Arm End
Arm End is one the largest ever cultural and environmental rehabilitation and reinstatement projects on the Eastern Shore of nipaluna (Hobart). After inheriting a legacy of over 200 years of environmental degradation and mismanagement, Arm End will be progressively peeling back the layers of Country to return the majority of the cultural landscape back to how it was when the Mumurimina people walked this land. Over 60 per cent of the headland will be rehabilitated and reinstated over a decades long commitment to Country. The remaining 30 per cent will be a landscape and contour based golf course and public walking tracks with minimal impact to the broader cultural landscape of the headland. Arm End will continue engaging and communicating with Aboriginal people throughout the project.
Arm End is also committed to providing On Country experiences that connect people with the Deep Time stories that exist throughout the Aboriginal cultural landscape of the Gellibrand Point Nature Recreation Area.
Arm End is collaborating with Aboriginal people to heal Country through reconnection, managing cultural landscapes and contributing to regenerating its ecosystems under a Healthy Country model. A Healthy Country model cares for Country holistically by engaging with past and present stories, ancestral and contemporary cultural heritage and practices, regeneration and enhancement of lands and Sea Country through eradicating or minimising harms and protecting and enhancing healthy aspects of Country. Arm End currently supports the employment of Aboriginal Rangers working to remove noxious weeds, including an infestation of African Boxthorn from the Reserve, which will transition into ongoing full-time employment. We have invested into removing the boxthorn and converting it into biochar. The biochar is an essential foundation for regenerating soils disrupted by previous farming practices.
More than two-thirds of the property is earmarked for revegetation. Revegetation will return many plant species to Country for the first time in 200 years including locally endangered and threatened species. These will support the regeneration of cultural practices on Country, including cultural burning, as well as support several species of threatened and endangered birds.
It is our intent to work with Aboriginal people and the Crown to work towards transferring the Gellibrand Point Nature Recreation Area into Aboriginal ownership.
A partnership with the CSIRO will see ongoing monitoring of the iconic and vulnerable Spotted Handfish and the broader health of Sea Country, to ensure the waters surrounding Arm End continue to support populations of this endangered Tasmanian icon.
Economic Impact
In addition to stimulating significant ongoing economic activity for lutruwita / Tasmania through walking tourism and golf, the Arm End development is set to have a profound local economic impact.
The pipeline transporting Class A water from Blackmans Bay is set to unlock a raft of agricultural opportunities for the region, while also allowing for a rejuvenation of the existing 9-hole Iron Pot golf course at South Arm.
Further Economic Benefits Include:
Flow on economic benefits to the local RSL and other local businesses from Opossum Bay to Lauderdale, both during and after construction.
Current employment of young people at the Ye Olde Local Store at South Arm.
Current employment of Aboriginal Rangers on-site removing the infestation of African Boxthorn and other noxious weeds.
Walking
From the traditional owners, the Mumirimina People of the South East Nation, to notable local families including the Gellibrands and the Calverts, the land at Arm End contains layers of stories.
Arm End will be home to a network of high-quality walking tracks, allowing visitors and locals to spend an hour or two, or an entire day, exploring the natural beauty and deep cultural and historic significance of the area.
It is predicted this walking network will attract more visitors and recreation users to Arm End than the golf course, becoming an iconic tourism activity in its own right and maximising opportunities for enjoyment of the reserve.