What's New in August 2019 BCLN E-news Hello to all our Landcare Members, Partners, Sponsors and Friends throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network and welcome to the August edition of our E-news. If you can make your way through all the water currently covering our landscape there are heaps of events coming up for the rest of this month and next. There are also some grants, training opportunities and more... it's all in this month's Enews! Read on! 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! UPCOMING EVENTS Wildlife Monitoring and Camera Trapping Workshop - Plus drone demonstration too! The first in a series of three Environmental Monitoring Workshops, this Friday 23rd September we will teach you how to use wildlife cameras to monitor wildlife. You will hear from BCLN's Jye Andersen on the results of our recent camera trapping, then Jye will teach the group how to install wildlife cameras to get the best results on their own properties. This session will also include a drone flight demonstration by Rob Grey and information on how these can be used for monitoring purposes. Afternoon tea is provided, please RSVP to
[email protected] or call 0488 399 151 Upcoming dates - September 7th and 21st... details to come! Click here for further details. Community Planting days all across Bass Coast Check out our list of planting days below! Do yourself a favour and get along to one or two… you won’t regret it! Of course, all planting days conclude with a delicious barbecue lunch to thank you for your hard work! Kongwak Hills Landcare Group Planting Days Kongwak Hills Landcarers would love some extra support to put a few more plants into the ground this season. The scheduled dates are: Saturday 31 August – 4,000 plants in a large gully Saturday 14 September – up to 5,000 plants To be added to the Kongwak Hills email list for further details, please contact the secretary Marg Hauser at
[email protected] You can also keep updated on Kongwak Hills planting events by checking out their Facebook page by clicking here. Phillip Island Landcare Group Planting Days Phillip Island Landcare Group's planting calendar is also here, with dates below: Sunday 25th August: John Dever’s, Rhyll NEW DATE Saturday 31st August: BushCare’s Big Day Out, event hosted by Conservation Volunteers Australia. Planting day with Nature Parks. John Dever’s 128 McFees Rd, Rhyll. Will involve helping plant around 800 plants, a Bunurong discussion, BBQ lunch, and a walk along a beautiful Ramsar site, aiming to finish at 2.30pm. Click here to see the full-size PILG flyer with all the details, and don't forget to RSVP for any planting days you would like to attend (for catering purposes - all planting days finish off with a BBQ lunch!! ) 3 Creeks Landcare Group Planting Days Saturday 14th September: Nick and Caroline Sibly, Woolamai, 6000 plants. Please RSVP (for catering purposes) to
[email protected] Check out the 3 Creeks facebook page for all event details by clicking here. Tree planter and planting equipment amnesty! Do you have a Hamilton tree planter (tube shape or round hico shape) a Pottiputki planter, buckets or a hico tube popping table tucked away in the shed somewhere at your place? Each planting season there is always equipment left behind at properties or forgotten. Often we don't realise this until we need them again at the start of the next one. Now is the time to dig any of these things out, no judgement, no questions asked and drop them off back at the Bass Office 2-4 Bass School Road, Bass (just in between the Op shop and the Bass Community hall) for this planting season. It would be much appreciated so we have enough to go around for this year's community planting days and planting projects right across Bass Coast. Native Bee Information Forums If you're interested in learning about Australia's native bees, there are some events coming up which should interest you! Some great speakers will be sharing their knowledge, with topics including Protecting Native Bee Habitat, Native Bees and Crop Pollination, Native Bees in Orchards, Berry Farms and Nature Reserves, and Hover Flies and Other Important Invertebrates. These events are free, and light catering is provided. The closest event to the Bass Coast area is in Bayles on Wednesday August 28th. Other locations include Lilydale and Darley. Click here for event dates, locations, and more information. Totally Renewable Phillip Island Open Day You are invited to Totally Renewable Phillip Island's Open Day, Sunday September 8th at the Cowes Cultural Centre. Learn about all things sustainable and renewable, including solar, batteries, carbon credits, electric vehicles, community owned energy, converting waste to energy, and much more. For only $15 a head you can also choose to have a 'low carbon lunch', provided by Nordic Kanteen (so it's sure to be