Hello to all of our Landcare Members, Partners, Sponsors and Friends throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network.

Well it's been another strange month between getting out of lockdown 5.0 and going back into lockdown 6.0, with many events cancelled or postponed. With some freedom again, we have been able to hold a few planting days, and some of the events which were scheduled to run throughout late July-early August were moved to Zoom.

Technology has really been very important in so many ways throughout this pandemic, and as each online event happens, we all get better at using the platforms available to their full potential. This month we were able to record some Zoom sessions, which has meant that even if you weren't available at the time of the event, you can still benefit from the great speakers we have been lucky enough to host.

We have some new dates to put in your diaries, as well as lots of other exciting and informative bits and pieces, so relax, put your feet up and enjoy this month's BCLN Enews!

For all the latest updates, follow us on Facebook and Instagram... just click the links above!

UPCOMING EVENTS 

Our next River Garden Blitz Day was scheduled for Saturday 14th of August but due to Covid restrictions on gatherings in public places to 10 people, we decided to postpone until Saturday 28th August. This Blitz we welcome back Guest speaker, local Horticulture teacher Adrian James, who will be helping us to control pests, diseases, and disorders with the I.D. / Treat / Manage approach. Participants are asked to bring along a photo or a bagged sample of a pest, disease or disorder on your vegetables or fruit trees, or even natives as well, so we can discuss problems and come up with solutions for you. If you have ever wondered what is eating your cabbages, why your citrus leaves are yellow or what that funny spot is on your leaves then this is the day for you!

We will start at 9:30am and run until 3pm in the format of part hands-on Blitz with tasks for all abilities and ages, part demonstration, discussion and hands-on workshop with a free lunch for those who register via our website link below. Can’t wait to see you all down at the River Garden!!

River Garden Blitz Workshop days are supported with funding from VicHealth Reimagine health program.

Click here for all details and to book your place​

Gippsland Intrepid Landcare's Plant and Dance has been postponed due to Covid, and will now be run on September 18th. 

They've been working behind the scenes to bring you a jammed packed day of planting, farm walks, dinner, bonfire, local musicians, DJ’s and a camp out. Come along and help plant 4,000 plants, then dance the night away!

Lineup includes Steve Cousins, Maddy May, Ruby Cannon, Two Last Names, King Tide, and DJ's Platypuss, The Other Brother, and BassC.

Click here for further info and to get your ticket!

The Victoria Nature Festival is coming up in September, and will have something interesting and inspiring for people of all ages, abilities, and interests.  

You can get out and explore the wonders of Victoria’s nature or you can connect from the comfort of your own home with live-streamed events and immersive videos.

The full program will be available soon. Click here to sign up and stay in the loop!​

Coming up soon there is a great opportunity for you to participate in an 8-week Regenerative Agriculture training program for farmers.

The program will be delivered by respected leaders in regenerative agriculture, giving you unique insights and tailored advice for implementing regenerative practices on your own farm!

Spaces are limited to 25 farms, so please click the link below to fill out an expression of interest form to avoid missing out!

Click here for more info and to fill out an expression of interest

GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS

BCLN, through our indigenous plant nursery and volunteers, has grown 18,000 plants for Landcare Groups that are part of the network.

These free plants will be distributed by the groups to their members for planting new areas and boosting plant numbers in older plantings. Stevie, Dani, and the volunteers are currently managing this seasons orders and will look at sowing seed in a few months for next years orders.

If you need plants for 2022, please get your orders in by December 2021 click here for our order form. 

Our new Women on Farms series has been extremely popular with around 30 local farming women signing up via our expressions of interest for on our website page launched just over a month ago. Our first session on July 26th was to be held at beautiful Kernot farm, however Covid had other ideas so we pivoted to an online format with a group of 16 Ladies attending. Yes, there is also a man in the picture, he is guest presenter John Bowman, Livestock Extension Officer for the Department of Agriculture, who ably answered all our questions on managing wet pastures and pugging. New connections were made with women on farms across Bass Coast and a bit beyond! We can’t wait to hopefully host the next session in person on a local farm in Spring. To register your interest in joining in on this great new series and stay updated on the next session, as well as access resources from the first session, please click the link below.  Bought to you with funding from Southern Farming Systems and Bass Coast Community Foundation

For resources and recordings from this session, and to express your interest in the next session, click here

The 3 Creeks Landcare Group are compiling a history of their group and would welcome any information and photos of people, and past plantings you may have.

