WHAT'S NEW IN SEPTEMBER BCLN E-News Happy Landcare Week to all of our Members, Partners, Sponsors and Friends!! It's Landcare week this year from the 4 th to the 10th of September. The Bass Coast Landcare Network would like to encourage each and every one of you to keep up the amazing work that you do. This week on our facebook page we will post a story each day on a group, person, project or event that has inspired us, and everyone else involved. If you haven’t had a look or liked our facebook page already, head on over to https://www.facebook.com/BassCoastLandcareNetwork/ and give us a like! UPCOMING EVENTS Click on the links for event information and booking details. Get involved in the last Community Tree planting Day for this season The last community planting of the year to wind up this year’s planting season will be on Saturday the 16 th of September. This day will be hosted by the 3 Creeks Landcare group at Ray and Gill Kirks property Jindara, at the Mouth of the Powlett Road, Kilcunda. There are 2000 plants to go in at a few spots along the Powlett River. We have held 23 community plantings this year, with over 200,000 plants going in the ground across Bass Coast. What a great effort from all our volunteers, well done to everyone involved. Thinking of doing some planting next year at your property? Click here to take you to our website page explaining how you can get assistance to undertake your own Landcare project We need your help! Regular Nursery Group days for Volunteers We need your help! If you have driven past the Bass oval lately you may have glimpsed our new nursery, established to supply tree planting projects across Bass Coast with local indigenous plants. A dedicated team of volunteers meet every second Friday and every second Wednesday to plant seed, prick out and pot on seedlings, weed seedling pots, fertilize plants and chatter over a nice morning tea. Coming into the busy growing season extra volunteers are needed and it’s a great way to learn how to grow native plants. We would love to have you! Please contact Rob Gray our Ecosystem Services Coordinator on
[email protected] to register your interest and find out the next session dates. Westernport Biosphere Lifesearch in September For the month of September, schools, individuals and groups can be a part of recording the biodiversity around us as part of Biosphere Lifesearch. The Westernport Biosphere Reserve Committee is hosting this citizen science in action program with prizes on offer for the most observations recorded to the Atlas of Living Australia. What a great way for groups and students to get outside and have fun, learn about their environment and collect knowledge to contribute to our understanding of life in the Westernport Biosphere. To register and for guidelines on how to participate click here 30 th Birthday Celebrations for Phillip Island Landcare Group Save the Date ! Phillip Island Landcare Group will be recognising their 30th year with a celebration on Saturday 2nd December 2017. Location is to be decided however rumour has it at a local farm. The day will include a Farm walk, historical displays, recognition of past and present personnel, the PILG 2017 AGM, BBQ and music. Keep the date free, more details to come. Click here to see more about the Phillip Island Landcare Group GROUP AND NETWORK NEWS Bass Coast Landcare Network at the Victorian Landcare Awards BCLN staff, Landcare Members and Bass Coast Shire Council representatives traveled to The Victorian Landcare Awards last Friday 1 st of September at Government House. Bass Coast had nominations in six categories with two of the nominations receiving awards. Three Creeks Landcare took out a Highly-commended award in the Landcare Community Group Category and the Environmental Detectives Team received a Commended Award in the Junior Landcare Team Category. Congratulations and well done to all involved! To read the full story click here New Video footage using drones, time-lapse and more… You might remember our story in the last e-news on our massive planting day with 200 Wonthaggi Secondary college year 9 students at Karl Russo’s property. We now have an amazing video of the day available on our facebook page. Sam Shannon, Regional Facilitator with the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority compiled this video for us, combining dramatic aerial footage from a drone, time-lapse video, photos and explanations of how this planting effort came together. Thank you, Sam, you have perfectly captured the action. Click on this link to check out this great video clip on our facebook page, this will also be up on our website shortly Community Planting Days Round up Phillip Island Landcare Group – 13 th August. A successful Phillip Island Landcare Group community tree planting at Bill Cleeland's surf beach property. 