2023 Restore Pedder BioBlitz 

November 25-26th, Pedder Impoundment.

2023 Restore Pedder BioBlitz | November 25-26th

🌿 Our BioBlitz is back for a second year 🔎 Come for a day, or the whole weekend. Learn about, & be part of, restoring Lake Pedder, through citizen science. 

⏱️November 25th & 26th.  📍Pedder Impoundment, Scott’s Peak Road. Book here.

What will restoring Pedder look like, ecologically? Restoration practitioners Graham Green and Todd Dudley will discuss everything from the standard of ecological restoration to preparatory seed collection, social and culture values. There will be several flora & fauna surveys, fire & rehabilitation work assessments, nature journaling & more. Family friendly event. No experience necessary – only enthusiasm is required. There are very limited places so get in quick! Booking fees will help cover the costs of running the event. Please note if you wish to attend both days, the Strathgordon lodge is closed to the public. There are free camp spots at the Edgar (Our base) and Huon Camp grounds, as well as Tedds Beach, or accommodation in Maydena, Westerway & Ellendale. Read about the 2022 BioBlitz here.

Across the weekend of October 1-2, 2022 over 30 community members participated in the inaugural Lake Pedder BioBlitz. People of all ages, and back grounds came together to survey over 30km2 on terra firma, kayakers monitored over 10km of the impoundment shore line and a cohort of university environmental science students embarked on the arduous 18km return trek following the old Lake Pedder Track.

The event was made possible thanks to the incredible support of Highways and Byways, through their incredible community work in healing the land and healing ourselves, together.

Thanks also to the wonderful folk at Roaring 40s Kayaking for the equipment and ongoing support. Likewise the accompanying expertise of the Tasmanian Wilderness Guides, for volunteering their time and enthusiasm to make the weekend a success.

The main surveys teams found plenty of Tasmanian devil and quoll scatts, as well as evidence of masked owls, and a platypus was spotted. They also gathered a comprehensive set of vegetation data from 12 sites around the impoundment.

The Lake Pedder BioBlitz was also be run as an early instalment of the Great Southern BioBlitz, mapping biodiversity in the southern hemisphere using iNaturalist. Not only will our work be helpful for Lake Pedder, it will be part of a critical global environmental snapshot amidst the biodiversity crisis.

The Pedder Track crew (featured below!), had the biggest epic of all! An overnighter below the Coronets, where we’d hope, one day in the not to distant future, there will be a lookout with interpretation telling the story of Lake Pedder. The cohort from the University of Tasmania’s enviorment society and landcare society, survyed the risks of increased foot traffic in the area, as well as recording the biodiversity around key points such as the entrance saddle, Swampy Creek and Coronets.

Our inaugural BioBlitz has been made possible thanks to the incredible support of Highways and Byways. Be sure the check out their incredible community work in healing the land and healing ourselves here.