It would be especially good to hear of the changes you have noticed at your property following a planting project.

Information can be passed on to any 3Creeks committee member or sent for attention of Anna Spiden to: [email protected]

Click here for more info on the 3 Creeks Landcare Group​

Last month, residents of Surf Beach and Sunderland Bay gathered on Zoom to learn how to control rabbits in an urban setting. This event, titled 'Rabbit Proof Your Home' was initially to be held at the Surf Beach community park, however was quickly moved online due to Covid lockdown. It was still a huge success, with 40 participants and 6 speakers including representatives from a wide range of organisations including: David Rooks (Phillip Island Landcare), Gayle Seddon (Surf Beach Sunderland Bay Coastcare), Gidja Walker (Ecologist), Mark Merryfull (Phillip Island Nature Parks) and Jason McCracken (Bass Coast Landcare Network).

This workshop was made possible through CoastCare funding, and was run by Phillip Island Landcare Group and Surf Beach/Sunderland Bay Coast Care group, in partnership with BCLN and Phillip Island Nature Parks.

Want to learn more? Click here to read our rabbit info, or to get in touch with our Rabbit Project Officer​

For a short time, we will be selling excess guards and stakes at the BCLN Nursery. Prices are as below;

$1 = Secondhand guard + 2 secondhand stakes
$3 = New guard with 2 x new stakes 

On returning your guards/stakes, (new guards and stakes only) you will receive back:
$1 for guard + 2 stakes
$0.50 for guard

Guards and stakes are located at the BCLN nursery/depot which is open for sales Friday 8.30-12pm. While stocks last.

Click here to learn more about the Nursery...​

The sun was out but it was blowing a gale for Ventnor Coast Action Group's CoastCare Blitz planting, part of the Phillip Island Landcare Group's Coastal Blitz month in late July.

20 brave people faced the horrendous wind at Grossard Point and got 650 trees planted and guarded. Well done to everybody involved!

Click here to learn more about the Phillip Island Landcare Group​

A BIG thank you to the volunteers who were able to help out with Kongwak Hills Landcare Group's first COVIDSafe QR coded Community Planting Day. They made a great start on filling in this cleared plantation gully with understory plants to provide habitat for native fauna. The area has been fenced off from livestock, and wallaby guards will hopefully give these tiny plants a chance to become established.

Click here to learn more about Kongwak Hills Landcare Group

Revegetation on Phillip Island has proved to be a difficult task in recent years. Grazing by Swamp Wallabies, Brushtail Possums, Cape Barron Geese, Swamp Hens, Rabbits and Hares has a large impact on plant survival rates.

BCLN and Phillip Island Landcare Group are always striving to improve planting methods to increase plant survival, whether it be through tree guards, wallaby/rabbit-proof fencing or other grazing deterrent methods.

This year we are trialing some new tree guards which are made of gutter guard material. Their superior strength and UV protection means that we should be able to reuse them for over 10 years if they are successful.

Check out these examples installed by our Works Crew along Saltwater Creek on Phillip Island!

The planting forms part of our Biolinks project, with an aim to establish wildlife corridors in strategic locations on the Bass Coast. This project has been funded by Bass Coast Shire Council

If you are interested in undertaking planting works on your own property, click here for more information​

Noticing Rabbit warrens on your property ? Do you and your group want to start tackling warrens within your environments? Well two Incredible minds have now made it possible to start your fight against the ever growing rabbit population.

Dick and Bob from Bellarine Landcare have designed a neat little battery powered warren smoker that you can purchase! With this tool you'll be able to map warren entrances, collate data for your programs & start your journey on becoming rabbit free.

For information on these warren smokers and how to purchase them, click here!​

We are so proud of Gippsland Intrepid Landcare for becoming finalists in the National Landcare Awards, although they didn't bring home the prize it's still wonderful to have their fantastic work recognised!
Victorian Landcarer Andy Stewart won the Bob Hawke Landcare Award for work on his 230ha regenerative grazing and agroforestry property, and Newham Primary School collected the Woolworths Junior Landcare Team Award for fantastic revegetation work creating wildlife corridors and wetlands for breeding frogs. 

