Natural State

04/08/2025

One of our major planting projects for the season: Inglis River Revegetation Project at Wynyard, Tasmania.

🌱 Almost 4,000 local native seedlings planted.

👏 A proud moment for our family, working together: Matt, Karina + Marcus; with the help of Gavin (West Star Services) and the Waratah-Wynyard Council Parks and Reserves Team.

🌿 Seedlings grown by Redbreast Plants, Oldina Nursery and the Waratah-Wynyard Council Parks and Reserves Crew.

👍🏼 Grateful to be involved in this local restoration project.

29/04/2025

Tree planting at Gunns Plains, Tasmania.

Morning mist, beautiful weather. The outdoor ‘office’ put on a show: dew on the grass, spiderwebs with tiny shiny droplets, wedge-tailed eagles 🦅, birdsong, the trickle of running water, and diverse insects in flight.

We planted a variety of native plants (150) around the dam and along the creek. Gradually returning habitat on the edges of the pasture.

Much gratitude to Ian for helping us out 🫶🏼

It doesn’t feel like hard work when nature provides welcome distraction 😊..

31/03/2025

Inglis River Walking Track Revegetation Project

Natural State has undertaken w**d management along two sites - removing/managing agapanthus, montbretia , blackberries, cotoneaster, Montpellier broom, ivy and other w**ds. This is the first stage of the Inglis River Walking Track Revegetation Project. We have used various w**d control/removal methods including hand-pulling, cut and paint, manual removal (with machinery); to minimise herbicide use; particularly around sensitive native plants.

The next stage will involve revegetation with 5,000 indigenous plants.

This Project is a partnership with Waratah-Wynyard Council, Oldina Nursery, Wynyard Landcare and Natural State.

Photos (1-3) manual removal (agapanthus); (4) cut and paint of woody w**ds (cotoneaster) along the river bank; (5) spread of ivy; (6-8) walking track; (9) map indicating w**ds treated/removed.

16/12/2024

It has taken a long time to achieve positive results – where The Nut has become a more-aesthetically-pleasing tourism icon in the North West.

Over the past 10 years (since 2015) Gavin (West Star Services) and Matt (Natural State), have cleared the gorse over an area of 30 hectares; especially under the chairlift (where people’s feet were scraping on the gorse), around the chairlift stations, and the summit tracks.

We are proud of our hard work and dedication to improve the site from a w**d infested eyesore, to the beautiful tourism hotspot it is now.

We currently manage the ecological restoration work within 7 days/year; which used to take over 20 days/year.

By encouraging the local tussock grass (Poa spp.) to provide a dense ground cover over any bare ground; this competes with the w**d seed germination; and slows the gorse (and other w**ds) regrowth.

📷:
1. Gorse control since 2015
2 & 3: Before and After
4: Gavin cutting gorse
5. UTV set up to help make the job easier (previously Gavin and Matt carried all their equipment up and down the Zig Zag track)

24/10/2024

Recent landscaping job in Forth, TAS. Stage 2 of 3, involving laying turf (100 square metres), (20 cubic metres of topsoil), compacting decomposed granite (22 cubic metres), planting native grasses and grass seeding (in 500 metres of jute mesh).

Matt has over 30 years’ experience in landscaping and garden design; as well as conservation and w**d management.

It was great to have the whole family involved. Karina and Marcus helped complete this stage in time for the rainy weather 🌦️

Stage 3: will be planting colourful native plants 🌱 ..
.

24/09/2024

🌱 Today, Natural State has reached a milestone of planting our 150,000th plant since starting in 2002.

Most of the revegetation work has focused on biodiversity plantings to provide habitat & restore degraded ecosystems and waterways throughout SA, VIC & TAS.

“He who plants a tree, plants hope.”

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

“If you think 1 year ahead, sow a seed. If you think 10 years ahead, plant a tree. If you think 100 years ahead, educate the people.”..

14/05/2024

On Monday 17 October 2022; we awoke to the mighty creak and crash of a “bush alarm” at 6:45 am. The weekend prior had been heavy rainfall with severe flooding in the North West of Tasmania.

Thankfully the forest giant (White / Manna Gum, Eucalyptus viminalis) missed the house and shed; crushed two of our rainwater tanks, and a small shipping container, and created a big mess and a lot of work to tidy up!

