Newstead’s Geoff Park wins Eureka Prize
Posted on 14 October, 2009 by Connecting Country
Newstead’s Geoff Park has won Australian science’s most prestigious award, a Eureka Prize.
Announced in Sydney on 18 August at a star studded dinner, the prize is for Research by an Interdisciplinary Team.
Geoff was part of a team to develop the prize winning INFFER (Investment Framework for Environmental Resources) project which helps work out how best to invest money for the greatest environmental outcomes in rural areas. Geoff and Mary Park were at the dinner when the award was announced.
Geoff’s love of birdlife and the natural environment is well known around Newstead. He recently started an online blog called Natural Newstead which includes his and others’ observations of bird and plant life in the local area. Check it out at http://geoffpark.wordpress.com
Geoff has also been encouraging landscape restoration through his involvement with the regional project Connecting Country
Notes from ‘New Roles for Landcare’ forum
Posted on 14 October, 2009 by Connecting Country
For the latest news regarding conferences and forums, publications and funding opportunities, visit he Victorian Landcare Gateway website. Presentation notes provided by key speakers who attended the recent ‘New Roles for Landcare’ forum are now available. Read about;
- Design principles for urban food production systems,
- Working with developers and others who want to offset the clearing of native vegetation,
- land stewardship practices and payment for ecosystem services.
For presenter notes click here.
Rabbit Control Field Day
Posted on 14 October, 2009 by Connecting Country
If you have problems with rabbits on your property then come along to this very informative Field Day.
Join Regional Vic Farm Services as they discuss the dynamics of rabbit populations and control measures required for successful eradication.
Demonstrations will include oat and cut carrot baiting (Pindonne and 1080), smoking and fumigation with Phostoxin, and eradication using a ‘Rotenator’.
Where: 406 Gooch’s Land, Pastoria East
Malmsbury Landcare Group wildflower walk
Posted on 14 October, 2009 by Connecting Country
The Malmsbury Landcare Group invite you on a wildflower walk in the Lauriston Nature Reserve.
Where: Kyneton- Drummond Road, just west of the Lauriston Village.
Following the success of last year’s event, group secretary John Walter will lead you on amazing walk where you will learn of the abundance of wildflowers he has discovered in the reserve.
A sausage sizzle lunch will be provided at the Lauriston Hall following the walk. Please bring your own drinks, salads etc. Parking will be available in the cutting or on Portwines Rd opposite the Nature Reserve.
Castlemaine Landcare Group October working bee
Posted on 13 October, 2009 by Connecting Country
The working bee will involve a return to Happy Valley to check out the maintenance required at the new waterhole. For those who haven’t seen it yet, it’s at the top end of the Walking Track on Happy Valley Road.
Please bring weeding tools, brushcutters and buckets.
Start time is 10am and morning tea will again be provided courtesy of the Wesley Hill Bakehouse and Matthew Brownrigg. Please RSVP for catering to Robyn Haylett on 0408 7066 630 or 5470 6630
Gould League Centenary
Posted on 7 October, 2009 by Connecting Country
The Gould League is celebrating its Centenary with a free family open day. The date is Sunday October 25th, from 10am until 2pm. It is at the Gould League Sustainability and Environmental Education Centre in Genoa Street, Moorabbin. There will be activities, displays, and formal celebrations including cake cutting at noon.
Most of you probably heard about the Gould League going bankrupt, but they were rescued and are now continuing as strongly as before. I’m sure everyone has fond memories of the Gould League and their school education programs. Glad to see they are continuing.
Box Ironbark Ecology Course
Posted on 15 September, 2009 by Connecting Country
Ngambie, Central Victoria
The course brings together leading researchers and experts to share up to date knowledge and thinking about this landscape in change.
It is field based and participants will work in small groups. It emphasises ecological understanding and relationships and techniques that improve observation and data collection skills which can then be applied to other areas.
Participants will gain:
- a better understanding of the distribution, natural values and ecological processes of Box Ironbark landscapes, past and present;
- an understanding of the impact of human use on the ecosystem, past and present;
- practical skills in observation, description, survey, analysis, interpretation, map reading and ecosystem monitoring of flora, fauna, geomorphology and soils;
- opportunity to apply new skills and to collate and communicate information collected from the field;
- resources to help plan for enhanced ecologically sustainable management outcomes for Box Ironbark remnants on private and public land.
Cost of the course is $1200.
Applications close 18th September 2009.
