What's New in October 2019 BCLN E-news Hello to all our Landcare Members, Partners, Sponsors and Friends throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network and welcome to the October edition of our E-news. As the planting season gives way to the weed control season, we have a few events coming up which may interest you, as well as Network news, project updates and more... Scroll down, click on the links for more information and enjoy! 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 Landcare Victoria Inc. Forum - People, Partnerships and Produce - October 25-27 Landcare Victoria Inc. is delighted to invite you to the Biannual LVI Forum in October, hosted by the West Gippsland Landcare Networks and their Partners. We are encouraging everyone to save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details and booking information as they come to hand. Join the discussion and express your interest on the LVI Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/landcarevictoriaincorporated and click through to their 'save the date' event to follow any updates or click this link to go straight there. End of Planting Season Sale! Come down to the Bass Coast Landcare Nursery and purchase plants at half price! We have over three thousand hicos for $20 per tray of 40 (limited options for splitting trays), with a nice range of local native species ideal for revegetation. We also have forestry tubes at 50c each, including bulbine and chocolate lilies, trigger plants, yam daisies, and pelargoniums. WHEN: Friday 1 st November, 9:30am-noon WHERE: Northern end of the Bass Rec Reserve, 100 Hade Av, Bass Click here to find out more about our Indigenous Nursery Group and how you can get involved as a volunteer. Becoming a Carbon Cocky - Carbon Farming in a Changing Climate; Soil, Trees and Accounting - November 28 You are invited along to this exciting field day on carbon farming in a changing climate and the opportunities for Southern Gippsland farmers. Field day topics include: Soil carbon sequestration-what and how? Multi story farming- integrating trees and pasture Emissions auditing- Prom Country Cheese case study Introducing the LOOC-C- using a tool to identify carbon sequestration opportunities Demonstration of soil coring methodology for baseline and monitoring Click here for more information and to register! GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS Four local schools and one scout group were successful in the Victorian Junior Landcare Grants, supporting projects that engage young Victorians in outdoor, hands-on, on-ground projects, and environmental learning activities. The groups were awarded up to $5,000 for various projects. Successful applicants are listed below… congratulations to these groups!! Cowes Primary School Biodiversity for the Birds - $4,900 Our Lady Star of The Sea Increasing Biodiversity Through a Frog Bog and Wetland - $5,000 Phillip Island Scout Group Phillip Island Scout Hall Planting Works - $5,000 San Remo Primary School Connecting Students to Local Environments Through Hands-on Activities - $3,230 St. Joseph's Primary School Operation Increase Biodiversity at St Joesph’s Primary School Wonthaggi - $4,145 For more information about our School activity program, Environmental Detectives, please click here. Planting Season Wrap-Up As we are wrapping up the 2019 planting season, we would like to thank everybody who has been involved in any revegetation projects this year! From the wonderful landowners, to the school kids, the dedicated Landcare group volunteers, the caterers, bucket-carters, plant poppers, hole punchers, and planters... every action plays a part in creating beautiful biodiverse landscapes in the Bass Coast region. THNAK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! If you are thinking about doing your own planting project next year, click here to find out about the process of applying for a project, organising a site visit to your place and planning your own project. The Hills Are Alive Tree Planting Day 2019 A few weeks ago, in partnership with Bass Coast Landcare Network , and with funds raised from car passes sold at Hills Are Alive festivals, over 50 volunteers planted 9,000 indigenous plants as part of the inaugural The Hills Are Alive Tree Planting Day in Krowera. The event went off with rave reviews from volunteers, and it's clear from this great video taken on the day that everybody had a good time! Click here to watch the video on Facebook! From the Ground Up Conference The inaugural regenerative agriculture conference, From the Ground Up, was sold out, but Ric Oldham and Rob Gray from BCLN and Cassie Wright from SGLN were lucky enough to secure tickets. The three-day conference included a fantastic line up of presenters (Dr Christine Jones was a highlight) and two afternoons of field trips. The conference focused on new approaches to managing farm businesses as the cost of inputs rise and the challenges of farming in a changing climate become more pressing. It showcased how regenerative agriculture, through working with natural inputs, can help improve your soil, pastures and livestock health while also improving your bottom line. For more information about Sustainable Agriculture projects in Bass Coast please click here. Council Climate Emergency “Bass Coast Shire Council has declared a climate emergency and will work with the community to develop a Climate Action Plan 2020-2030. The declaration came as a response to a petition presented to Council at the August Council Meeting, signed by over 1,000 community members. It acknowledges the requirement for immediate and urgent action to reverse global warming, and compliments current Council activities to reduce emissions and build community resilience against the impacts of global warming.” Article excerpt from Bass Coast Shire’s ‘News’ page. You may read the rest of the article by following this link. https://www.basscoast.vic.gov.au/about-council/news-listing/working-together-to-combat-climate-change DIY Monitoring Day Late in September we held a DIY Monitoring Day, which included presentations on revegetation, water and soil monitoring, and how to do these things on your own property. Our first presenter was Sacha from Greening Australia who showed attendees how to monitor Revegetation projects. This exercise also touched on the topic of plant ID, as we looked at all of the seedlings planted by Bass Valley Primary School a few weeks back along the Bass River. We recorded all of the species in a 50m x 4m area, which we will record again after Summer to see the survival and growth rates. We then headed into the Bass Hall, where Lisa Wangman from BCLN taught attendees about water monitoring, and then assisted in doing some tests on water samples which people bought in from their own dams or streams. The results were very interesting and varied a lot from dam to dam. A delicious lunch was served, followed up by a final presentation, also by Lisa, on Rapid Soil Assessment. Attendees were sent digital materials on the topics covered… if you missed out and would like to receive your own monitoring pack, email Lisa at
[email protected] . For more information on upcoming events throughout Bass Coast you can check our website calendar by clicking here. GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS New Episodes for 'Ground Cover' Podcast Regenerative Ag Alliance have released 3 new episodes of their 'Ground Cover' podcast, including 'Out of The Ashes' with Col Seis, 'It All Starts with the Soil' with Derek Smith, and 'From Bare Paddock to Diverse Landscape' with Bruce Maynard. Click here for more information and to download the podcast! NEW PROJECTS AND PROJECT UPDATES Biodiversity Response Planning Project - Year 2 Project update After a successful first year, we are now moving forward into the second year of the three-year project. The second year will build on much of the work completed in the first year, with some exciting additional activities, including revegetation and cultural education, weed control, pest animal control, ecological/cultural burns, and monitoring. BRP Project Officer, Jye Andersen, has completed a project update with some images captured on the latest lot of wildlife cameras. Click here to read the project update and see some awesome pics! Growing Southern Gippsland Farm Profile Series The Growing Southern Gippsland Project is making great headway with the release of multiple Farm Profile videos over the past month, which we regularly update on our 'videos' page under 'resources' on our website , and can be found on our Vimeo channel. The Growing Southern Gippsland project will continue to release videos in the coming weeks and months, so keep an eye out on the Growing Southern Gippsland Vimeo page and Bass Coast Landcare Network facebook page for updates. For further information on the Growing Southern Gippsland project please call the Bass Coast Landcare Network on 03 5678 2335. Offset your Car Emissions in 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. To offset your car emissions with BCLN click here . 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
