Gorse task force develop virtual field day

Posted on 4 November, 2020 by Ivan

You don’t have to go far around our region to see the menace that is the invasive plant Gorse (Ulex Europaeus). It has established in the disturbed sites around our parks and reserves, as well as roadsides and large tracts of private land. Gorse is one of Australia’s worst agricultural and environmental weeds. It infests valuable pastoral land and significantly reduces land values. It’s a haven for rabbits, foxes and feral cats, it clogs waterways and it prevents regeneration of native plants.

During 2019-20 Connecting Country partnered with Taradale Landcare to coordinate a community-driven gorse control project in Taradale in Central Victoria, funded through the Victorian Gorse Taskforce. This resulted in successful treatments of some large tracts of gorse. Tackling gorse takes effort – but doing nothing means it just gets worse. The Taradale area demonstrates a prime example of how bad gorse can get in a short period of time.

Gorse can form dense spiny thickets, with seeds lasting up to 30 years in the soil (photo: Gorse Task Force)

The Victorian Gorse Taskforce (VGT) is a community group that leads the education and extension for gorse management across private and public land. They source funding from across government for community-led activities to reduce gorse in local areas. These groups provide information, financial and practical support to landowners managing gorse and are helping reduce gorse across the Victorian landscape.

The Victorian Gorse Taskforce has recently developed a useful virtual demonstration field day presentation. It gives an excellent overview about the organisation, the main components of a gorse management plan, effective control methods and who can assist in your gorse control efforts. It contains great video footage of how to conduct treatments and control methods, which we thought would be useful for our community.

Please view the virtual field day video below, courtesy of the Victorian Gorse Taskforce.