Member Groups; The Lismore Land Protection Group, Weering-Eurack Landcare Group, Leslie Manor Landcare Group, Cundare Duverney Landcare Group, Weerite Landcare Group & Mount Elephant Community Management
Good People Doing Good Things
Magnificent Birds of Prey
Inadvertent Action Lead to Important Learnings
Victorian Volcanic Plains Forum
Elephant in the Room
A Morning About The Brolga
Coming up
Lismore Land Protection Group monthly meeting
7:30pm Thursday 8th June 28 High St, Lismore
Mount Elephant Community Management meeting
7:30 pm Monday 5th June, Mount Elephant Visitor Centre
Mount Elephant open day
Open every Sunday from 1pm to 4pm
Don’t forget DRUM MUSTER
Don’t dump or burn your used chemical containers, instead recycle them free of charge at Derrinallum Refuse Disposal Site for. Open 1pm-5pm Sundays and Fridays. (Drums must be triple washed)
Good People Doing Good Things To Care For The Land
Since being here I’ve observed many people quietly doing a lot of good “landcare” things, often with little notice or recognition of their efforts, nor do they seek it. These people probably won’t ever get an official award with capital letters or bit of paper so I’ve decided to recognise their efforts. In fact, well done to all landcare members who support their Landcare group and do onground actions to care for the environment.
The gongs are: Durability (or Long Serving Long Suffering) Awards
Three for this one (and all are still going) Bill Charles Secretary and Treasurer of Cundare Duverney Landcare Group for 20 years. Rick Horsepole President of Leslie Manor Landcare Group for 25 years. Donald Lang Treasurer Weering Eurack Landcare Group for too many years to remember.
"Durable" Bill Charles (Cundare Duverny Landcare Group President)
Plugger (aka.Tony Lockett or Most Persistent) Award Ian and Robyn Gordon who have planted about 1500 tubestock per year for over 20 years and have now established about 18 kms of shelterbelts (or “stepping stone wildlife corridors”) on their property at Leslie Manor, as well as fencing off wetlands. Well done!
Ian (left) with Leslie Manor President (and Durability Gong Getter) Rick Horsepole.
Have A Crack Award Charlie and Amanda Fairbairn Calvert For fencing off and protecting about 200 ha of poa tussock grasslands and “swamp” (wetlands), about 3kms off waterways and over 1000 remnant redgums and patches of regenerating redgums; and planting about 1500 – 2000 tubestock per year for last 5 years with Coco’s (aka. John Fenton) help for the price of a long neck or 2.
Some of the Regenerating Redgums Charlie
Brown Passion Award (Agriculture)
Brian Wilson for his passion and efforts to care for and improve soil condition.
Green Passion Award (Environmental)
Two way split for this
John and Bev Steele For their devotion and efforts to creating their wetland and brolga habitat
Sandy & Cheryl McBean who have demonstrated their commitment to improving habitat for rare and threatened species such as the Growling Grass Frog and Corangamite Water Skink by fencing 6.5kms of waterway, preserving native grasslands, and planting over 55000 trees and shrubs, (and their love of doing it)
Had To Do Better (Or Most Improved) Award
Hugh Rahles Rabula, whose first attempt at tree plantings didn’t go too well. “I was too busy and not very well prepared.” Since that first effort 4 years ago Hugh has quickly become one of the best at revegetation, planting about 1700 tubestock annually (with over 95% survival rates), and many more to come. Really helping to change the local landscape!
Never Too Late Award And another split- 3 ways! Peter and Mary Hay, Bill Grist; Don McArthur;
All at some stage have more or less mentioned “how good it is to plant trees and that they probably should have started 20 years ago”. Stick at it and keep going! Don’t Have To Be Big Good Effort Award Caroline & Karl McEwan (& kids) who have regularly planted about 400 tubestock per annum for the past 8 years on their 100 acres at Eurack, so they have shade and shelter in (almost) all 12 paddocks. One year to go! Not Big Not Small (In between) Good Effort Award Jeremy Barr and Nicole Petrass for 14 kms of fencing to protect 7 km of waterways, creating an artificial wetland with island and wading areas, and planting about 9000 tubestock. All done in 3 years! Not Small (Corporate) Good Effort Award Mt Elephant Pastoral – protecting the environment by fencing about 30ha of wetlands, 7kms of waterway for Corangamite Water Skink habitat and another 3kms of “ordinary” waterway; creating 3 large artificial wetlands for bird and frog habitat and brolga breeding areas (with 3 resident pairs) and planting over 10000 trees to restore about 9 ha of VVP Eucalyptus Woodlands. That’s good corporate philosophy! The Welcome (or NEWBY) Award Gaylene Coverdale: New landholder, who at her first meeting put her hand up for secretary of Weering Eurack Landcare Group. Following in Robert Missen’s footsteps and now custodian of the “school books!”
‘Our Magnificent Birds Of Prey’
Over 90 people came along to Lismore to hear Martin Scuffin’s presentation on our birds of prey and how we can look after them in our landscape (reducing the amount of mouse baiting in open spaces was one!).
