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April Newsletter 2022
Wildflowers on the South Coast                         Photo credit: Penni Hewett
Green Skills 2022 Annual General Meeting 

The Green Skills Inc. 2022 Annual General Meeting will be held 
on Wednesday 27th April 2022, starting 5pm at Green Skills, 38 Graham St, ALBANY WA.

If you would like to attend the meeting, please RSVP via email to  statemanager@greenskills.org.au by 5pm Tuesday 19th April.

2022 South Coast Festival of Birds and Biodiversity
Film Festivals and April Events
Don’t miss this visual film feast on Friday 1st April 7pm - 9:30pm at the Denmark Civic Centre.
Entry By Donation - $10/15 recommended.  Registration for the event is essential at  https://events.humanitix.com/denmark-mini-eco-film-festival
 
A half-day field event focusing on the wonderful birds of the Cranbrook Lakes and practical ways to protect and regenerate salt lake foreshores for shorebird nesting habitat. Meet at Bobs Lake Bird Hide, 15km from Cranbrook.  Registrations essential at Caring for Cranbrook's Lakes and Shorebirds, 7th of April | Humanitix
Cranbrook Shorebird and Lakes Project Makes Big Progress in 2022
The Salt Lakes of the North Stirlings are of high avian value but need protection from habitat decline by doing riparian regeneration works and feral predator control. In 2022 Green Skills is running a project funded by the WA State NRM program and BirdLife Australia that supports shorebird conservation through a community-based program of 4 activities:
  • Fencing 10km on 8 priority lake foreshores on Bella Vista farm protecting 89ha of wetlands and bushland. In March Kendenup Fencing Contractors completed 10km of fencing supporting 8 lake foreshore projects protecting 89 hectares of foreshore and wetland. 
  • A pilot foreshore revegetation program testing low cost methods of promoting Melaleuca regeneration of recently fenced foreshores; Green Skills is working with the Badgebup Rangers as well as with volunteers to trial brushing with Melaleuca seed 4 km of foreshore.
  • Stage 2 of an innovative fox and cat control program focusing on the lakes; This has included local contractor Graham Lawrence who has commenced fox and cat control around some of the lakes.
  • A community engagement program including a field event and citizen-science bird surveys evaluating project benefits. On Thursday 7 April 2022  a field day has been organised show casing the shorebird conservation works on Bella Vista farm near Cranbrook. Booking is essential to join in on this field trip, click here to register: Cranbrook's Lakes and Shorebirds  . Ongerup conservationist Steve Elson  has continued his intensive bird surveys of the North Stirlings, building on his 2021 surveys which highlighted extensive bird breeding on the lakes due to the very wet winter.    
Appreciations to the local farming families that have supported and joined in this effort.
A Green Skills YouTube short film providing a background to the efforts to conserve the lakes and birdlife of the North Stirlings is available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwO5s3XWM8c
For further information contact Basil Schur at the Green Skills Denmark office on bschur@greenskills.org.au
Come enjoy these beautiful images of the shorebirds that visit the South Coast lakes to overwinter before taking flight back to the Northern Hemisphere.
DENMARK COMMUNITY GARDEN NEWS & EVENTS
Denmark Community Garden has had a busy month in March 2022, with an outing to the Peace Street Permaculture Community, sharing ideas and garden planning thoughts ; and a workshop in the Denmark Community Garden with Yann Toussaint, who has great knowledge and passion for growing sustainable communities, and how community gardens are a special part of a healthy community. 
Herbs were the flavor of the day in a workshop in the Denmark Community Garden with Denise Dillon Smit (pictured below).
GREEN SKILLS EVENTS & WORKSHOPS
The Knowing Nullaki Festival is a whole community celebration of the wonder and beauty of the Nullaki (Wilson Inlet) a place close to the heart of everyone in the Denmark community.
 
The festival will kick off with a series of school biodiversity workshops and continue with over twenty four free fun family and community events in the landscape and in the painting studio, the Arts House and the CRC and the Butter Factory Gallery. The community cultural and nature discoveries will culminate in a sparkling exhibition of artworks by the people of Denmark that celebrates the amazing diversity of plants and animals of the inlet and surrounding catchment area.
 
Everyone is invited to join in the multi-faceted events discovering and celebrating the Nullaki aquatic and land plants and animals. Painting, drawing, recording, photographing, listening, looking sharing knowledge and being together is at the heart of this Festival.
 
When the well recognised artist and biodiversity educator, Angela Rossen, approached Green Skills with a proposal for an artist in residence project connecting people and place we immediately agreed that the Inlet would be a fabulous focus and we leapt into application writing together.”  Said Dr Louse Duxbury senior projects manager at Green Skills.
 
