living example how to properly balance protection of the environment with production and economic activity.  It is really important to have a non-political, science-based, community-owned conservation organisation like the TLC to work towards that goal.

My time as the CEO of the TLC has been exciting and incredibly rewarding. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work on building the organisation and working with financial supporters, farmers, foresters, landowners and volunteers, and the TLC's fantastic team of staff and volunteer board to protect so many important natural places in the state. Long Point, the Egg Islands, the Vale of Belvior and Skullbone Plains stand out among the amazing places that I am proud to have been part of establishing as protected areas.

After ten years it is time for a new adventure. I am committed to bringing up my young family in Tasmania and to establishing a small business in Hobart. I will also continue to work part-time with the TLC in a project role for the foreseeable future and remain absolutely committed to the TLC's mission and vision.

I think it is healthy for organisations to refresh their leadership teams to ensure that energy remains high and new ideas can flourish. The TLC has always endeavoured to act with effective leadership and governance. Renewal of the CEO role is a critical part of any organisation's journey and it is particularly important for the transition of the founding CEO to be smooth and timely.

Jane Hutchinson is taking over as the CEO after a two-year succession plan in which she has led the fundraising team. Prior to that Jane was on the TLC's board for seven years and served as president for three of those  years. She is an outstanding skilled leader who is dedicated to conservation and to Tasmania. I am delighted that she will be the TLC's next CEO.

As well as working in a part-time capacity I intend to continue to support the TLC by providing ongoing monthly donations as I have done over many years. The monthly donations are absolutely critical to the work of a small community organisation as they provide some financial certainty particularly in the face of ongoing land management costs for the important habitats and ecosystems that the TLC now stewards.

I also intend to establish a fund in the TLC's Foundation and plan in the future to make a bequest.  These are means of providing the special lands protected by the TLC with the long-term certainty that they will need beyond all of our lifetimes, as well as building an enduring association for myself with the organisation.

I hope you will join me in considering both of these means of supporting the organisation in the long-term. I believe in the TLC as a vehicle which we can trust to enact a conservation vision for this unique and special island. The TLC's vision needs support in the decades and centuries to come and it is one that I know many people are committed to.

In closing, I want to thank you personally for your part in the TLC's work over the last decade — it has been a great journey so far and one that is set to continue into the future. I will maintain a lifelong commitment to this organisation and its conservation work and I look forward to working with you in my new role as a project officer for the TLC and ongoing supporter of the organisation.

Thanks and best wishes

Nathan Males

Tasmanian Land Conservancy

Donate Here

Download TLC newsletter Spring 2011 (30) here

[Caption:"Nathan Males and Jane Hutchinson"]

Wet weather didn’t stop 12 enthusiastic volunteers from spending their weekend helping TLC to manage the weed threat at Egg Islands Reserve in Franklin on the 6^th and 7^th August.

The Egg Islands support the largest remnant of black gum (Eucalyptus ovata) woodland in southern Tasmania. This vegetation community is both rare and endangered, thanks to its habitat preference of productive fertile floodplains. Spanish heath has invaded four hectares of TLC’s Egg Islands Reserve, and can outcompete native plants, including black gums.

After assessing the weed threats to the islands in 2008, volunteers and staff have worked hard over the last two years to control the Spanish heath infestation at the northern end of Egg Islands, which covered around 4 hectares. Having treated all of the mature plants in 2010, this year’s efforts are focussed on controlling any newly germinated Spanish heath plants, as well as removing any mature plants that we may have missed in the past.

Despite the inclement weather, everyone left with a smile on their faces, having enjoyed the work, the beautiful location and the wonderful company.

More working bees will be held at Egg Islands over the coming months – if you’d like to participate, please contact the TLC.

[Caption:"Volunteers Bill Bragg & Erica Holding pulling Spanish Heath at EggIslands Aug2011. photo: Denna Kingdom"]

A small Caring for our Country grant through the Understorey Network enabled Sally Bryant and Fiona Hume (TLC) to undertake a follow up survey of the forty-spotted pardalote on Flinders Island in July 2011. Joined by Phil Bell and Matt Webb from the Threatened Species Section DPIPWE, the team spent five days searching areas of white gum in the north and the south of the island.

