Sea Spurge (Euphorbia Paralias) is an invasive weed originating in the northern hemisphere. Spurge has spread along the southern Australian coastline from New South Wales to southern Western Australia. Many beaches at the Prom are infested with this weed.
Sea Spurge out-competes native vegetation and changes dune habitats in coastal environments. Spurge infestations can have a detrimental effect on the breeding and nesting habitat of the threatened Hooded Plover (Thinornis Rubricollis).
We were fortunate to receive Victorian Government CoastCare grants in 2018 and 2019 to remove Sea Spurge at Squeaky Beach. The grants pay for professional weed spraying, which is followed up with volunteer hand weeding of any residual plants and regrowth. This method has been proven effective by removing Sea Spurge from 650 kilometres of coastline in south-western Tasmania.
After three years of working at Squeaky Beach, the beach-scape has been transformed, although there is still some more to do.
With Squeaky Beach largely under control, we received another CoastCare grant in 2020. This grant has allowed us to make a start on removing Sea Spurge from Picnic Bay.
Please join us in 2024, as we continue with this ambitious project to remove Sea Spurge from Prom beaches.
Friends of the Prom acknowledges the Traditional Aboriginal Custodians of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to them, their culture and their Elders, past, present and future.