Click here for a full list of winners​

For anyone who missed the conference, the recorded sessions are available until the end of September. Don’t miss these sessions featuring members of Victoria’s Landcare community:

• Landcare’s role in recovery of communities, natural assets and farms after bushfire events - Facilitated by Peter Pigott with Chris Cobern, Paul Ryan and Penny Gray
• Jallukar Native Grasslands in Action - Angela Turrell, Jallukar Landcare Group and Andrea Mitchell, Project Platypus
• Project Hindmarsh: a 22 year journey reconnecting the Little Desert and Big Desert regions in Victoria’s wild west - Jonathan Starks, Hindmarsh Landcare Network
• Making Seagrass Sexy: The Corner Inlet-Nooramunga Broadleaf Seagrass Restoration Project - Scott Elliot, Yarram Yarram Landcare Network
• Empowering Rural Women - Karen O’Keefe and Catherine Jenkins, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority
• On-farm value of biodiversity through sustainable agriculture practices - Danny Pettingill, Loddon Plains Landcare Network
• Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Landcare in West Gippsland - Belinda Brennan and Marnie Ellis West, West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority

Click here to view the presentations​

GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS

How would you like to access Australia's latest Landcare resources?

Landcare Australia have put together an Education Resource Hub using material from the 2021 Landcare Conference held in early August.

Explore innovations, technologies and tangible ideas developed by experts in the Landcare community from across the nation, which were presented at the Conference.

Speaker presentations, recorded sessions and Landcare project posters available now.

Click here to get into it!

The Agriculture Energy Investment Plan Extension (AEIP) supports farm businesses to reduce energy costs, improve energy efficiency and explore alternative energy options. Rebates and grants are currently available for equipment to improve farm energy efficiency.

Click here to read grant guidelines and for the application process.​

The Winter 2021 issue (#23) of the Early Invader Weeds Update Newsletter is now available. 

In this issue new weed species in Victoria are highlighted, they are sharing news about developing a weed map layer and updates to the Advisory list of environmental weeds in Victoria. 

Click here to read this edition.

Click here for the Early Invader manual​

It has been a quiet time since our July update, but now there is a palpable sense of spring in the air with longer and slightly warmer days, we are planning for our spring and summer plantings. The hard frosts we have been getting will continue for at least another month yet, so it’s a great time to prepare the beds and dig in nutrient rich materials like our spoiled hay/calf shed scrapings we have been composting. We are waiting to solarise our 5-bed trials area (covering with black plastic to kill the weedy grasses) until it gets a bit warmer, when we will cover this area until early summer and then plant summer crops. In our swale beds all of our great winter veg like leeks, potatoes, parsley, brassicas, and our perennial herbs are going really well.

We have had some great feedback from the carers that facilitate the Interchange group that visits us at the River Garden every Wednesday, with their clients learning great skills and finding meaning and connection, which is fantastic to hear! This group has been busy sheet mulching the fruit trees in our orchard and the nut trees in the nuttery as well as general maintenance tasks. Our new funding from Vic Health has us busy planning our schools and playgroup education programs to start in spring, as well as planning guest speakers for our Blitz monthly volunteer days. We had to postpone our last River Garden Blitz until the Saturday 28^th of August, (see the story on that event in our upcoming events section at the start of this E-news) and with slowly warming days, the weeds are starting to take off so we can't wait to welcome people back again to assist in this great community space. See you down at the River Garden!

Click here to stay informed on all things River Garden and join our fantastic growing Community.

Offset Your Vehicle Emissions for 2021/22 with Local Planting Projects!

If you feel passionate about the environment and want to do your bit for our beautiful native flora and fauna, why not consider offsetting your car emissions with Bass Coast Landcare Network? Just click on your car's size to make a donation, which will cover the planting of enough indigenous plants to offset your car’s emissions for a year and contribute to restoring your own local landscape. 

All your friends and family will also see your complimentary car sticker showing your commitment to the Bass Coast environment.

Bass Coast Arc – 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.​ The Bass Coast Arc – “Community Access to Public Space” concept supports community groups to work with public land managers to improve the environment of our public spaces and create appropriate access to these unique areas.

Your contribution, no matter how small, 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.