1000 plants successfully planted and guarded. Thanks to all those who helped to make it a fantastic day. Click here to check out the Phillip Island Landcare group webpage French Island Landcare and Friends of French Island -Saturday 26th August. Congratulations and a huge thanks to the twenty keen volunteers who planted 400 native trees, grasses and sedges at 'The Slipway' on the the south coast of French Island. A big thanks also to Judith, Linda and Julie for feeding us hot soup, rolls and delicious cake at the community hall after! Click here to see more on the French Island Landcare Group Phillip Island Landcare Group – 26 th August. Our last Phillip Island Landcare Group community tree planting for 2017 was a huge success. Over 20 people helped plant and guard nearly 1000 plants at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. A great BBQ was enjoyed by everyone afterwards. Thanks to the staff of the Grand Prix Circuit for catering and cooking. 3 Creeks Landcare Group - 2nd of September, Chris Puyol, Gippsland Mushrooms, everyone who came got a free bag of mushrooms, thanks to the volunteers and thanks Chris for the mushrooms! Click here to check out the 3 Creeks Landcare group webpage Southern Gippsland Foodmap – finding great food locally With over 100 local producers registered, the online mobile responsive Southern Gippsland Foodmap provides information on produce availability and outlets, including farm gates, cellar doors, farmers’ markets and retailers in Southern Gippsland. Interested in buying local food and wine? Browse the map, design your tour and call in and buy local produce directly from the grower. With a little planning, you’re guaranteed to find local food and wine that suits your taste. Whether you want that personal experience of designing your own food tour or you are looking for local produce for your food store or restaurant, you will find a great range of local product information listed on the Southern Gippsland Foodmap. To read the full story about the Southern Gippsland Food map click here BCLN Office refurbishment If you have been by the Bass Coast Landcare Office at 2-4 Bass School Road, Bass (between the Bass hall and the Op shop) in the past few weeks you may have thought we had either been robbed or moved out! No need to worry we have just been updating the office. The next time you drop by you will notice some changes. We said goodbye to the yellow walls, concrete floors and Dave Bateman’s Wall of fame and have now moved back in to clean fresh white (who knew there were so many shades of white…) walls, wood look vinyl floor tiles and modern desks to bring some calm and warmth to this space. Do drop by to have a look and say hello! TRAINING & LANDHOLDER OPPORTUNITIES Do you want to set up or expand on your Landcare group Facebook page? West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority are hosting workshops to learn the basics of Facebook for your Landcare group. Facebook can be an effective way of promoting events, getting new members and sharing information. The workshop will focus on building your online community, the do’s and don’ts of posts, what all the settings mean and content planning. Leongatha Workshop: Tuesday 19th September, 6.30 to 8.30pm, West Gippsland CMA Office. The workshops will be run by Erika McInerney from Mac&Ernie Social Media. RSVP essential: call Kathleen Brack 1300 094 262 or email
[email protected] by 8th of September. A pizza tea will be provided and places are limited. Network resources available on our website Did you know that you have access to a range of resources on our website? Each month we will introduce you to a different resource on our website including fact sheets, case studies and videos from various landholders sharing their experiences on how they have successfully tackled land management issues on their own properties. This month we look at the Network documents available. From our Annual report cards to our Strategic documents on Weed Control, Soil Health, Farm planning and Education opportunities, have a look at the technical side of the Network by clicking the link below. To access our range of Network documents please click here NEW PROJECTS & PROJECT UPDATES Work continues at the River Garden Over the last few months work has continued on getting some basic infrastructure established at the River Garden site, adjacent to the Bass Coast Landcare Network Office. Pine trees have been removed near the bridge and river, with indigenous plants now planted in their place by our Green Army Team. There have been dams, swales, and a retarding basin dug to manage and filter water flows off the site, pathways and entry points are being created and sections for fruit trees are all underway. We have received sponsorship from AGL to complete some of these works and we will soon be hosting some public days to get community input on what you would like to see incorporated into this exciting new area. Watch this space! To keep up to date with developments, see the River Garden section in the
