Apply now for the North Central CMA Board
Posted on 14 March, 2023 by Ivan
Our friends and project partners at the North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA) have an opportunity open to join their board and assist in achieving their vision of sustainably managed land, water and biodiversity resources in a changing climate. Each CMA board has a maximum of nine members including the Chairperson. The Board is responsible for the strategic planning of the authority and ensuring that the CMA fulfils its statutory functions consistently with its overall governance framework and is renumerated accordingly. Please find the details on how to apply below, courtesy of the NCCMA.
North Central Catchment Management Authority Board: Now Open
We are encouraging people from the North Central CMA region with diverse backgrounds and differing environmental perspectives to #GetonBoard. Applications for positions on the North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA) Board have recently opened.
The Victorian Government is committed to increasing diversity on CMA Boards to encourage new ideas and reflect the rich diversity of the Victorian community.
Our Chair, Julie Miller Markoff, leads a well-established, dynamic, and knowledgeable Board that guides an energised and dedicated natural resource management team to achieve our vision of sustainably managed land, water and biodiversity resources supporting productive and prosperous communities in a changing climate.
Alongside the strategic and regional perspective that the Board brings to the diverse work of the North Central CMA, they also have a sharp focus on supporting Traditional Owner self-determination and tracking new opportunities in natural capital and environmental markets for the region.
More information Member, Victorian Catchment Management Authority Board | boards.vic.gov.au
Applications close at 11.59pm on Monday 27 March.
If you would like to discuss in more detail the role of the North Central CMA Board or have a question regarding the application process, please contact our Chair Julie Miller Markoff on 0407 819 066 or email julie.millermarkoff@nccma.vic.gov.au
https://www.boards.vic.gov.au/search-board-vacancies/member-victorian-catchment-management-authority-board-vgb/1701290
Welcome Lori – our new director
Posted on 28 February, 2023 by Ivan
It is with much pleasure that the staff and committee of Connecting Country welcome our new director, Lori Arthur. Lori started at the Connecting Country offices earlier this month, in a handover with past director Frances Howe. Welcome Lori, we are thrilled to have you on board!
Frances has kindly given her time for a detailed handover and has passed on her experience and excellent attention to detail over a number of weeks. Thank you, Frances, and best wishes on your next adventure.
Lori comes to Connecting Country after working in conservation and land management roles with local governments in Melbourne, collaborating with a range of environmental stakeholders and community groups. She moved to Castlemaine with her family in late 2020 and is very excited to get involved with a grassroots conservation organisation doing great things in the local community.
Lori has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Environmental Horticulture) from the University of Melbourne. When she’s not working, she’s kept pretty busy with family life, often riding, bushwalking or swimming in and around the local environs with her two young boys and her kelpie, Dusty.
Lori works Monday to Thursday, overseeing Connecting Country’s projects, organisational management and administration. Be sure to hello to Lori at our next event!
Wetland Revival Trust discovers new Eltham Copper Butterfly population in the Wimmera
Posted on 28 February, 2023 by Ivan
Connecting Country has partnered with local ecologist Elaine Bayes (Wetland Revival Trust) over many years to help monitor and conserve the critically endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly. We have delivered education programs and coordinated monitoring events in central Victoria, with Elaine tirelessly leading the campaign to improve land management practices and promote the survival of this iconic and fascinating species.
Elaine and her team at the Wetland Revival Trust recently reported some great news: they discovered the largest population of Eltham CopperButterfly and the largest area of habitat ever found! The new population is at Gerang Gerung, in the Wimmera region of northwest Victoria.
We congratulate Elaine and the team on their perseverance and recent exciting discovery!
The full media release is provided below, courtesy of the Wetland Revival Trust.
Wetland Revival Trust discovers National treasure in the Wimmera with the largest population of the Eltham Copper Butterfly found at Gerang Gerung
Wetland Revival Trust’s (WRT) long term butterfly project in northern Victoria discovered the largest population of the nationally endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly (ECB) (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida) in the Wimmera, at two Gerang Gerung nature reserves.
Elaine Bayes, an ecologist from Wetland Revival Trust, a not-for-profit environmental charity, has been involved in the protection of this tiny butterfly since 2009.
