Hello to all of our Landcare Members, Partners, Sponsors and Friends throughout the Bass Coast Landcare Network and welcome to the September edition of our E-news.

It is certainly feeling like Spring, with the days getting warmer and longer, it's a beautiful time to be living on the Bass Coast! Hopefully before the year is out we can return to some form of in person events and re-boot our volunteer programs. With restrictions slowly lifting for regional Victoria this is looking more and more likely. Watch this space.

We have a few online events to share this month, as well as Network, Group and Project updates, and of course the latest grants and resources. Read on, for all the latest!

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

UPCOMING EVENTS 

Join Dr Lindy Lumsden for a captivating talk about the evolution of mammal research at Arthur Rylah Institute. Lindy has been an ecologist at ARI (DELWP- Biodiversity Division) for 35 years and is a leading expert on bats. For anyone who's heard Lindy present, you will know how infectious her passion and enthusiasm for the mammals she works with is. 
Date: September 21st
Time: 1pm-2pm

Click here for more info and to register!

Join us for this interesting online field day, to learn how Dan and Amelia Bright of Amber Creek Farm and Sawmill have designed their farming system for resilience in our changing climate.

Topics include:

• The design of Amber Creek farm including the benefits of using local sources of waste as a resource, and regenerative methods for soil improvement
• How the Prom Coast Food Collective supports local farmers and reduces food miles
• Renewable energy options for farmers including the latest on rebates

Click here for more info!​

IPAA Victoria is partnering with Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council on Caring for Country, a series of three online regionally focused events in September and October 2020. The series is an opportunity to hear from Traditional Owners from across Victoria, talking about why it is so important to protect cultural heritage and how it is managed.

Click here to register.

The Landcare Youth Summit will be held this year as an online conference on 1 December 2020. The summit provides young people an opportunity to share their ideas, learn skills that can help them get a job, be inspired from others about what they can do in their high school and local community to make a difference with Landcare. Places are still available for high schools and Landcare youth groups to attend the summit. To find out more about participating, email [email protected] by 11 September 2020.

Click here for more info​.

GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS

Happy 4 year anniversary to our wonderful Nursery Group Volunteers! Congratulations and a massive thank you to all for volunteering and making BLING (Bass Landcare Indigenous Nursery Group) what it is today. It's great going to the nursery and imagining the future forests in the thousands of plants you grow. So unfortunate that we can't get together to celebrate, but will definitely do it as soon as we can. When you return there will be new benches to work on, and lots of sun coming into the hothouses. There are a few things in the pipeline if we can't get back to the nursery for the start of propagation season, but we hope to see you all soon!

Click here for more information on BLING and how to join in.

If you are thinking about planting out a shelterbelt, waterway, or even a nice windbreak to protect your house from these icy breaks, the time to place an order for plants is now. Locally native plants are hardy, well suited to the area, and their flowers attract bees, birds, and insects. The volunteers at the Bass Coast Landcare Network Nursery will begin sowing seeds in the next couple of months, so to avoid missing out please follow the link below and complete the order form.

Click here for more information on local native plants and to order yours!​

We are proud to announce the formation of our new partnership with Bass Coast Tree Care, under our 'Arborists For Forests' (AFF) Initiative! The AFF Initiative provides an opportunity for arboriculture businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and make a positive contribution to the local environment and their community.

For every tree removed by Bass Coast Tree Care, a minimum of 2 indigenous plants will be planted in the Bass Coast (up to 10, depending on the size/age bracket of the tree removed).Based on the average carbon sequestration rates for a tree on the Bass Coast, the plants will sequester roughly twice as much carbon as the tree that was removed over a period of 10 years. The initiative aims to provide peace of mind to both the business and the client, by creating a more sustainable world for future generations.

We welcome enquiries from other Arborist businesses who would like to be a part of this fantastic new initiative. 

Click here to visit our new 'Arborists for Forests Initiative' page for more information​.

After 33 years, Phillip Island Landcare Group is excited to finally have a home to store their resources include tree planters, guards and stakes. It will also proudly display Landcare memorabilia and honour boards. As the warmer months approach, the shed may even be used as a venue for committee meetings. 
“We can’t thank the community around us enough. The Nature Parks, Bendigo Bank and Council have all shown a huge interest in our group. The shed increases our capacity to deliver on our group’s mission; to encourage sustainable agricultural land-use, business practices and lifestyles, and promote the conservation and restoration of native biodiversity on Phillip Island and throughout Victoria,” David Rooks, Group President said.