Forty-spot colonies previously known on Walkers Lookout and Broughams Sugar Loaf were re-surveyed, but no birds were found. Patches of white gum throughout the Darling Range, on the track to Mount Strezelecki and at North East River were searched but no birds were found. Thankfully, the small colony identified in August 2010 in Costers Gully in the Strzelecki Range, south of Bob Smiths Gully, were re-sighted and an identical count of six birds made. While it was terrific to re-sight the species on Flinders Island, there has to be more birds somewhere, and we are determined to find them.

To read more about the work of the TLC please visit our web-site here or please donate

[Caption:"Fiona Hume scanning white gum in Costers Gully, Strzelecki Range National Park."]

[Caption:"Endangered forty-spotted pardalote Photo Credit: Dave James"]

Over the month of June we had the privilege of hosting two teams of International Students Volunteers for a week from USA and Canada to work on our Flat Rock and Long Point properties. The students volunteered time from their summer break to work in Tasmania on different conservation projects and then go on an adventure tour on the mainland.

The teams followed up on approximately 25 ha of gorse and removed 800 tree guards from Long Point. At Flat Rock they tackled broom, removed approximate 150 tree guards and made barriers on disturbed sites to encourage sediment collection and natural re-vegetation.

One of the students, Joseph Giglio from New Orleans, Louisiana said:

“This experience was extremely gratifying. We often learn about land conservation in school, however, we rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to get hands-on with helping the environment.”

The group not only helped us out, but also worked with some of our community partners: planting trees in Swansea and Stony Rise.  Getting personal with native animals while raking the grass at Bonarong Wildlife Park and removing pine trees with the NEBEN skyline conservation project at Scamander.

A big thank you to the international students for all the fun and hard work they have given to the TLC.

To find out more about our volunteering programs and how you can be involved please contact us on (03) 6225 1399, email [email protected] and visit our website for information about our work or for making a donation. TLC website or donate

[Caption:"ISV team2 June 2011 at Long Point"]

[Caption:"ISV gorse-busters at Long Point June 2011"]

[Caption:"(from left to right) Rose Boylan, Morgan Febey, Eva Kline and Kate Johnson from Devonport High School"]

As part of their Independent Project class four Devonport High School students have developed an innovative and eco-friendly way to raise money for the Tasmania Land Conservancy.

The students, Eva Kline, Rose Boylan and Morgan Febey (Year 9) and Kate Johnson (Year 10), came up with the idea of gathering empty printer cartridges from the community and selling them to the Tasmanian Printer Cartridge Company, who have agreed to purchase refillable cartridges for $5 each, and to recycle any that can’t be used.

The students met with Mr Paul French, manager of the Tasmanian Printer Cartridge Company, and negotiated an agreement with him that will provide the Tasmanian Land Conservancy $5 for each usable, empty printer cartridge the students collect.

They are presenting their plan to the school in a whole school assembly shortly, and will also be contacting local primary schools and offering to develop a collection program with them as well.

This exciting project has been developed and is being managed by the four students with only minimal supervision by their teacher, and is an outstanding example of how young people can play an important part in preserving Tasmania’s natural heritage.

Thank you girls !

If you would like to find out more about this great initiative or to donate to the TLC please contact us on (03) 6225 1399 or email us at [email protected]

Donate

Recently one of our supporters, Stuart Smith, purchased "Snows Hill" near Colebrook through the TLC Revolving Fund. The property contains threatened black peppermint, blue gum and silver peppermint forest and provides habitat for spotted-tailed quolls, Tasmanian devils, possums, wombats and lots of birds. Stuart has now had the opportunity to continue the fauna survey of the property and says,

"The property is excellent!! Over the last few months there has been a considerable amount of rain. The ground has been damp for all that time, resulting in seemingly dead trees etc bursting with new growth. I've recorded nine more species of birds to the original list the TLC gave me, including this beautiful  Tasmanian brown falcon."

[Caption:"Tasmanian Brown falcon (Falco berigora tasmanica) : Photo credit Stuart Smith"]