delicious!) Click here for more information and to view the flyer! Phillip Island Running Festival A great event coming up for all of the runners out there, for each registration money will be donated to five amazing charities/community organisations including Bass Coast Landcare Network! These runs cater for all different fitness levels, covering distances from 2km to a mega 50km! Click here for more info! French Island AGM - It's all about Carbon Take a trip across the bay to French Island on Sunday 22nd September to join French Island Landcare for their AGM. Guest Speaker Bob Davie from Bimbadeen Farm, on Phillip Island will discuss 'What do farmers want to know about carbon?' Members, non-members and new residents all welcome. Come along and learn about: soil carbon and how it can improve your pasture and beef/sheep production. All enquiries, nominations etc. to The Secretary at
[email protected] GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS Congratulations to Phillip Island Farmers on Carbon Cocky Award! Congratulations to Bimbadeen's Bob and Anne Davie who recently won the award for Innovation in Carbon Farming Markets at the National Carbon Farming Conference "Carbon Cocky Awards". Bob and Anne Davie are innovators and this is great recognition of their work in trialling and demonstrating approaches to sequester soil carbon on farm. Its also just reward for their efforts in leading the development of the Totally Renewable Phillip Island Carbon Insetting Program. Pictured above is Joel Geoghegan from BCLN, Bob Davie and Nick Dudley from Agriculture Victoria in one of Bob and Anne's soil carbon demonstration paddocks. Caulies and Cabbages for the Corinella Community We are excited to be partnering with the Corinella Community Centre to provide excess produce from the River Garden for the Community pantry and also to work together in providing great volunteering and training opportunities into the future. Kerri Ritchie, manager of the Centre, sent us these 'before and after' pictures of a delicious dish of cauliflower baked in a cheese sauce, which was served up to people attending the weekly community lunch. She has also added some of our cabbages to the community pantry, free for anybody in need. As you can see from the photos, the cauliflower bake was well-received!!! Click here for more information on River Garden activities. Powlett River Planting We had a fantastic day on the Powlett River at Clive Hollins property in early August with the Powlett River Primary School. We were very privileged to start the day off learning about our cultural heritage with Uncle Shane and Dave from the Bunurong Land Council, who shared their stories and showed us some amazing stone tools. We then managed to get 700 plants in the ground to help stabilize the River banks before an awesome BBQ lunch! Well done to all students, teachers and members of our BCLN board who helped out on the day. This planting project was funded by Victorian State Government Biodiversity Response Plan Bass Coast Biolinks Project. For more information on this project click here. GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants Another great grant opportunity has just opened! Up to $1000 for schools and youth organisations is on offer from Woolworths to inspire kids from across the country to get hands-on with projects that focus on sustainable food production, improving waste management practices or enhancing native habitat. Applications are open now and close on September 6th! For all information and application details click here. For local advice and tips from Bass Coast Landcare Network Education staff, please contact Lisa on
[email protected] Grazfert Nutrient Management Program We are hosting another Grazfert Nutrient Management Program, targeting landowners in the Bass River Catchment. This program is funded through the Smart Farming in Westernport project with support from Melbourne Water . Numbers are limited for this program so if you're interested get in quick. Click here for further details and to view the full-size flyer Revegetation Monitoring - Training Opportunity You are invited to participate in a project to monitor the survival rate of past and future revegetation plantings. The project aims to: Assess the outcomes of revegetation, in terms of the survival of planted trees, shrubs and understorey plants; Determine the factors that affect variation in survival among different species, and different regions; Develop a monitoring protocol that community groups can use to collect information in a standard way to monitor planting outcomes. This revegetation monitoring work will contribute to the ‘Monitoring Revegetation Activities – Adaptive Learning Project’ that is being undertaken by La Trobe University and the Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) BCLN will be hosting Sacha from
