Hello to all of our Landcare Members, Partners, Sponsors, and Friends throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network and welcome to the November edition of the BCLN Enews.

This month's Enews contains a range of events, articles on recent events, general news, grants and more! We hope you enjoy this edition.

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We are super excited to have had such a great response to this new program, the remaining sessions are booked out and onto waiting list only, however most weeks there have been some cancellations so please still book if you want to join the fun! Explore the natural world in fun guided activities for 3-5 year olds, at the River Garden and Hall in Bass. Over 8x Friday mornings starting October 20th, we will cover themes including, Beautiful Butterflies, Wiggly Worms, Wonderful Water Bugs, Super Seeds and Plants, Australian Animals and more. Children will get to take something home from each session, be it a special hand painted pot, an insect hotel or plants, and a free morning tea is included. Thanks to funding from VicHealth, this is a free program, however bookings are essential to cover our catering and materials needs. Please note that adult supervision and participation is required alongside the kids, so if you are a parent, grandparent or carer and are looking for fun activities to do with the kids we would love to see you at the River Garden Little Kids program. 

Please click here for bookings and more information.

Bass Coast Shire Council and Food and Fibre Gippsland are delivering workshops to organisations who support our farming community. Participants will gain knowledge and insight around resilient farming practices, while hearing from guest speakers and industry experts about how their organisation can better understand the challenges within farming communities. Specific local education will be provided in relation to resilient agricultural practices, both off-farm and on-farm. There are three workshops tailored to specific sectors.

• Financial services sector – Wednesday 22 November 9.00am – 12.00pm @ Newhaven VIC meeting room
• Community organisations – Wednesday 22 November 1.00pm – 4.00pm @ Newhaven VIC meeting room
• Health based organisations – Friday 24 November 9.00am – 12.00 pm Old Wonthaggi Post Office meeting room.

For further information and to register, click here. 

The Weeds at the Early Stage of Invasion (WESI) Project (of DEECA), Agriculture Victoria and Parks Victoria are holding weed identification training on Thursday 23rd of November at Fish Creek Memorial Hall (13 Falls Rd, Fish Creek, VIC 3959). The training will focus on early invader weeds of the South Gippsland region and State Prohibited Weeds for Victoria. This is a free one day session, open to anyone with an interest in environmental weed identification and management.  

To register click here.

You are invited to an exciting farm walk at the Kongwak property of Lee and Stephen Storti. The farm is managed as an organically certified beef and pig farming enterprise.  Peter Ronalds from Inspired Ag Solutions will be joining us on the day to contribute his knowledge and expertise.  This will be a fantastic interactive farm walk and we hope to see you all on the day.  

Click here for all event and RSVP details.

South Gippsland Landcare Network invite you to learn from prominent soil scientist Declan McDonald on how to improve soil management to reduce weed infestation such as Ragwort and achieve a myriad of other on-farm benefits. This event will be held at Hallston Hall from 10am-1230pm on Saturday November 25th.

Click here for more information and to book your place. 

GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS

Recently BCLN Landcare staff members, Joel Kilgour, Jye Anderson and Joel Geoghegan were fortunate to attend a 4-day intensive training course provided by the Mulloon Institute on the Great Diving Range tablelands in southern NSW. The course was centered around the concepts of re-hydrating the landscape and restoring landscape function. Along with representatives from organisations in NSW, Qld and WA we spent time learning about reading the landscape, the hydrological cycle and potential intervention techniques that can be used as a tool to hold water in the catchment for longer, mitigating the effects of drought and hot dry summers.  Thanks to the Mulloon Institute for facilitating the training and organizing an informative and fun event.

For further information restoring landscape function in Bass Coast click here. 

