What's New in December 2018 BCLN E-news Welcome to the December E-news and congratulations to all of our members and friends for another great year in Landcare! We would like to wish you and your families all the best for a safe and happy festive season. We will return with our next E-news in February to let you know a bit more about what's in store for 2019, but for now, read on and catch up on all of the great things happening across your landscapes! There is also the chance to be in the running for a $200 voucher to the farm supplies store of your choice, just by filling out our 10 minute survey to help us find out about your training needs. Your answers will help us provide you with more relevant information, field days and workshops that will better assist you in sustainably managing your property into the future. Scroll down for the link to participate! Scan below to read our snapshot stories or click on the read more links to get the full story. For all the latest updates follow us on Facebook by clicking here and if you haven't already, give us a like and follow our page! GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS BCLN Trainee Caleb Kilgour receives Certificate for study Our very own Works Crew trainee Caleb Kilgour (left) and Sam Watson (second left) from Westernport Water, recently received their Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management. The course they took part in was developed by the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority and Trust for Nature with the region's Indigenous organisations and Holmesglen Institute of TAFE as a way to assist the region's Traditional Owners to strengthen their cultural knowledge and increase their work in natural resource management. The course provided a great opportunity for two-way learning, with students learning about land management while also sharing their cultural knowledge. Congratulations guys on all of your hard work!!! Click here to meet the rest of our BCLN Staff team Sunshine for our Second Beekeeping Masterclass We had a beautiful day on Saturday the 1 st for our second Beekeeping Masterclass. Due to the warm weather we were able to have the hives open for longer, meaning we could spend some time learning how to handle the frames and have a closer look at what our little critters are getting up to. The yellow hive has started producing in the top box as well as the bottom, slightly ahead of the blue hive who are keeping to the bottom box. We then had a great talk about swarming and learnt why bees swarm and how to prevent our own bees from swarming by making sure they have plenty of room in the hive. We're all learning so much, and really looking forward to next month! Click here for all announcements of new training days, workshops or Master classes on offer. A beautiful day for an AGM in Bass We had a beautiful day in Bass recently for our AGM and tour day! Congratulations to all our groups and members for another fantastic year of Landcare. Thanks so much to our inspiring speaker Anita Pryor of Adventure Works Australia, a keen practitioner, trainer and researcher in Bush adventure therapy who came all the way from Tasmania to discuss the connection between healthy landscapes and healthy people. Thank you to our outgoing board members and congratulations to our new Board Members including, Ric Oldham - chair, Bret Dodd - vice chair, Roger Lee - treasurer, Anna Gloria - secretary, Mike Cleeland, Linda Bowden , Jean Coffey, Paul Speirs, Daryl Hook, Don Creed, Brian Enbom, Clare Stainsby and Ray Kirk. Thanks also to Mez Oldham and team for providing the most delicious local food lunch, Nursery volunteer Ray Kirk who took the nursery tour, our staff Pete and Lisa who took the River Garden tour, Kellie who organised it all and Paul Spiers for showing Anita his property this morning for her own bush therapy session. A great day had by all! Click here for a copy of all we have achieved together in this year’s Annual Report. Conclusion of Cloverdale plantings Bass Coast Landcare Works Crew were engaged by Bronson engineering to plant out 87,000 plants and control woody weeds in the large swale drain on the Western Boundary of the Cloverdale estate. The broad aim of the planting is to improve water quality running off the estate into the Powlett river system. The vast majority of the plants are reeds, rushes and grasses with some Swamp Paperbark and a few Swamp Gums. The planting took place over the last few months, however we put the last plants in last week and with recent rainfall we are hoping for a good result. Well done to the BCLN works crew for completing the job and creating a great new ecosystem in Dalyston. Click here for more information on services available from our Works Crew Phillip Island Landcare Group AGM The Phillip Island Landcare group held their AGM on the 2nd of December at the beautiful Jackson farm in Rhyll, followed by a farm walk and gorgeous BBQ lunch. Congratulations to the