Hello to all of our Landcare Members, Partners, Sponsors, and Friends throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network and welcome to the December edition of the BCLN Enews.

The end of the year has snuck up on us quickly, maybe because it doesn't really feel like Summer yet... at this rate, we may be having a white Christmas! Jokes aside, we hope you have a happy and safe festive season, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has been involved in Landcare in 2022 for their efforts.

In this edition, there is one remaining event for the year, lots of news on past events, and more. We hope you enjoy this month's edition of the Enews.

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

BirdLife Australia will be hosting an information stall at the Mouth of the Powlett River on the 17th of December from 10am onwards. The aim of the event is to educate and engage with people who enjoy visiting the Mouth of the Powlett about our beloved Hooded Plovers. Most importantly, we want to share with the community how to protect these threatened species, especially dog walkers. There will be giveaways for all attendees, and a free dog lead if you bring your dog along!

The Mouth of the Powlett is at the end of Mouth of Powlett Road, click here to view the map

The BCLN office will be closed between Thursday 22nd December until Monday 2nd of January. Feel free to send us an email at [email protected] if you have any queries and we will get back to you as soon as we are back. From the Board and the Staff at BCLN, we wish you all a happy and safe time with your families and friends. 

GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS

The Bass Coast Landcare Network Annual Report is now available for you to read online. The Annual Report is a really great reminder of all of the great things that happened for the environment in the Bass Coast through Landcare projects in the 2021-22 financial year. Thanks to all groups who submitted their reports.

Click here to read it online

Would you like to work with us? Passionate Trainees are needed to undertake bush regeneration, nursery work, weed control and mapping work, whilst completing an accredited, nationally recognised qualification. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please click the link below to learn more!

Click here for all the info!

Phillip Island Landcare Group celebrated its annual Bunny Boiler dinner on Wednesday 7th December.  The dinner event was again held at the Phillip Island Winery in the large atrium which provides an earthly atmosphere for the occasion.  The event is held to remind Landcarers and the wider community how pesky the rabbit population is on our Island.  
Over 80 attendees dined on a tasting board of delights including breads, cheese, dips, and rabbit terrine followed by the main of rabbit stew poured over polenta or vegetarian gnocchi.   
Aaron Stephens, Invasive Species Coordinator at Bass Coast Landcare Network, was the key presenter for the evening and shared the first-year results of the Phillip Island 'Teaming up to Tackle Rabbit's project'.  A second presentation launched the Groups new 'Island Bush Care' program.  To top off the evening Mike Cleeland shared his classic poetry before live music from Bern Carroll and Bill Cleeland had people up dancing.
David Rooks, Chairperson of the Landcare Group, agreed "It's a great celebration with a bit of everything included to create a wonderful dinner, education and social event". 

Click here for further details on the two projects listed and to learn more about Phillip Island Landcare Group

Bass Coast Landcare Network recently hosted a fantastic field day workshop with the Mulloon Institute. The main focus of this day was to learn more about 'restoring landscape function'. After a morning session in the Kernot Community Hall all those in attendance headed out the the local farm property owned by Camilla and Joby Graves where we discussed interpreting your landscape, importance of plants and plant cover and various restoration options along a case study site. Feedback for the day has been very positive and all those in attendance expressed a keen interest in a future intensive 2 day workshop to explore this topic in more depth.
A big shout out to Bill McAlister and Peter Hazel from the Mulloon Institute and to our farm hosts Camilla and Joby Graves.
​This project is supported by Melbourne Water through funding from the Australian Government and Melbourne Waters Liveable Communities Liveable Waterways program in partnership with Bass Coast Landcare Network.

Click here to learn more about our Sustainable Agriculture program

Bass Valley Landcare Group have recently done an overhaul of their website, with updated information, imagery, membership information and a brand-new flyer. Well done to Rob Parsons (Treasurer) for all of the hard work!

Click here to have a look

If your group would like to update their site, please email [email protected] for assistance

Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group organised a working bee at the Outtrim Cemetery Nature Conservation Reserve last week, with volunteers removing highly invasive Sweet Pittosporums. A few hundred plants were hand-removed or cut and painted, which is a great outcome. Sweet Pittosporum, although native to Eastern parts of Victoria, is bad news for patches of bush in Bass Coast, with thick lush canopies that shade out smaller indigenous plants. These weeds are easy to pull out while still small, however once they grow larger it's best to cut them down and paint the freshly-cut stump with a suitable herbicide. Big thanks to all the volunteers that helped out in the Reserve, and to Don and Marie for hosting the morning tea venue.

Click here to learn more about weeds in Bass Coast

Recently we ran a very popular session on plant propagation for 20 Landcare staff and Volunteers from across Gippsland as part of the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority Landcare training series. Participants learnt the basics of seed sowing, division, and cuttings, from our trainers Lisa, Stevie and Dani, and got to take home their own tray of plants that they learned how to do themselves in this hands-on session. The session was booked out with a waiting list, and we even got a visit from ABC Rural Gippsland who recorded audio from the day to be broadcast soon. If learning how to propagate your own plants is something you would like to do, please email [email protected] to let us know if you are interested, and we can keep you posted on any more sessions we may run next year. Alternatively, you could come along to our volunteer days at the Nursery on Friday mornings to help out and learn as you go.

For more information on our nursery please click here​

Are you a farmer? Would you be open to sharing your life on the farm? Have you been a part of Landcare for years and have a story or two you like to share about your time? It can be the good, the bad, the ugly and the fun...
​The South Gippsland Sentinel Times are keen to hear from you... send them a message at [email protected] or give them a call on 5672 1888.