Elaine started a search and find mission in 2019 in north central Victoria, where there are several ECB populations. The search spread to the Wimmera which may be the prime location for this species. Elaine said, ‘ECB numbers at the two very small known populations in the Wimmera were at much higher densities than in the north central where we had been searching.’
‘This year, our team searched 1,600 hectares of public land for the butterflies, 1,400 ha of which was in the Wimmera. And we were certainly rewarded for the effort, with around 500 ECB seen between the two Gerang Gerung reserves. To give perspective, in north central Victoria last year, we searched 1000 ha and found a total of 43 ECB peppered across a large area. To see 500 ECBs in one season is exceptional, and so far, this is the largest number of ECB and the largest area of ECB habitat ever found.’
This search was funded thanks to the Victorian Government Biodiversity On-ground Action Program (Icon Species Projects) which supports actions to protect nationally endangered species like ECB. ECB were first found in the Wimmera in 1988 at Salisbury Bushland Reserve and in a small area of Kiata Flora Reserve. In 2011, another tiny population (6 hectares) was found on a Wail roadside by local entomologist Fabian Douglas. In the intervening years, the Salisbury population became extinct, believed to be caused by sheep grazing out the butterfly’s food plants. The two remaining populations at Kiata and Wail are separated by a sea of agriculture, with nowhere for their young to disperse to.
There is no way for the populations to move around as environmental conditions change, and no corridors of native vegetation for the butterflies to move along so they can share DNA to make them more resilient. Also being small the sites are under threat from pests, weeds and roadworks.
Elaine believes that part of the reason ECB is rarely seen is that they require very specific conditions. As well as being dependent on one plant species to feed their larvae, the Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa), they require one specific ant species (Notoncus ectatommoides) to act as a bouncer for their larvae, scaring off predators that would otherwise feast on their juicy bodies. Their other very specific needs are that these delicate little butterflies are solar powered and only fly when it is 20-30 degrees with no wind or rain. The adults only emerge when there is abundant nectar around November and December usually peaking at Christmas and New Year (with a smaller emergence in March and April). Finding field staff to search for ECB at Christmas and New year is as rare a thing as finding the ECB themselves!
To find this elusive species you first find the one and only plant species it relies on, Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) which is much easier to map as it is large, stays still and is present all year round! Previous searches have shown that ECB only occur where Sweet Bursaria plants are dense (more than 30 plants in a ¼ hectare). So, the first part of the plan is to search for and map dense Bursaria patches. The second part is to search those dense patches for ECB during their flying period.
Given the cool start to summer this year the number of days that ECB were flying before it became too hot for them was less than fourteen. WRT had ten field staff and several volunteers out searching the 1400 hectares. Ten very dedicated people who put this conservation work before summertime at the beach. The team searched areas including Gerang Gerung Mallee Dam, Gerang Gerung South Reserve. Glenlee NCR, Barrett NCR, Lierschs NCR, Coker Dam Wildlife Reserve and Lil Lil Dam and at a few locations in Castlemaine.
This work builds on WRT searches between 2019 and 2021 and a similar search in 2011, when large areas were mapped and collectively thirteen new populations around Central Victoria and at one at Wail were found. The new populations were very localised with the butterfly only occurring in 3-25 per cent of suitable habitat (where the ant and the host plant are present). This is reflected in this year’s survey where, out of 1400 ha, ECB was only found on 36 hectares.
The butterfly is listed as critically endangered under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and as endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This places considerable importance on managing the small number of known population sites and locating any potential new sites so they can be protected from threats.
The threats to this species in the Wimmera are numerous. Given the amount of historical land clearing in the Wimmera you can be confident that any quality remnant vegetation has a high likelihood of containing rare species, including insects, orchids and other plants and animals. Management and protection of these sites will bring benefits to multiple species as well as places of recreation and learning for future generations, impacts on local climate etc. Next year funding applications are in for weed and pest management, signage, translocations and more.
According to Elaine, it is undoubtable there will be ECB populations on private land where remnant vegetation occurs.
‘It is easy to check if you have any. First search your property or nearby bushland for dense patches Sweet Bursaria plants (easiest to see when flowering in December). Then look for the copper sparkle of flying adults in December on still days that are between 20-30 degrees. Tap each plant with a stick, which will cause them to fly and be more easily seen. Use the fact sheet and butterfly look alike sheet from the Eltham Copper Butterfly website (www.butterflies.net.au). Sightings can be reported on this site, the inaturalist app (www.inaturalist.org) or on the Butterfly Australia app (butterflies.org.au).’