Contact Kate Stothers for a brochure and application form. Phone 03 5761 1611
Castlemaine Landcare Group working bee
Posted on 15 September, 2009 by Connecting Country
September working bee.
The work will be in two areas.
1. Woody weed removal at the bottom of Urquhart St (Opposite Castlemaine Primary). Please bring heavy duty pruning equipment.
Morning tea
2. Planting at Happy Valley Walking Track. Please bring planting tools and buckets.
For more information contact Robin Haylett. Call 5470 6630. Email rhaylett@mmnet.com.au
Calculate your farms Co2 emissions
Posted on 2 September, 2009 by Connecting Country
FarmGAS Calculator has been launched by The Australian Farm Institute.
The Calculator is an online application which enables farmers to model both the financial and greenhouse gas outputs of farm activities and the implications of changes in enterprises. The FarmGAS Calculator is available here on The Australian Farm Institute Website and is free of charge.
The FarmGAS Calculator includes individual calculators for the major livestock and cropping enterprises, and any combination of these enterprises can be added to create an individual farm business. Farmers can come back to the calculator at any time to update or change their production data, or complete the process in stages. All you need to do is login online, and remember to save!
Farmers enter details of their enterprises (both financial and production) to calculate enterprise gross margins. The following enterprise types can be analysed using FarmGAS: beef production (both breeding of progeny and fattening), sheep production, broadacre cropping, irrigated cropping, intensive livestock systems (beef feedlot and piggery), perennial horticulture crops and environmental tree plantings.
FarmGAS is the result of an Australian Farm Institute research project on greenhouse gas mitigation options for Australian farmers. Funding for the project was provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under the National Agriculture and Climate Change Action Plan: Implementation Program.
Time to save our trees by gum
Posted on 1 September, 2009 by Connecting Country
Grazing land across Victoria and New South Wales could be treeless within the decade, posing a serious threat to both agriculture and natural ecosystems, the Australian National University has warned.
A research project based at Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society has found that the majority of scattered paddock trees in grazing areas are old and close to death, yet there are virtually no young trees growing to replace them.
The researchers argue that the disappearance of paddock trees would have many negative effects for agriculture and natural ecosystems, removing shelter for livestock, habitat for birds and other wildlife, decreasing water infiltration, and risking detrimental flow-on effects for entire ecosystems.
Read more: Victoria’s gum trees dying – Herald Sun
Employment opportunity
Posted on 25 August, 2009 by Connecting Country
Applications are now open for DSE BushTender Field Officer.
The positions are based in Bendigo.
The position description can be found on www.careers.vic.gov.au
Closing date for applications is 30th August and applicants must apply on-line.
Any questions about the positions please call,
Michelle Ballentine
BushTender Project Officer
Native Vegetation Programs
Department of Sustainability and Environment
Ph: (03) 9637 9027
Mob: 0458 382 289
Brush-tailed Phasocale stuffing
Posted on 24 August, 2009 by Connecting Country
I sent 2 dead Brush-tailed Phascogale specimens off to the Museum of Victoria to be stuffed and mounted for the Connecting Country project to use for education purposes. However, neither specimens could be used. The taxidermist told me that with small mammals like phascogales the road kill has to be very fresh. If you find a dead Phascogale, it needs to be frozen within 1 hour of its kill (or natural death). So if anyone manages to get a fresh Phascogale into the freezer I would definitely like to come and collect it and have the taxidermist have another go. Feel free to contact me on beth@nwf.org.au
Thanks, Beth Mellick, The Norman Wettenhall Foundation, 5472 1316
Friends of Campbells Creek August Working Bee
Posted on 20 August, 2009 by Connecting Country
Postponed till 13 September 2009.
After a full slather of working bees and extra planting days over the past few weeks, we’ll take a well-earned break and gather our strength for September’s working bee. Location Tbc.
If anyone wants to be involved in small informal working parties over the next month or helping out the
local schools in their Landcare project, please contact David King on 0408 993 688
Report on Connecting Country’s Future Planning Workshop
Posted on 18 August, 2009 by Connecting Country
Report on Connecting Country’s Future Planning Workshop, August 5th, 2009
More than 60 people from the local environmental community attended the workshop, including members of “Friends of” and other environmental advocacy groups, education and natural resource management professionals, and many members of the landcare community. Participants all brought enthusiasm and local knowledge to share with everyone. The workshop aimed to collect a set of information based on local knowledge of the special places in our region. The information provided is currently being collated in a database. Once this is finished, Connecting Country will sort through the data and more detailed planning for on ground projects can begin.