Click here to read some other farming stories for inspiration​

Working with the Phillip Island Landcare group, we held our first tour in this series on a blustery day at the end of October. That didn’t stop our participants though! We all rugged up and enjoyed visits to the Our Lady Star of the Sea School Landcare plantings, Jim McFee’s Farm, new council sites and had a delicious lunch at the Wild food farm in Rhyll. After lunch we were taken around Scenic Estate by Phillip Island Conservation society volunteer John Eddy, we saw plantings at Kym Plant’s farm, then heard from Gayle Seddon, the president of the Surf Beach Sunderland Bay coast action group on their works to control rabbits. We had great feedback from all participants, including our favourite comment, ‘there were no dull bits!’ Next year we are looking forward to working with John from 3 Creeks, Paul Speirs and the Westernport Woodlands group to do some more tours across Bass Coast, hearing stories from those that are directly involved in looking after our landscapes. Look out for more details in future Enews editions and a new web page to be launched soon. This tour series is part of a BCLN project funded by the Victorian Government's Distinctive areas and Landscapes Capital grants program.

Clockwise from top left: Shots from the Phillip Island, ‘Looking at the Landscape with Landcare’ tour including: Rebecca Overeem, Science teacher from Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Cowes, showing us their shelter and plantings, Looking at one of Jim McFee’s shelterbelt plantings in Rhyll, Lunch in the idyllic surrounds of the Wild Food farm in Rhyll, and John Eddy from Phillip Island Conservation society discussing works and history of Scenic Estate. ​

The CSIRO are currently working on an app, which will be able to accurately identify weeds through Artificial Intelligence. With 12% of Australia's flora currently consisting of weed species (a higher rate than any other continent), this app will be a great tool to have in the battle against weeds. Using the app will be as simple as taking a picture of the weed, and it will be available and free to the public in 2023. 

Click here to learn more

GRANTS, TRAINING, INFORMATION, RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS

Bass Coast Shire's Climate Emergency Project Officer, Christian Slattery, is working on an update to the Community Action Portal (CAP).  The Portal is identified by the Climate Change Action Plan as a key online tool to support people and businesses across Bass Coast to take action to reduce emissions, save money on their energy bills, and increase community resilience. The Portal will achieve this by housing locally relevant climate change information, including links to local community groups and events, links to free external resources, case studies, and an overview of Council programs to support community action. You can have your say about what you want to see included on the Community Action Portal by completing a short five-minute survey. 

Click here to check out the portal, and to leave your feedback via the survey

The Spring edition of the Victorian Landcare Magazine is out now, jam-packed with good news stories from around the state. The focus of this edition is 'The Next Generation', with everything from bush playgroup to Intrepid Landcare.

Click here to read

To help keep children entertained and inspired to take action for the environment, Landcare Australia have pulled together a school holiday journal packed with ideas and activities to provide hours of outdoor and indoor fun. Based on the learning activities of the Junior Landcare Learning Centre, proudly supported by Woolworths, the Junior Landcare Holiday Journal features a range of activity sheets for kids of all ages, from an animal crossword and bee maze to garden find-a-word and seal drawing grid.

Click here to download the free journal​

We have had several groups of students visit us in the past few months as part of our River Garden Kids program, funded by VicHealth. Over the course of several weeks the Bass Coast Specialist School students planted bean, sunflower, pumpkin, zucchini, tomato and beetroot seeds, watched them germinate and grow into seedlings, weeded the planting site, then planted their seedlings out. The Interchange group visit at the same time as the Bass Specialist School senior students, which is helping with their integration out of school and into community life, giving them a great opportunity to get to know the other people involved in the Interchange activity groups, that some of them will join next year.

Bass Coast College year 10 Agriculture and horticulture students completed weeding and sheet mulching around our orchard trees, also planting more seeds in trays, then weeks later planted the seedlings out in the swales garden beds. Lisa also took on a work experience student, Paul (Tracker) Mungatopi, who helped out at the River Garden for a few days this term. We have been busy preparing our frames for our fruit tree nets, and are still waiting for the weather to warm up to start to see more growth in our Summer veggies. We will be having a break for our December and January Blites, but will be back in February with more sessions to help you learn how to grow healthy nutritious food at the River Garden.

Click here for more information on the River Garden and to register your interest to volunteer or for our future Blitz workshop sessions.​

Capturing Carbon for a Biodiverse Bass Coast - In local planting projects!

If you feel passionate about the environment and want to contribute to action on climate change by reducing the impact of your car on our planet, why not consider becoming a part of our ‘Capturing Carbon for a biodiverse Bass Coast’ program? Head to our web page at the link below and simply click on your car's size to make a tax-deductible donation, so we can plant indigenous plants in biodiverse plantings across Bass coast on your behalf. These plantings will increase habitat and important wildlife corridor connections while capturing carbon from the atmosphere. All your friends and family will also see your complimentary car sticker showing your commitment to the Bass Coast environment and climate action.

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.​ We do this by supporting community groups to work in their local area to add value to their conservation efforts, encourage broader community ownership and participation and by working in partnership with other land managers. We work to help protect native plants and animals in Bass Coast’s most ecologically important landscapes. Your tax-deductible 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.

The Bass Coast Landcare Network would like to acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Land Owners within the Network area, The Bunurong and Boon Wurrung people. We also recognise the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations in Land and Natural Resource Management.