343 Volunteering in the remote Tasmanian coastal wilderness
Show notes
Throughout Australia much of our wilderness areas and reserves are managed by the relevant government agencies and while to do the best they can with limited resources they also rely on the support of enthusiast volunteer groups and individuals to assist, often undertaking work that government is unable to.
In today’s Episode we catch up with Jon and Justine from the Tasmanian Volunteer group Wilcare SPRATS (“Sea sPurge Remote Area TeamS”), SPRATS for short, who for the past 18 seasons have taken on the responsibility for managing invasive weeds growth on an 850km section of Tasmania’s’ wild and remote southern and Western coastlines which has seen a 98% reduction in the targeted weed species.
Podcast Overview
In this episode we discuss the impact that volunteering can have on Tasmania’s wild and remote southern and Western coastlines:
- Podcast Introduction (time index 0:01:32)
- Before we get onto SPRATS provide give us an overview on your hiking experience (time index 0:02:27)
- Now onto SPRATS and volunteering’ How did SPRATS come about? (time index 0:04:30)
- How is SPRATS funded?(time index 0:09:47)
- You look after 850km of coastline on the southern and western coastlines of Tasmania. How did you decide this was the area to look after? (time index 0:11:54)
- Is the plan to expand from this area or is this based around the number of volunteers/funding etc? (time index 0:12:33)
- What form does the Biological contribute control take? (time index 0:14:38)
- How do you work out the annual work plan? (time index 0:16:32)
- Take us through a typical ‘weeding event’ (time index 0:19:00)
- What do you do with the weeds once they’ve been pulled out? (time index 0:21:34)
- Snakes? (time index 0:24:18)
- What sort of skills does volunteers need? (time index 0:25:50)
- How long is a typical volunteer rotation? (time index 0:26:507)
- Justine as a volunteer why do you take part and what do you get out of the volunteer program? (time index 0:27:17)
- Provide a brief overview of a typical day/trip (time index 0:28:15)
- Do you have any interesting or memorable trips, is so why? (time index 0:31:03)
- If our listeners want to help SPRATS or get involved, where can they get more information or who can they contact. (time index 0:033:24)
One final question
- Where to for SPRATS in the next few years(time index 0:35:36)
Final thoughts (time index 0:37:34)
Close (time index 0:41:234)
Resources
Mature sea spurge and seedlings Photo credit Geoffrey Luscombe
Jon emerging from a belt of thick scrub. Photo credit Andy Macqueen
Justine, putting a face to a name Photo credit Andy Macqueen
2026 SPRATS volunteers before helicopter Photo credit Geoffrey Luscombe
Mikayla pulling sea spurge from dune top pigface. Photo credit Andy Macqueen
Jon and Gabby heading off on a misty south coast morning. Photo credit Geoffrey Luscombe
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Publishing date
7 April 2026