Friends of St Valentines Peak Boardwalk project

Friends of St Valentines Peak

St Valentines Peak is a prominent mountain on the north west coast of Tasmania only 30 minutes’ drive south of Burnie. Public access to the peak is enabled by a track that was constructed in 1995.

Wildcare’s Friends of St Valentines Peak formed in 2020 to maintain the existing walking track and prevent erosion and track degradation caused by the increasing number of users accessing this unique alpine environment.

The group plays a key role in coordinating the practical support of several parties with land management responsibility for the area including Forico, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania and the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service (PWS) and in 2021 received a grant from Wildcare’s Tasmanian Nature Conservation Fund (TNCF), to bring these parties together with volunteers to restore the most degraded sections of the track where users had been bypassing boggy sections of buttongrass and creating further damage.

The challenges were getting every facet of the project to line up so the job could be completed in a 2 month window over summer. The timber needed to be positioned in Spring 2021 to take advantage of Forico using the helicopter in the area at this time so ferrying costs were not included. Due to the nature of the area, the timber had to be installed when the ground was at its driest. The ground had already become very wet in April when the wire netting was laid on the newly constructed boardwalk.

Volunteer tasks included:

  • Measuring the distance required to be constructed
  • Finalising the design
  • Obtaining plans
  • Sourcing quotes from builder and material suppliers
  • Gaining permission to store timber near site (thanks to Tasmania Mines)
  • Arranged a helicopter lift to fit in with Forico forestry operations
  • Assisting with helicopter timber drop
  • Booking in builders time
  • Arranging for the required number of volunteers to help with construction
  • Constructing raised boardwalk

6 volunteers from within the group assisted with the construction and 7 volunteers helped lay and secure the wire netting. The total volunteer hour estimate = 90 hours.

With special thanks to those who donated to Wildcare’s TNCF, to the volunteers for working hard to achieve the on-ground outcomes and to our supportive land management partners; Forico, Sustainable Timbers and Tas. PWS.