Here’s the tree stats:
70 metres tall
2.1 m Diameter at breast height
Circumference 5.4 m at 3.2 m high

It took at least 12 months to put things back to a new normal. We have left large logs with hollows as wildlife habitat.

We can only imagine the life and history that passed under this tree - we estimate it was at least 500 years old!

The photos show some of the damage and clean-up - from an aerial perspective.

Apologies for being slack on social media posts - as we have continued to undertake Natural State work, other jobs and home/school life.

23/08/2023

🌱 About a year ago, we did some tree planting in Bishopsbourne on a beautiful property with a lovely landholder.

We returned to the property today for another round… planting a mix of native trees, shrubs and grasses…. A total of 2,182 plants between a small team of 5.

Although a little windy at times, it was nice to hear the bleating lambs and sheep in the adjacent paddock; the frogs croaking; and the birds.

Natural State has been undertaking revegetation at this site for the past three years.

04/08/2022

Over 20 years ago I started Natural State to try to make a positive difference in my community by providing a range of environmental services.

Looking back at some of the outcomes delivered by Natural State so far, hopefully it proves that one person really can bring about much needed change:

🌱 Environmental education, field days & workshops presented to over 10,000 people, mostly school kids, community groups and farmers.

🌱 Grown over 100,000 indigenous seedlings.

🌱 Planted over 140,000 local native seedlings for biodiversity / habitat, shelterbelts & river restoration.

🌱 Direct seeded over 100 ha for revegetation projects.

🌱 Collected over 300 kg of local native seed.

🌱 1,000’s of hectares of high conservation value natural areas protected or restored in SA, VIC & TAS through w**d management, feral animal control & fencing.

🌱 Assisted many land managers, landowners & businesses with technical advice to comply with environmental legislation to avoid, minimise or offset impacts.

I’m so thankful to have been able to deliver many great conservation projects and to work with many incredible people along the way.

- Matt Rose

Photo order:
1. Natural State_Seed collecting
2. Natural State_Environmental education
3. Natural State_Seedling propagation
4. Natural State_Large scale tree planting
5. Natural State_Minesite rehab

12/05/2022

Last week, Matt, in conjunction with Herbert from Habitat Plants, helped plant 300 pencil pines at Lake Mackenzie with Hydro Tasmania.

It was great to be involved in this project!

Pencil pines are endemic to Tasmania and can grow for up to 1200 years! The 2016 bushfires decimated their population around Lake Mackenzie and being fire-sensitive, the pines have not regrown.

We've been doing plantings in the Lake Mackenzie area, to both restore degraded areas and contribute to a UTAS-NRE research project exploring the conditions that help young Pencil Pines thrive. The plants were grown by Habitat Plants (at Liffey) using seeds from the Millennium Seedbank (located at the Tasmanian Botanical Gardens) and from cuttings from the Lake Mackenzie and other Central Plateau areas.

Despite predicted snow and cold weather last week, the team (pictured) headed to the site for the second of three rounds of planting. In typical Tassie style, the day was brisk but sunny. We’ll be sharing more about this special regeneration story in coming months so stay tuned!

11/12/2021

Our last planting project for 2021 was completed today at Turners Beach:
70 x advanced Tasmanian Blue gums with our custom-made possum exclusion mesh guards.

🌱🌱🌱🦜🦜🦉🦉

We have planted a total of 23,892 indigenous plants this revegetation season with 112 person work days between March – December 2021! I’m still feeling it too!

🌱🌱🌱🦜🦜🦉🦉

Projects have focussed on erosion control along waterways, privacy / screening, shelterbelts, bandicoot habitat, carbon sequestration, and to support local biodiversity.

We’ve planted sites all over northern Tasmania: east to Beechford & Avoca, then Bishopsbourne, Carrick, Launceston, Glengarry, Lake McKenzie, Cradle Mountain / Dove Lake, Rocky Cape, Devonport, Forth & Turners Beach.

For 20 years Natural State’s restoration work in SA, VIC & TAS has made a lasting ecological & social difference, whilst our small business has also supported local economic development in the process.

Just imagine what we could achieve with a few more people on the ground, greater collaboration within the sector, and longer term (10-20 year) government incentive funding programs!