outgoing committee for a successful year and a great event. Also well done to the new incoming committee who will no doubt continue the great work of the Phillip Island Landcare Group. Click here to find out more about the Phillip Island Landcare Group activities. Gorse no Match for the EcoBlade Earlier in the year, we had the pleasure of seeing the EcoBlade in action on a property heavily infested with gorse. The machine simultaneously cuts and poisons the gorse, mulching the remains of the plant, leaving a beautifully neat paddock behind. If you want to read more about this amazing piece of machinery, check out page 3 of this month’s issue of Gorse Talk by clicking the link below. If you're interested in learning more about gorse and the ways we are targeting it here at BCLN, keep your eyes peeled for announcements about our upcoming forum to be held early next year. Click here to see more on the EcoBlade Gippsland Intrepid Landcare hit the beach at Phillip Island for a cleanup weekend On their recent Beach clean up weekend, Gippsland Intrepids we were unsure what and how much rubbish they were going to find, as the beach at Cape Woolamai looked pretty clean from afar. But..... when they looked closer they found 886 pieces of small plastic, 11 cotton buds, heaps of rope and cigarette buts. Congratulations to this group for another fantastic event weekend, partnering with Sea Shepherd Australia, Plastic Free Phillip Island & San Remo, The Sheltered Glamping Co, Lime & Co, Westernport Water, Steve Ulula Parker and all organized by group member Jarryd Minahan, epic effort guys!! Click here to check out future events and happenings in Gippsland Intrepid Landcare The best of before and after’s on ‘Throwback Thursdays’ Our new feature on our Facebook page, ‘Throwback Thursdays” has been getting a great following but we are still looking for more great stories and pics from you! Send in your before and after shots from your Landcare projects and inspire others into action. Be part of our great Landcare community, learning and sharing with each other. Click here to check out the story behind Sam Tambaru’s property and see just how fast the right indigenous plants in the right place can grow! What’s your story? We’d love to hear it! Send your pics and info to
[email protected] GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS Training needs survey - we want to know what you want to know - go in the draw for a $200 voucher! We are using a 10-minute survey to gather information from you on the types of field days, training courses and farm discussion groups that are interesting and relevant to you and your farming practice. We want your feedback on training opportunities to match your needs. You can choose to remain anonymous if you wish, or leave your email address to go in the draw for a $200 voucher to a local farm supplies store of your choice!! The survey will be open until the 5th of February 2019 and we encourage all members to participate. For the next 5 years we plan to roll out activities with funding from the Australian Government National Landcare Program throughout the Westernport Catchment Landcare Network, Bass Coast Landcare Network, South Gippsland Landcare Network and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council areas. There will be a range of farmer discussion groups, field days, training and workshops and we are keen to get your feedback on what your needs might be. Thank you for your participation! Click here to complete the survey for a chance to win yourself a $200 voucher. National Landcare Program – Smart Farms Small Grants - Round 2 opens Applications for round two of the National Landcare Program - Smart Farms Small Grants program are now open! More than $9 million is available as part of round two. Grants of between $5,000 and $100,000 are available to assist farmers and groups to adapt to change, innovate and become more sustainable. Applications close: 11 January 2019 - 11:30pm AEDT Organisations and individuals may apply for funding for projects that promote and deliver land manager adoption of best practice sustainable land management. Applicants may also apply for projects that strengthen the capacity of Landcare groups and others to improve land manager adoption of best practice. Projects may be delivered locally, regionally and multi-regionally. Projects will fall into one of four categories, based on their value and the outcomes they are focussed on achieving. For more information, including the grant guidelines, click here. Improving farm dams for livestock With a few simple modifications, traditional farm dams can be transformed from simply a source of water into habitat hot-spots in rural landscapes for native plant and animal species. These improved farm dams also have the benefit of increasing farm productivity and improving aesthetics and wellbeing. A mosaic of habitat hot-spots across the landscape may assist with providing much-needed habitat for