‘Kevy’ the Nankeen kestrel was taken in by Martin as a very undernourished chick 13 years ago and has been his companion at presentations across the state ever since. Well used to Martins routine, Kevy would only perform for food rewards, demonstrating flights amongst the audience and enthralling all with his ‘catching a mouse’ demonstration (swooping down to catch a dead mouse on a remote control car being driven around). They were a fantastic team to watch and hopefully our younger audience especially learnt a few things about these impressive birds and how we can ensure they remain in our landscape in the future.
It was wonderful to see such a great turn out to a community event, thank you to everyone who came along. The night was put on jointly by the Lismore Land Protection Group and the Lismore and District Lions Club, with funding from the Victorian Governments Community Volunteer Grant.
Inadvertent Actions Can Result In Valuable Learnings
Brian Wilson has long used stubble digesters to help breakdown crop stubbles. Stubble digesters are beneficial fungi, sprayed onto stubble to break down cellulose, and make stubble more palatable for sheep and easier for the rumen to break down and digest.
According to Brian “the stubble digesters are normally sprayed on at the recommended 36 litres per hectare, however this year we happened to overlap a strip a few metres wide due to the paddock not quite matching the boom spray width”. After a short time Brian noticed that the sheep had quickly consumed all the stubble on this strip, basically baring it to the ground.
Heavily grazed strip in the middle received double rate of stubble digestors, compared to lesser grazed on edges with standard application (36 l/ha).
“I’m wondering now whether I should increase the rate at which I put it out” says Brian. “Although that will double the cost, the sheep have completely cleaned up the stubble. In the past I’ve kept track of stocking rates and have found that using stubble digesters I can do as well off the stubble paddocks in terms of carrying capacity and stock growth as with forage crops”.
Brian’s usual strategy is to apply the stubble digesters in about January or February following harvest, graze the stubbles, and then incorporate the leftover stubble into the soil. He then applies a biological blend (humates, nutrients, coal dust etc) every 4 years to paddocks.
Grazing also converts the stubble to manure, providing a nitrogen and phosphorous source to help breakdown the stubbles which have been incorporated into the soil. This has had quite a positive effect on the heavy clay soils, with the soils where the stubbles have been retained and incorporated having much better soil structure and greater porosity than the same soil type in nearby paddocks which have had the stubbles burnt.
“While in the past the sheep have generally eaten the stubbles over time with the lower rate of stubble digestors, given the results from this strip with double the rate I’ll certainly consider increasing the rate next year on a bit larger area” said Brian.
Treatments using the stubble digesters and biological blend are part of the Cundare Duverney Landcare Groups trials comparing methods to incorporate stubbles into soils, funded by a $14,800 Landcare Australia Workplace Giving Grant.
COMING UP Corangamite CMA 8th Plains Tender Landholder Forum “Elephant in the Room” 9:30 am - 2:30pm Tuesday 13 June 2017
Mt Elephant Visitor Centre, Hamilton Hwy, Derrinallum.. This is a free event. Speakers include:
· Dr James Driscoll - evolution of the Mt Elephant region
· Dr Julie Boyce - volcanology of Mt Elephant and the surrounding volcanoes of the Victorian Volcanic Plains.
· Tim D’Ombrain - vegetation of Mt Elephant.
· Mt Elephant Committee of Management - current management at Mt Elephant
· Followed by a guided walk to the Mt Elephant crater.
RSVP: To Jess Lill by Friday 9th June on 0477 719 149 or jess.lill@ccma.vic.gov.au (morning tea and lunch provided, please specify any dietary requirements)
“A Morning About The Brolga”
10.00am 21st June Beeac Hall, with;
Jamie Marloo; Peek Whuurrong Gunditjmara & Gunnai cultural leader, dancing and telling the brolga story.
Inka Veltheim; brolga’s and their habitat in South West Victoria
Hosted by Beeac School and artist Peter Day
5th Vic. Volcanic Plains Research & Development Forum
Caro Convention Centre, Federation University, Mt Helen Campus, Ballarat Wednesday 21 June 2017
Dr. Adam Miller; Matching genes with future climates
Dr Michelle Casanova; Risks of cropping in wetlands.
Professor Ian McNiven; New archaeological challenges to the complexity of south west
Victorian Aboriginal history
Dr. Lauren Veale; Restoring wetlands to assist the recovery of threatened species
Neville Rosengren;Windfarms and geoscience
RSVP: To Jess Lill by Wed. 14th June on 0477 719149 or jess.lill@ccma.vic.gov.au
This newsletter has been funded by the Australian Federal Government’s “Victorian Volcanic Plains Small Grants” Program and the Victorian State Government “Local Landcare Facilitator Initiative”
Lismore Land Protection Group
19 High Street (PO Box 28) Lismore, Victoria 3324 Ph: 03 5596 2384 Landcare Facilitators:
Rod Eldridge: 0458 390146 email: llpgrod@westnet.com.au Shari McConachy 0409 070089 email: llpgsharim@westnet.com.au Find us on the Landcare Gateway here