Over the course of the 2022/23 financial year BCLN have facilitated the planting of a record breaking 451,660 indigenous plants which is a massive effort by our NRM staff team.   These plantings occurred over 100 individual projects across our 10 landcare group areas. The scale of our revegetation would not be possible without our incredible volunteers and dedicated works crew. We would like to thank the 1,450 volunteers who attended a planting day and contributed to our ongoing revegetation efforts.  BCLN would like to acknowledge our major funding partners throughout the financial year, the Bass Coast Shire Council, West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Melbourne Water and the Victorian State Government for their ongoing support to make this possible.

For further information on how you can get involved in this exciting program, click here. ​

Spring is well underway and it is time to control weeds before they set seed. Three Creeks Landcare are looking for suitable sites to host our new weed control signs - a gentle reminder to our neighbors to check for weeds. If you have a property with frontage on a busy road and would like to discuss hosting one of our signs, please contact [email protected]

For more information about controlling weeds on our website, click here.

Have you seen a Lace Monitor (Tree Goanna or Varanus varius) on the Bass Coast?! Lace Monitors are listed as a threatened species in Victoria and are particularly rare on the Bass Coast. Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group (GTSAG) and Bass Coast Landcare Network are working on a project to protect threatened species in the local area, and the first step is to identify their whereabouts! They can usually be found in Messmate Stringybark trees in woodlands or bathing in the sun. If you have seen, heard of or taken a photo of a Lace Monitor locally, please help us by sharing the following information: Year, Address, Description of location on property, Other observations (in tree, crossing road, dead or alive etc.): Please screenshot a map on your phone and mark the location to attach and send to: [email protected]

Click here to learn more about Lace Monitors.​ 

The Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group (GTSAG) AGM was held on Sunday 12th November at a great property in Fish Creek.  GTSAG members also teamed up with Prom Coast Ecolink members for an enjoyable walk through remnant and revegetated forest. Many thanks to our farm hosts and also to the Prom Coast Ecolink members who joined us. A great chance to exchange biodiversity and biolinks ideas and to just get out and enjoy the bush.

Click here to learn more about the Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group. ​

GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION, RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS

The Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) Rebuilding Regional Communities (RRC) stream gives small remote, rural and regional communities across Australia the opportunity to access funds for a broad range of initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities.  The Australian Government has partnered with the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal to distribute $5 million from 2022 to 2024 to support community-led initiatives.   Applications close on December 4th 2023. 

For further information, click here.

Agriculture Victoria (AgVic) works with Victorian farmers and the agriculture sector to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters including fires, floods and storms. A new Fire Preparedness Toolkit has been launched to assist farmers and private land managers with preparing their farm business, livestock, staff and infrastructure ahead of the fire season.  AgVic will also host a webinar that will highlight what farm preparedness activities you can undertake on your farm. 

To access the toolkit, click here.​

For further information on the webinar and to RSVP, click here.

The Volunteering Resource Hub have some great online resources available to support organisations and groups who work with volunteers.  The Volunteering Resource Hub is an initiative of Volunteering Australia, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. It brings together useful, evidence-based and current best practice resources, tools, research and information to support effective volunteer management across Australia.

For further information and to access these valuable resources, click here.

Now in its 32nd year, the State and Territory Landcare Awards stand as a prestigious biennial national Landcare Awards program. The objective is to honour individuals, groups and organisations that are making outstanding contributions to caring for the environment in their local communities for the benefit of all Australians today, and for generations to come. In each state and territory, the Landcare Awards will be granted to recognise the achievements that encompass climate action, environmental leadership, sustainable agriculture, First Nations, Women in landcare, youth, Coastcare and children. Nominating is free. You can nominate yourself, or you can nominate someone you know who should be recognised for their work to restore, enhance and protect the natural environment in their community.

For further information on the awards, click here. 

The Very Fast Break is produced by Agriculture Victoria and provides updates on soil moisture, seasonal climate drivers and outlooks.  In this edition there is a short video on Victoria's seasonal outlook and a podcast on all things farming and climate called 'My Rain Gauge is Busted'. 