To read the full article, click here!

To replace their practical demonstration field days, the Victorian Gorse Taskforce has created a virtual field day. It's full of tips and trick for gorse management including demonstrations of various methods of control, VGT Community Service Announcements, and various other topics related to gorse.

Check it out here!​

GRANTS, TRAINING, RESOURCES, INFORMATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS

Federal Agriculture Minister the Hon David Littleproud MP has announced a new round of funding under the Smart Farms Small Grants Program.  Under this round, a total of $6.5 million is available to farmers, fishers and foresters to support one - to two - year projects that boost best practice sustainable farming awareness, skills and capacity.

Click here for more info.

Applications are open for the 2020 Supplementary Volunteer Grants, to support the efforts of volunteers in building stronger, more resilient communities. Grants of between $1,000 to $5,000 can be used by volunteer involving organisations and community groups to support the efforts of their volunteers and encourage and increase participation in volunteering.

The grants provide funding for organisations and community groups to use on Small equipment items, Transport costs of volunteers with a disability, Fuel costs incurred by volunteers, Training for volunteers, Background screening checks of volunteers, Documentation requirements, Post COVID-19 re-engagement activities for volunteers and Adapting practices to support volunteer safety in relation to COVID-19. Applications close 20 September 2020.

Click here for more info and to apply!​

Applications are now open for Round 4 funding from Woolworths to support conventional and organic fruit and vegetable growers to help either start a journey to organic farming, or grow existing organic production. Apply close on 11 October 2020.

Learn more by clicking here.

For millennia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have harvested Australian flora and fauna for food. Landline presents stories from its archive exploring the past and future of Australia's First Nation Farmers. This mini-series covers various farming methods used by these farmers, and is well-worth a look!

Click here to watch the episodes!​

Our team have spent time this Winter working along the Western Port coastline controlling pest plants and animals, planting mangroves to stabilise coastal erosion and developing buffer zones between agriculture and coastal Ramsar sites through revegetation. There is still plenty of work to do, with coastal saltmarsh EVC weed control and other coastal vegetation works happening over Spring. A page has been set up on our website with some information on these sites, which we will continue updating as works progress... 

Click here to have a read on the progress of this project.​

Welcome to our September update for the River Garden, our flagship community gathering and education site for BCLN. As we come out of our winter hibernation with repeated rainfalls followed by sunny spells, we can almost see the weeds growing daily!! It is now the spring ‘hungry gap’ period where there isn’t much fresh produce ready to harvest, so it’s been a good time to plan for our spring/summer plantings which will go in once the frosts have passed. We are also busy preparing for our new volunteer program to be held one weekend a month as soon as we can do so safely. With restrictions slowly easing, it is looking more and more likely that this may happen before the year is over. Watch this space. For now, you can register your interest in volunteering or being a part of the River garden in whichever way you might like via the link below. We cannot wait to connect with everyone in person down at the River Garden!!

For more information and to register your interest in the River Garden please click here.​

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 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.

Click here to find out more about how you can assist this important work.​

It's been fantastic over the last 18 months seeing Annas skills develop to make her a valuable part of the BCLN office team as the Communications and Administration assistant. Through an unfortunate accident when a falling rock injured her foot, Anna successfully transitioned from being a Works Crew Trainee to working in the office. This gave her the opportunity to build on her already impressive skill set and become such an effective support that the position of Communications and Administration assistant was formally created. 

We wish Anna and Aaron all the best with their new family and will welcome Anna back as soon as she is ready to return to BCLN.

We are excited to welcome our newest team member, Holly Gurling, who will take over Anna's position of Communications and Administration Assistant whilst on maternity leave.

Holly is an environmental educator and community builder. She has worked with Victorian sustainable timber business CERES Fair Wood and food distributor and grocery, CERES Fair Food. She has a degree in Geographical and Ecological Science, specializing in plant and soil science. With a strong track record producing compelling content that inspires positive action and results, Holly has delivered workshops and online programs anchored by partnerships with communities. Holly is Australian and English, born and raised in London. She moved to Australia in 2015. Outside of the city environment - she plans to stay!

Holly will be working from the Bass office and around the River Garden... if you see her around, be sure to introduce yourself!

Click here to meet the rest of our team!​

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.