The Inlet is at the heart of our town and as a consequence support for the project flooded in from the Denmark Shire, Denmark Arts, Kurrah Mia Culturally Noongar, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulations, three local schools and a further eight community groups.”
 
Funding from the State Government and Lotterywest has given the green light for the Knowing Nullaki Festival to go full steam ahead.  The exciting program of free events at local schools and with the whole community will bring culture, science and arts to discover more about Nullaki (Wilson Inlet).
 
The Festival will run from the last week of April to the end of June with a schools program, workshops, field trips, and discussions in May coming to a grande finale with a month long Exhibition at the Butter Factory Studio of beautiful artworks by the children and community of Denmark in June.
 
Summary Program Attached.  For further information contact:
Dr Louise Duxbury lduxbury@greenskills.org.au  0429 409 231
 
Angela Rossen info@angelarossen.com
See http://www.angelarossen.com/artist.html for more information about the Artist.
Register for the Knowing Nullaki Festival event Living Soils here
Caring for our Unique Denmark Wetlands

A Wetlands & Agroforestry Field-day was held on Wednesday 23 March 1.00 – 2:30pm at the Denmark Wetland Centre.  Speakers included Shire of Denmark sustainability Officer, Yvetter Caruso, Shaun Ossinger of WICC, Basil Schur of Green Skills  and staff and students from The WA College of Agriculture who demonstrated how wetlands conservation and silviculture can work together.  This event was supported by Shire of Denmark, WA College of Agriculture, Green Skills and PF Olsen.  
Responsible Wood, a Queensland based organisation, has provided a grant for an upgrade to the Denmark Wetland Centre in 2022.

In 2020 Green Skills received support from the Koorabup Trust and Gondwana Link Pty Ltd to undertake a feasibility study for the potential for conservation property acquisition in the Forests to Stirling section of Gondwana Link. This property assessment project lead to the purchase by Green Skills Inc of the 50 hectare conservation property, Tootanellup, an outstanding and high-conservation worthy rural property strategically located between wetland and nature reserves west of Mount Barker in WA's south west. Green Skills has reported on the first year of activities at the Tootanellup Eco-Restoration Project, captured in a 3 minute YouTube video - click here to watch.

Green Skills continues to seek ongoing donor support to bring the long-term vision for this Tootanellup initiative to fulfillment. You can be part of this exciting new conservation opportunity by donating now. Background information and a donation form for the Tootanellup property can be downloaded at
https://drive.google.com/.../1wr1aUoTtAKRSeq1MaHT.../view...

Watch Green Skills new YouTube videos that capture the first year of activities at the Tootanellup Eco-Restoration Project - click HERE 
and going on country at Tootanellup with Noongar Elder Lynette Knapp - click HERE 
When is the Green Skills Container Deposit depot at 93 Stead Road, Albany open?
  • Monday and Friday 9am - 4pm
  • Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10am - 4pm
  • Sunday 10am - 2pm
  • Closed on Saturday and Public Holidays
Please Note: If you need to drop off outside our regular hours or arrange a pickup please contact Rebecca on 9840 5670 or recycling@greenskills.org.au. Please allow a few days for this to be organised as this is based on availability of staff & volunteers

Our Green Skills Container Deposit Scheme depot at 93 Stead Road Albany is busier than ever!  Please recycle for the planet and keep your containers rolling in.  Most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard drink containers between 150ml and 3L are eligible for refund. Bring them in clean and sorted and earn the reward.
For more info on what you can bring in for a refund, see here:
https://www.containersforchange.com.au/wa/how-it-works.
Every little bit counts. This is a great way to support the work of Green Skills, encourage recycling and reduce environmental waste at the same time.
Heartland Journeys is an exciting new online guide to the places, people and nature of the Great Southern – https://heartlandjourneys.com.au
 
Produced by Gondwana Link, this guide is for visitors and locals wanting to learn more about the natural wonders and cultural richness of the Great Southern, as well as the globally significant landcare and eco-restoration programs underway.
 
Heartland Journeys brings together an interactive map, self-drive journeys, biodiversity information, and a trove of multi-media stories - from Noongar Elders, landcarers and people passionate about the natural values of this region. A podcast is available for on-the-road listening.
 
All this information will help visitors take a deep dive into this biological wonderland and hear directly from the people who know it best.
 
We’re adding more Great Southern stories, information, places and journeys. Please contact Marg Robertson if you have any feedback or suggestions:
margaret@gondwanalink.org
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Our mailing address is:
denmark@greenskills.org.au

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Green Skills Inc · PO Box 577 · Denmark, WA 6333 · Australia

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