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

Here we are again, back into lockdown! We hope your spirits are still high, and that it won't be long before things are back to normal again. Please know that we will be closely watching restrictions and are ready to move upcoming events online or postpone as needed. We do have some awesome online events coming up soon, which you can read about below. We're also excited to share some great recaps of recent planting days, as well as lots of other news and opportunities... there has been and will continue to be lots of wonderful work going on in our little part of the world!

Anyway, time to 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 

As you will be aware by now, Victoria is back into lockdown, from today until next Tuesday, but may be extended. Please see below a list of canceled or postponed events. If the lockdown is extended, we will update you in a separate email.

• Kongwak Hills Landcare Group Pioneer Reserve Saturday working bee - postponed with a new date TBA
• Phillip Island Landcare Group Friday planting Blitz with the Ventnor Coast Action Group - postponed to July 30th

Keep an eye on our Facebook page and your email inbox for further updates

Phillip Island Landcare Group have organised some tree plantings throughout July and August. If you are interested in any of the below dates, please contact Carolyn Atherton on 0433 284 148 or [email protected]​

• Ventnor Coast Action Group planting POSTPONED until July 30th
• Saturday July 24th: Tree planting Silverleaves Conservation Association
• Saturday July 31st: Tree planting Cape Woolamai Coast Action Group
• Saturday August 14th: Tree planting at Heather Davidson's, Smiths Beach

Click here to download the Phillip Island CoastCare Blitz flyer.

Learn how to rabbit-proof your home and help protect our rare and endangered flora from being ravaged by these pests. Now being held as an online event over Zoom,  you will learn what is wrong with having rabbits around, how to protect our native vegetation, how to control rabbits in urban coastal areas, and how to rabbit-proof your own property.  As a special offer, Rabbit Free Phillip Island are offering warren fumigation and fencing wire to Surf Beach and Sunderland Bay attendees.
Speakers include: David Rooks (Phillip Island Landcare,) Gayle Seddon (Surf Beach Sunderland Bay Coastcare), Gidja Walker (Ecologist), Mark Merryfull(Phillip Island Nature Parks), Jason McCracken (Bass Coast Landcare). This event will run from 10:00am–12pm, RSVP for Zoom link - Carolyn Atherton, 0433 284 148 or email [email protected]

Click here to read more about rabbits on Phillip Island, and to view the event flyer.

The draft Primary Production Adaptation Action Plan (AAP) is one of seven plans being developed by the Victorian Government to ensure Victoria is climate resilient now and in the future. At this webinar you will learn about the draft Primary Production Adaptation Action Plan (AAP) and what it means for Victoria’s primary industries and how to provide feedback. 

Click here for more info and to register.​

Gippsland Intrepid Landcare's Plant and Dance is back for the second year running! They’ve been working behind the scenes to bring you a jam-packed day of planting, farm walks, dinner, bonfire, local musicians, DJ’s and a camp out. Join in and help plant 4,000 trees on a fabulous property in Ryanston, then get your boogie on! The last Plant and Dance was a raging success... you'd be crazy to miss out on this! The link below will keep you updated with any changes. 

Click here for more info and to book your tickets ($25, including lunch, dinner, entertainment and camping!)

You are invited to tap into the free Landcare Webinar Series from the comfort of your pc, tablet or mobile. It's a great way to learn, share your knowledge and connect with others interested in sustainable land management and conservation activities.  Hosted by a facilitator, speakers present content ideas to inspire you and provide tools that you can apply with your networks and local communities to manage the environmental issue in your patch, and support community resilience. 

Upcoming webinars: 

• July 29th - Natural Resource Management - from traditional methods to modern innovation
• July 29th - The Power of Landcare Partnerships 
• September 2nd - Australian Beef and Sheep Sustainability 
• October 21st - Landcare and Traditional Owners 

Click here to check them out.

We are aiming to create a space for you, our local farming women to connect, network and share. An opportunity for you to learn new knowledge and skills to improve decision making for your own sustainable farming and business practices. The first session is to be held at a farm in Kernot on Monday 26th July from 10am until 2pm, focussing on the topic of Pasture Management, specifically, renovating and repairing pugging damage in pastures during winter. Our guest expert will be John Bowman, Livestock Extension Officer with Agriculture Victoria, who has an extensive background in pasture and soils management in productive systems and sustainable agricultural practices. The format will allow for plenty of question time and group discussion, plus a farm walk and a free lunch. We cant wait to see you at our Women on Farms Series! Funding support for this series comes from Southern Farming Systems.

Click here to book your place for this event. You can also register your interest for the rest of the series and tell us what you would like to hear about in the next sessions.