Geoff Park gave a presentation outlining the recently announced Federal and State Government funding, particularly describing the conditions attached to the funding (Tuans and Yellow-box woodlands).
- A summary of the funding is available here as a pdf.
- The map of priority vegetation can be found on the funding summary pdf.
Participants were guided through a process of identifying environmental assets on the maps provided and then compiling a list of information about that asset. The information was recorded on a template that is based on the cutting edge of environmental Project Planning. We received 96 completed templates.
- The blank template is available here here a Word document.
- The example template is available here as a pdf.
David King from Friends of Campbells Creek gave a presentation on how the natural assets along the Campbells Creek catchment were identified and put into a management plan so that everyone knew what needed to be done and how it could happen.
Many thanks go to;
Geoff Park and Krista Patterson-Majoor for facilitating; Margarita Adler for catering; Welshmans Reef Vineyard and Langanook Winery, Ben Laycock, Eliza Tree and Mahmoud for the map of the region, and to all the helping hands.
Fancy yourself as a wildlife photographer?
Posted on 13 August, 2009 by Connecting Country
For full details and a competition entry form visit the Trust for Nature website.
Landcare Week celebrates 20 year milestone
Posted on 13 August, 2009 by Connecting Country
This year we will celebrate 20 years in the Landcare journey. Landcare week celebrates the huge contribution landcare volunteers have made to their local communities over the past 20 years, as well as encouraging others to put their hands up and get involved.
Landcare Week 2009 will run from the 7th – 11th September.
See the Landcare Week website for more information and to register your event.
position vacant – project manager
Posted on 26 July, 2009 by Connecting Country
Connecting Country (Mount Alexander Region) Inc invites applications for the position of Project Manager.
Connecting Country is seeking to appoint a resourceful, innovative and collaborative Project Manager to guide its landscape scale restoration project through the next phase of implementation.
The position is for 12 months with an extension subject to further funding. The position salary is between $55,000 and $65,000.
Position Description available in ‘Documents and Publications’ on this website or contact Secretary Jan Hall on 5470 5556
For further information contact info@connectingcountry.org.au
Written applications should be marked Confidential – Project Manager: Connecting Country and be submitted to The Secretary, PO Box 437, Castlemaine VIC 3450
by 5.00 p.m., Tuesday August 18th, 2009.
My Victorian Waterway Survey
Posted on 2 July, 2009 by Connecting Country
World first research into the social importance of waterways is happening in Victoria.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment are coordinating a survey to find out about how Victorian communities use and value waterways.
You are invited to be a part of it. Simply complete the online survey by the 31st July. It takes about 15 minutes.
All Victorian adults (18 years and older) can complete the survey and help shape waterway management throughout the State.
Minutes of Connecting Country Reference Group meeting June 11 2009
Posted on 18 June, 2009 by Connecting Country
Present: Maurie Dynon, Doug Ralph, Bernard Slattery, Marie Jones, Kirstin Hutchison, Jan Hall, Julia Brown, Beth Mellick, Patrick Kavanagh, Christine Kilmartin, Krista Patterson-Majoor, Tim Read, David Major, Deirdre Slattery, Geoff Park
Apologies: Elvyne Hogan, Peter Johnson, Julie Hurley, Virginia Adrian
Agenda
1. Marie gave an account of the proposed management structure of the incorporated Connecting Country:
–the elected Management Committee, which will meet regularly and make key decisions
–the Reference Group, open to all members who nominate: it will meet less often to review and advise the Management Committee
–the Advisory Group: this will consist of members with a range of expertise, who will be available for occasional consultation
She also thanked all for their input over the last 2 years.
2. Geoff gave a funding application update, and fielded questions. The package applied for provides:
–on ground works [fencing, offset of production losses, etc]
–community awareness
–monitoring and research
The questions and discussion which followed covered the following areas:
–the autonomy of Connecting Country within the NCCMA package
–the role of the Mount Alexander Shire
–the necessity to have an eye to future funding
–the equity challenge in using whatever funding is granted; and the importance of the planning projects workshop in clarifying how this is done
–the relationship of the Reference and Advisory groups to the Management Committee
–the need for clarification on the links between work on private land and the local Parks and Reserves; and between private and Trust for Nature property.
3. Krista gave brief Landcare report: the Landcare coordinators will finish at the end of the month. She emphasized the importance of MAS council connections from the point of view of information distribution and possible availability of facilities [for example, office space]
4. Julia gave the Project Officer’s report:
– the website is being updated regulary, 10 news and events and a link to an article in the latest TFN Bulletin on Connecting Country.
