The Inala Foundation supports efforts to retore native habitat within the Inala Nature Reserve and on Bruny Island overall by the removal of invasive species such as blackberry. The removal of invasive plant species mitigates fire risk to key tree species such as the White Gum, which provide essential habitat for the Forty-spotted Pardalote.
To protect the white gums from fire, the Inala Foundation is supporting the removal of fire hazards around the trees. This mostly entails the removal of blackberry, which is one of 32 invasive species of plants that have been identified as Weeds of National Significance in Australia.
Blackberry thickets are highly flammable, particularly because of the amount of dry material that accumulates within them, and any fire burning in the thickets along the creeks would potentially threaten the white gums.
We are replacing blackberries with native species of shrubs.
After removing the blackberry, we are revegetating the creek-lines with local native species of shrubs that we have propagated to provide habitat for birds that inhabit undergrowth. We are selecting species for revegetation that have low flammability such as native laurel, Anopterus glandulosus.