southern dandenongs landcare – another active year working hard for our environment

I was delighted to be able to chair the Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group Annual General Meeting and preside over their elections for 2014/15.

The range of activities of this group is phenomenal, they have environmental fingers in many pies and I’m inspired by the amount of activity this group undertakes to protect, enhance and preserve our local environment.

Vicki Boyle was resoundingly re-elected as
President of the Southern Dandenong
Landcare Group. Vicki is a human dynamo
and was awarded Yarra Ranges Environmental
Achiever of the Year 2012.

The President, Vicki Boyle, gave an extensive report of activities, some of which included:

• Participation in CWAD – Community Weed Alliance in the Dandenongs

• Partner is SREA – Southern Ranges Environment Alliance working on the Green Tracks program, an environmental program focused on the Puffing Billy rail corridor

• Targeted community engagement re weed removal with property owners abutting Moores Break, Ferny Creek.

• Works along the Belgrave bicycle track to remove blackberries

• Participation in the Minak Reserve biolink projct

• Assisting with the Green Army project to target Wandering Tradescantia

• Working with the Belgrave Traders Association for Weedbusters week and Clean Up Australia day

• Monthly stalls at the Kallista Market

• Working with the BEEGEES, Friends of Trestle Bridge, focusing on a stationers group (metro station), food growing and biodiversity improvements in the VicTrack rail corridor

• Participating in Selbyfest and Selby Community House, developing community indigenous plant garden

• Assisting Cardinia Creek Landcare Group with signage project to raise awareness of the local platypus population

• Partnering in the Yarra Valley Landcare Landcare for Singles event

• Partnering with Selby CFA for event catering and as a Clean Up partner

• Enhancing relationship with Selby Primary School and the Minibeast festival

• Working with the Selby Men’s Shed group (who build nest boxes for SDLG)

• Coordinating the local nest box program

• Recognising the contribution of long time locals who sadly passed away, the Beers, for their efforts in the enhancement of the local Selby environment.

• Running the Minibeast Festival and Awesome Ornithorynkids (Platypus Day)

It’s an amazing array of activities, an enormous contribution by all involved, volunteers working hard to enhance our environment and raise awareness about environmental issues. I am truly thankful for their tireless efforts.
 

Pictured from left to right: Mike, Leslie, Helen, Cr Samantha,
Jackie, Catherine, Darcy, Merinda, Frank, Vicki, Robert
and Catherine.

I’m delighted to announce the election of the following people to the committee for 2014/15:

President – Vicki Boyle

Vice President – Darcy Duggan
Secretary – Jackie Glenn
Treasurer – Mike Clarke
General Members – Navila, Catherine, Helen, Merinda, Frank, Robert, Catherine, Jenny and Leslie.

minibeasts mesmerize

I was delighted to be able to launch the Birdsland Environmental Gardening Group, also known as the BeeGees as part of the second Minibeast Festival at Birdsland.



To celebrate the launch I planted a lemon tree, no home
should be without one! Pictured left to right: Vicki Boyle -
Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group, Gavin - Yarra
Ranges Council and Cr Samantha Dunn - Lyster Ward.

The BeeGees is intended to teach kids and their parents about growing food, the importance of a healthy environment and have fun doing it too. It’s aimed at children of all ages and it’s great to see the education centre gardens at Birdsland being used to demonstrate the backyard gardening.



Parks Victoria had a great display of native animals, Ranger
Andrew Van Vloten delighting kids with the Wedge Tailed
Eagle display.

Events offered as part of the Minibeast Festival included water watch, discovering all the mini beasts that live in healthy waterways. Melbourne Water also had a great interactive display to explain what happens with water runoff in the city versus the forests. There were nest box displays, talks on a Monbulk Creek local, the platypus and a waste tour were kids were taken into the depths of the tip.

Glenn Brooks-McMillan is our resident expert on platypus,
he capitvated young and old alike with his presentation
on one of our cutest locals, the platypus.