– Moderated 26 comments, all spam bar 2.
– Emails to info@connectingcountry.org.au now redirected to Julia
– Considering adding another blog section ‘related news’ to add books and other associated news.
– Potential problems with google earth for some users of CWMP.
– 158 sites marked on CWMP. To discuss recording and monitoring of statistics with Green Graphics.
-Incorporation. Written invitations sent out to all Landcare groups, friends groups, field nats, MASG, TFN, agencies, MAS councillors on Monday 1st June.
– Email invitations followed on Friday 5th June.
– This will be followed up by email and phone calls asking if people require any further information.
– Buda is booked and paid. Wine, catering, helpers confirmed.
– Presentation to be worked on.
– Media Doug and Malcolm and I will meet with Lisa Dennis Monday for photo @ Richards Road near pony club with regeneration and mature trees. Article will go in Friday 19th Mail and possibly Tuesday 23rd Express as well.
– Add in public notice’s Mail and Express. Notice in ‘Where to go….what to do’ in Mail. Press release drafted.
5. Future Projects workshop: [it was suggested at the May meeting that this be combined with the incorporation meeting ‘perhaps in the second half of July’. The steering committee subsequently decided to split the two events]
–it was decided that one of the purposes of this meeting is to ‘ground truth’ Blueprint projects, via a template and Landcare group knowledge
–a discussion followed on templates, and on methods of managing competing claims
–times and dates for the workshop were proposed. A decision on this will be made in readiness for the June 29th meeting.
6. Constitutional matters: Bernard gave a brief rundown on the constitution to be proposed on June 29: it will be the Model Rules of Association, modified to allow for an eight member committee.
Connecting Country wins funding to develop its plans to link landscape
Posted on 25 April, 2009 by Connecting Country
MEDIA RELEASE April, 2009
A large scale, community-driven landscape restoration project known as Connecting Country has received more funding from the environmental philanthropic organisation, the Norman Wettenhall Foundation. Based in Castlemaine, the Foundation has approved a $30,000 grant to the Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests for the project. The grant is to fund a Project Worker to develop detailed and fully costed action plans for improving habitat for wildlife and native plants within the Mt Alexander Shire. Projects could, for instance, focus on creating biolinks or target particular endangered species, such as Swift Parrots or Brush-tailed Phascogales (Tuans).
Connecting Country is a partnership of around 30 landcare and environment groups, as well as government agencies, who come together to form the Reference Group which guides the project. The Norman Wettenhall Foundation has supported the project since its inception with grants now totalling $80,000.
Over the last year Connecting Country has gathered information from landholders across the Mt Alexander Shire about the existing condition of the landscape and recorded sightings of where native plant and wildlife species were found. This information was then brought together to produce a Biodiversity Blueprint of the region, containing valuable information about environmental assets and a unique and comprehensive set of maps.
“The maps provide an eagle’s eye view of the whole landscape, allowing the Connecting Country partners to identify 21 possible opportunities for major on-ground habitat restoration works across the region,” says Beth Mellick, Executive Officer of the Norman Wettenhall Foundation. “These potential projects will form the springboard for action plan development in the project’s second stage.”
Another unique facet of Connecting Country was the pro bono production of an interactive website by software developer Spatial Vision. Based on Google Earth, the website offers simple and accessible mapping tools for people to enter information about flora and fauna sightings across the Mount Alexander region. This crucial second stage funding will also ensure the continued rollout of Connecting Country’s interactive website.
“It is expected that community involvement will provide greater knowledge about, for instance, the preferred habitat of Tuans or where native wildflowers can be found,” says Beth Mellick. “Clearly, the website has the potential to become a powerful tool in guiding future conservation efforts.”
With this latest grant, Connecting Country now has the resources for in-depth development of restoration plans that could significantly improve habitat connectivity and biodiversity expansion across the region’s landscape. Given the breadth and commitment of Connecting Country’s partners, once such action plans are developed, the Norman Wettenhall Foundation is quietly confident there’s a good chance of attracting other funding sources to bring their plans to fruition.
“We believe Connecting Country is leading the way in terms of a bottom-up approach to landscape restoration work in Australia,” says Beth Mellick. “This is a different and a unique model, because it is the community as a whole who are making decisions about the environment that they live and work in – what and how changes are made to protect habitat are determined by local knowledge and passion.”
For further information about Connecting Country see www.connectingcountry.org.au or contact Beth by phone on 03 5472 1316; mobile 0431 219 980