If you would like to subscribe to The Break newsletter please email [email protected]

To access the Very Fast Break, click here.

The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions have developed a fantastic weed identification resource.  WeedScan goes beyond mere science, having undergone rigorous testing in the field by farmers, community groups, agronomists, park rangers, and Weeds/NRM officers across Australia. The connection between identification and actionable solutions for each weed has been thoroughly tried and proven.

For further information on WeedScan, click here.  

We are pleased to announce successful funding for a new project, Becoming fire wise in Bass Coast. The project is funded by the Australian Governments Preparing Australian Communities program in partnership with the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife (FNPW). The Fire Wise project will engage community members and local groups from across the Bass Coast Landcare Network area. It aims to improve, share, test and demonstrate our understanding of how numerous species of indigenous plants can be retained or planted in strategic locations around the built environment, to better protect our assets and enhance our local biodiversity. For further information on this project please email Joel Geoghegan on [email protected]

PHOTO CAPTION:  Acacia melanoxylon (Australian Blackwood) is common throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network area. Like many native trees, the tree is adapted to bushfires.   Less well known is its ability to slow the movement of bushfires, providing a barrier which might help stop fires from spreading in fire wise farms and gardens.

To find out more about this exciting new project click here for our full story. 

We have been having a great time at our weekly River Garden Kids Sessions this October and November with some very excited 3-5 year old kids and their adults. They have immensely enjoyed looking at Water bugs, finding out all about Super Seeds and Growing Great veggies, as well as Busy bees, Beautiful Butterflies and more. This has been such a fantastic program for young families to get involved with Landcare and we hope to continue it into the future. We have also had year 9's from Bass Coast College helping to clear our veggie beds of spent crops, topping up our no dig garden beds, as well as planting some veggies and our new butterfly garden area. This is between our swales and hops and will act as a beneficial insect attracting border of plants that will provide shelter from wind too. It is full of species of plants that local pollinators and butterflies use for nectar and to lay eggs on as food plants for their caterpillars. We look forward to a few more sessions with Bass Coast College students before the end of this term and have now confirmed that Community Corrections crews will be back in 2024 to assist with ongoing River Garden maintenance as well. 

Click here to find out what else is going on down at the River Garden. 

Capturing Carbon for a Biodiverse Bass Coast - In local planting projects!

If you feel passionate about the environment and want to contribute to action on climate change by reducing the impact of your car on our planet, why not consider becoming a part of our ‘Capturing Carbon for a biodiverse Bass Coast’ program? Head to our web page at the link below and simply click on your car's size to make a tax-deductible donation, so we can plant indigenous plants in biodiverse plantings across Bass coast on your behalf. These plantings will increase habitat and important wildlife corridor connections while capturing carbon from the atmosphere. All your friends and family will also see your complimentary car sticker showing your commitment to the Bass Coast environment and climate action.

Landcare Public Fund making projects a reality – Donate today to make a difference!

The Bass Coast Landcare Public Fund is a regional non-profit organisation focusing on conserving biodiversity throughout Bass Coast.​ We do this by supporting community groups to work in their local area to add value to their conservation efforts, encourage broader community ownership and participation and by working in partnership with other land managers. We work to help protect native plants and animals in Bass Coast’s most ecologically important landscapes. Your tax-deductible contribution, no matter how small, or by leaving a bequest in your will, helps to protect native plants and animals in Bass Coast’s most ecologically important landscapes. ​

What's your story?

We would love to hear from you and your Landcare group with stories and photos of what's been happening in your area and any suggestions of things that you would like to see in your E-news.

We look forward to meeting and catching up with you at upcoming events and activities around Bass Coast.

Until next edition, 

Happy reading, from the Bass Coast Landcare Network.

The Bass Coast Landcare Network would like to acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Land Owners within the Network area, The Bunurong and Boon Wurrung people. We also recognise the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations in Land and Natural Resource Management.