Kids had a great time turning into scientists undertaking investigations into exactly what creatures they’d discovered in the Monbulk Creek water.

Local artist Glenn Scolyer was there for a lantern parade workshop, a very popular activity, Glenn was run off his feet helping kids with their lanterns (the lantern parade will be held in Belgrave on Saturday 22 June – on facebook here).

Glenn's lantern making skills are extraordinary, this
Sherbrooke Amphipod is an amazing replica, although
a little larger than the real thing!

Glenn is currently working on his own lantern the very special, endemic to the Dandenongs, Sherbrooke Amphipod. The Sherbrooke Amphipod has been listed as a threatened species in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. The amphipod has a very restricted distribution in Victoria only occurring in the Dandenong Ranges.

Belgrave Pre School supplied the catering, doing a roaring trade on the sausage sizzle and of course the Southern Dandenong Ranges Community Nursery were a key participant giving every child a free indigenous plant to take home. Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group were out in force, raising awareness about weeds, the environment and domestic cats and their harm to the environment if not well managed.

The always breathtaking, wedge tailed eagle. The live locally
and are an impressive sight, it was terrific to see this
one fly by as part of the festival.

It was a great collaboration between volunteers, agencies, community groups and council and I thank everyone who volunteered their time to make it a great day out at one of the shire’s key conservation reserves.

sdlg welcomes a new committee

One of the joys of being a local councillor is the request to preside over elections in community AGM's. I'm always pleased to be part of this process, I'm always impressed by the enthusiasm our community has for it's various activities.
The Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group (SDLG) is no exception. A wonderful and dynamic group of people dedicated to improving and enhancing our environment and our understanding of the local environment.

From left to right: Anne Elizabeth, Mike Clarke, Vicki Boyle,
Jackie Glenn, Gillian Anderson, Cr Samantha Dunn
and Leslie Wilson.

It was terrific to be part of this occasion and hear the many activities this group has undertaken in the past year. SDLG were a constant at the Kallista Market helping locals understand what is a weed and what is a good indigenous plant to replace the weeds. 

They held two successful weed trade days, one at Belgrave Lake Park, the other in Tecoma. Yarra Ranges Council was very pleased to support these initiatives by funding plants, promotional material and a skip for the days. 

Not satisfied with one planting for National Tree Day, the group held three tree plantings, including Monbulk Creek - Colby Drive, Monbulk Creek - Trestle Bridge and Monbulk Creek - Colin Avenue. All of the plants, stakes and guards were supplied by Yarra Ranges Council from our Ribbons of Green program. 

Monbulk Creek got even more focus with a collaboration between SDLG and Belgrave Heights Christian College, which saw 2,500 plants planted to improve the riparian health of the creek in the Apsley Rd region. 

The SDLG also had a great program working with Mater Christi students, who are starting to make a real impact on their section of Monbulk Creek near Stoney Road. I congratulate teachers of Mater Christi for their efforts to embed Environmental Science into the curriculum. 

SDLG will also play a role in council's new Waterwatch Scheme, Council's Water Management Office, Beth Wallis, has been keenly working with volunteer groups to get out and start monitoring our waterways. 

Of course there's the ever popular Awesome Ornithorinkids Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of our local platypus population, held at Belgrave Lake Park. Last year's was a delight as the resident Powerful Owl roosted just above us!

The group were instrumental in participating in consultations for the Shire's Flora and Fauna Strategy and I thank them for their time. 

This is a snapshot of some of the key activities of this group, it goes on, I am always impressed by their boundless energy for their volunteer work. 

I congratulate the group, your passion for our environment is second to none. 

I'm pleased to announce that the committee for the ensuing year is:
President: Jackie Glenn
Vice President: Vicki Boyle
Secretary: Anne Elizabeth
Treasurer: Mike Clarke
General Committee Members:
Leslie Wiliams
Gillian Anderson
Darcy Duggan

Well done for going that extra mile and dedicating time to these important leadership roles in the group.