What’s the potential for scaling up regenerative agriculture at a national or global scale and how can we achieve it? University of Melbourne's panel of experts and practitioners will explore the potential to scale up regenerative agriculture, pathways and challenges to scaling up, and the policies and government support needed. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Rod Keenan from the University.

Click here for all the info and to register​

Join us for an exciting field day at the property of Niels Olsen (Soilkee) where you will find out more about:

• What climate resilient pasture and crop species you should be looking at that will contribute to increased soil organic matter and water holding capacity.
• What actions you should take prior to introducing new pasture and crop species onto your farm.  
• What multiple benefits to your farm can you expect from introducing pasture and crop diversity.

Click here for full details, to view the event flyer, and to register​

Save the Date for the Next River Garden Blitz and Guest Speaker on 14th of August

Our next River Garden Blitz day on the second Saturday of the month falls on Saturday 14th of August where we will again be combining the Blitz with a special guest speaker, yet to be confirmed but sure to be informative and fun! Last Month's session was a hit with over 20 people learning all about pruning fruit, nut and espalier trees. Watch your inbox for updates once our topic and speaker is confirmed for August. 

With new funding from Vic Health (more details in the River Garden update in the Project updates section below) we will now have a special guest speaker at each session which will run from 930am to 3pm. We look forward to sharing skills and knowledge with you for more productive growing of healthy fruit and veg at a both a garden and farm scale. We can't wait to see you down at the River Garden!

Click here to find out more about the River Garden and sign up to join our River Garden Community

The Landcare Community's largest knowledge sharing convention is fast approaching, along with the much anticipated recognition of Landcare champions from across the nation. You're invited to connect with industry professionals, volunteers, and likeminded community groups at our 2021 virtual events - all for free.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the current lockdown in Sydney, this year’s 2021 National Landcare Conference and 2021 National Landcare Awards events will be hosted entirely online.
Educational resources from the conference will be available, so you can come back to explore the recorded sessions, download speaker presentations and supporting material, peruse the posters, find profile links for the speakers, and continue conversations with other delegates, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors.

Click here to register!

GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS

We are very excited to announce the formation of our latest initiative, the ‘Plants for Packaging’ (PFP) Initiative.

We have partnered with environmental solutions group ‘B-Alternative’ to improve the environmental sustainability of local food providers by reducing waste and planting trees! B-Alternative replaces businesses packaging and waste products with truly compostable alternatives to reduce plastic and the impact of waste on our local environment.

Every packaging order placed with B-Alternative will equate to us planting trees on the Bass Coast! Make the switch to more affordable compostable packaging and help us enhance our local environment!

Get in touch to find out more: [email protected]

Thanks to the volunteers and staff who participated in a recent planting day at Grantville in rainy weather. 1,000 plants were put in to rehabilitate emergency access tracks and firebreaks made during the 2019 fire at the reserve. This compliments weeding, erosion, and wildlife survey work undertaken in the area, funded by WIRES (Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service) and Landcare Australia Limited through their Wildlife Relief and Recovery Grants.

Want to get involved? Click here for volunteer opportunities!​

Our Community planting day with Three Creeks Landcare Group last Saturday was a huge success! Our wonderful volunteers planted 3,500 Grassy Woodland plants in less than 2 hours! Thanks to everyone that came along and to our hosts, the Cunningham family for their fantastic hospitality. This project was the first planting for the year which was funded through Bass Coast Shire Council's 'Biolinks' program, to enhance connectivity for wildlife on the Bass Coast.

Click here to learn more about Three Creeks Landcare Group.

The second community planting day for 2021, run by the Phillip Island Landcare Group was held on Saturday June 26th at Tracey and Darren Jeffery's property near Ventnor. Although it was a cold day, there was a lot of positive energy floating around the site. As always, the Jeffery's were very well organised and the planting went very smoothly. 1,000 plants with guards, done by lunch time... a great result all round! Thanks to everyone who helped get the job done.

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

Tree planting season is well underway with the Bass Coast Landcare Network's Works Crew already putting in 40,000 native trees, shrubs and grasses on various sites across the region. Late June, in partnership with Greening Australia, the Works Crew planted 5,500 plants on a lovely winter's day in Jumbunna. The site was prepared by the Crew who spot sprayed the site prior to planting. The steep site, once riddled with blackberry, is now fenced off and ready to return to its glory days.

Want to undertake your own planting project? Register an expression of interest here!​

The iconic property of Paul Speirs was the perfect location for the Natural Capital Accounting Landcare Native Vegetation Method (Level 3) farm walk, held in late June. The method was demonstrated by Karen Thomas from the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority who did a fantastic job. A great day was had by all in attendance.... big thanks to Karen, and also to Paul for hosting. This project is supported by PPWCMA through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare program in partnership with Bass Coast Landcare Network.