Landholders can help protect this and other rare species by retaining and restoring native understorey plants on their properties.
Wetland Revival Trust
January 2023
Please enjoy the following photographs provided by the Wetland Revival Trust, showing the beauty and size of this national treasure.
We need your help! Mapping our old trees of central Victoria
Posted on 28 February, 2023 by Ivan
We are excited to announce the arrival of our new mapping portal, that aims to assist community citizen scientists to map the old, and often large, trees of central Victoria. The interactive mapping portal is part of Connecting Country’s larger project, ‘Regenerate before it’s too late‘ which aims to engage the community on the importance of old trees across the landscape and how to protect them. Within the mapping portal you will also find an updated species list that will assist with the identification process of the large old trees.
Over the next three years (2023 – 2025), we will continue to host community workshops and develop engagement resources such as the mapping portal and a video. We will also work with local landholders to implement practical on-ground actions to protect their large old trees and ensure the next generation of large old trees across the landscape.
The community, including landholders, Landcarers and land managers, will be vital in mapping their favourite old trees across our region. Anyone can access Connecting Country’s new online mapping portal. The portal uses BioCollect, an advanced but simple-to-use data collection tool developed by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and its collaborators. BioCollect helps users collect field biodiversity data for their own projects, while allowing the data to be easily copied into the ALA, where it can be publicly available for others to use in research, policy and management. This allows individual projects to collectively contribute to a larger science database.
We need your help!
The mapping portal is now open for any community member to record the old trees in your area. You will need to register with the Atlas of Living Australia (its easy and free), then upload a photo and enter the field details needed for the survey. The portal will ask you simple questions about the tree location, size, species, age (if known), health status and habitat value.
To record your large old tree, or view the field survey questions and required measurements – click here
By recording large old trees you will help build our understanding of the large old trees in our region, and contribute to the largest biodiversity database in our country. As the database grows, you can also access the portal to learn about other wonderful large old trees in our area and view the photos.
Trees can be tricky to identify, especially eucalypts. If you are unsure about the identification of the tree species, you can:
- Use the to iNaturalist app to assist with identification – click here
- Refer to a good guidebook, like those published by Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests – click here
- Visit the Castlemaine Flora website – click here
We are most grateful for our generous project support from the Ian & Shirley Norman Foundation. The foundation aims ‘To encourage and support organisations that are capable of responding to social and ecological opportunities and challenges.’ To learn more about Ian & Shirley Norman Foundation – click here
FOBIF exhibition opening this Saturday: Newstead Arts Hub
Posted on 21 February, 2023 by Ivan
Our friends and project partners at Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests (FOBIF) are turning 25 and to celebrate are opening their photography exhibition this Saturday at the Newstead Arts Hub. The show will feature an incredible array of nature-based photographs from community members and FOBIF supporters. We would like to thank and congratulate FOBIF on 25 years of campaigning for better management of our natural assets and educating the community of their significance.
FOBIF photography exhibition opening: Saturday 25 February 2023
Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests (FOBIF) is holding an exhibition at the Newstead Arts Hub (8A Tivey Street, Newstead, Vic) to mark 25 years of campaigning for a better future for our forests and promoting their value.
There will be 20 nature photos by members and supporters, historical material about FOBIF, drawings by Chewton Primary School students, and a geological display.
A seventy-page catalogue of the exhibition with extra historical material will be available for sale as well as FOBIF’s six published books and nature cards. All photos will be for sale with proceeds going to FOBIF.
The exhibition will be open over 3 weekends, (25 & 26 February, 4 & 5 March, 11 & 12 March 2023) and Labour Day (13 March 2023) between 10 am and 4 pm.
Alison Pouliot, well known fungi expert and engaging speaker, will open the exhibition at 10.30 on 25 February 2023. One of FOBIF’s founding members, Phil Ingamells, will also speak. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be provided.
You can find out more about the exhibition on the FOBIF website (www.fobif.org.au) or ring Bronwyn Silver 0448 751 111.
Jane Rusden. Crested Shrike-tit
Choughs. Patrick Kavanagh