Click here to learn more about Sustainable Agriculture programs and events.​​

After securing a three-year contract to undertake Bass Coast Shire Council Biolinks plantings, there was a sudden influx of seedlings from local nurseries to be mixed into our plant orders. The holding capacity at our Bass nursery was expanded to accommodate the seedlings for plantings in the first year, thanks to the Bass Recreation Reserve Committee of Management. An area to hold up to 50,000 plants has been fenced and included in our automatic irrigation network.

The nursery operates most Fridays for retail sales to the public (unfortunately closed to the public during lockdown 5.0). Prior to a visit please confirm with managers Stevie stevie.wynen@basscoastlandcare.org.au and Robbie Gray robbie.gray@basscoastlandcare.org.au. Please note payment is by card only and receipts will be emailed or sent via SMS.

Want to get involved? Click here to read all about our Nursery Group!​​

Have you ever wondered where cow dung goes? No? Well, over winter it usually sits in a paddock without drying out, waiting for the next downpour to wash all its goodness into a nearby waterway. This is a loss for both the paddock and waterway health. A little hardworking beetle is set to change that. Bubas bison is a relatively new beetle on the Australian dung scene. As it is a winter active species, and summer active species are well established, it is highly sought after. These beetles will bury dung in tunnels over winter, adding carbon and nutrients to the soil, increasing water infiltration, and stopping dung entering waterways. A beetle nursery was recently established at BCLN’s River Garden, and B. bison added to breed up so we can distribute them across the region.
This project is supported by West Gippsland CMA, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. To fill out an expression of interest to be involved in dung beetle monitoring and release, please email [email protected]

Click here to learn more about the BCLN River Garden...

Kongwak Pioneer Reserve's new signs have been installed, and they look fantastic! If you haven't been for a walk through the Reserve, put it on your to-do list! For something a little different, the Group have developed GPS track maps and an interactive tour of the Reserve which incorporates informative podcasts about it's history and the flora and fauna within the reserve. You can download this on your smartphone or tablet and walk through the reserve whilst listening to the podcasts. 

Click here for more info and to download the podcasts.

Landcare Australia signs up to the ‘Darwin Agreement’ – a collaboration between Australasian environmental organisations to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Against a backdrop of environmental crises, the Consortium urges concerted support of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration by all sectors of society, policy makers, industry, and communities to retain ecosystems, reduce our impacts upon them
and to repair ecosystems to optimise potential for humanity to revive the natural world that supports us all.
There is a clear message from the United Nations Environment Program who initiated the UN Decade; if we do not succeed well within the next 10 years, we lose our best chance of averting catastrophic climate change and the species loss and ecological collapse that will result.  What we stand to lose is millions of plant and animal species, the livelihoods of millions of people and the lifestyles upon which previous generations have strived to build stable and successful societies.

For more information on the ‘Darwin Agreement’, click here.

GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS

If you have an interest in the weather, you may be interested in these webinars with seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey, which focus on the current seasonal climate outlook.

These videos are published by Agriculture Victoria, with outlooks based on model projections for rainfall utilising current oceanic, atmospheric and soil moisture conditions.

Click here to view the latest recording on YouTube

The winter edition of the Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management Magazine is now available to read online as a PDF (or subscribe for a hard copy)
​This edition has plenty of great articles, including Fox and rabbit control on the Bunurong coast, which you may find interesting!

Click here to read!

Well the River Garden trees are now showing their bare bones after a fantastic and productive day at the monthly River Garden Blitz on the 10th of July. Expert Guest speaker, local horticulture and permaculture Teacher Adrian James, showed over 20 volunteers the techniques and methods behind successful fruit and nut tree pruning. After learning the three d's of why we prune, (dead-diseased-damaged) and how to prune for productivity, everyone got in and had their turn at trialling their newfound knowledge on pruning and shaping our espalier trees, the nuttery and orchard trees, as well as assisting with seed sorting, planting winter veg and weeding the swales and garden bed areas. 

We also have very exciting news to share with the funding announcement from Vic Health that we were successful in obtaining $49,994.00  for the 'River Garden Kids learn, grow and connect with community to produce healthy food' project! Over the next year, this project will support Landcare staff and expert local Guest speakers to run School programs, a Playgroup program and our Monthly River Garden Blitz volunteer program. The funding includes tools, free bus trips for schools, free community bus trips for waterline towns residents to get to the Blitz days, program development, activity supplies and advertising. How awesome that we now have the resources to engage the next generation, build skills in growing food through physical activity, and connect them to local food systems in this great social space!!

As always, we can't wait to see you down at the River Garden! Click here to stay informed 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.