Dear <<First Name>>,
Happy New Year from the Ovens Landcare Network! We are looking forward to a new year, with plenty of Landcare, sustainability, environmental activities filling up the calendar.
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European Wasp (Vespula germanica) Project
OLN Landcare Facilitator, Gayle South, sought & received funding from several sources including Rural City of Wangaratta, Bendigo Bank & Indigo Shire to provide education and a large number of European Wasp Traps to community members throughout the North East. The project was well supported, with relevant articles in the Wangaratta Chronicle, Myrtleford Times & Indigo Shire’s Weekly Update.
The aims of the project included reducing European Wasp populations and educating the wider community about the habitat and breeding cycle of this pest species. In addition, by providing traps and information at a large number of community events this project highlighted the scope and diversity of Landcare to a broad cross-section of the community.
The project involved selling and distributing 1150 Sundew traps and additional lures via community events, markets, agricultural shows and COVID safe “pop up” events. Because of the grant funding these high-quality traps were able to be sold at a significantly reduced price.
The traps were available to anyone in the community and were distributed throughout the whole region with areas considered hotspots for European Wasps being particularly targeted.
These traps target the queen and if used correctly have less impact on other beneficial insect species. Gayle emphasised the benefit of installing the traps early in the season (spring and early summer) and ensuring the traps were still active until late autumn.
Gayle commenced this project while she was employed by OLN but kindly offered to finalise the project as a volunteer. Gayles’s very generous donation of time and effort was greatly appreciated by the OLN Committee.
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How to future proof your farm water supply - Webinar
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Wednesday 19th January | 7.30pm - 9pm
Online
Natural disasters and increasing seasonal variability means farm water security is becoming more important than ever. This one-hour webinar will outline on-farm water management options, risks and contingencies to ensure that your farm will have water when you need it.
Suitable for all farmers, the presentation aims to assist producers to plan and adopt strategies for what may be a significantly water-challenged future.
More details and register for this free online webinar here.
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Friday 21st January | 9am - 4pm
Tulleries, Rutherglen
Hosted by Winemakers of Rutherglen, during this full day session Ben Rose will discuss vineyards of the future and critical planning considerations to maintain viability and profitability. Professor Snow Barlow will interpret the climate science for the North East Wine Zone region of Victoria and Paul Ryan, Director of the Australian Resilience Centre will talk about risk and resilience and the role of climate and weather events that impact the business.
Book your spot here.
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15 Mile Creek and Boggy Creek - River geomorphology and management Webinar
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Monday 31st January | 7.30-8.45pm
Online
Julian Martin of local company Water Technology, will take us through the historical changes that occurred on Boggy and Fifteen Mile Creek and how these waterways have behaved in response. This webinar will form an excellent basis for our hands on field session which is scheduled for later in Summer.
The presentation will help to inform how we can manage these waterways moving forward. Sally Day will also present information about our current waterways grant, focusing on weed and pest animal control.
This webinar is presented by Greta Valley Landcare Group and will be hosted using Zoom. Please use the link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84001406102 to join the webinar at 7.30pm.
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Closing the gap on weeds in pastures Webinar
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Monday 31st January | 8pm-9pm
Online
Presented by the RCOW: Professor Brian Sindel - Professor of Weed Science at the University of New England. Brian is a pasture weed specialist. He has, with his students, led Australian research into the ecology and management of weed species and will share his knowledge on developing and implementing an integrated weed management approach for our farming systems.
Register for the Zoom link here.
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Local climate history and future climate drivers Webinar
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Monday 7th February | 7.30-8.30pm
Online
Join Graeme Anderson, Climate Specialist from Agriculture Victoria for this online webinar. Seasonal variability, ElNino-LaNina, Indian Ocean Dipole – these climate drivers have their fingerprints all over our regions wetter and drier years. To find out how they work, what they are up to this season and if any of them are changing please come along to this webinar!
Graeme will run through our longer term rainfall history and will talk about what’s normal, what isn’t and what we should be planning for in the coming years, as well as sharing some new climate and forecast tools for farmers.
This webinar is presented by Greta Valley Landcare Group and will be hosted using Zoom. Please register to receive the link here.
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Identifying weeds in this region and why is this important?
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Thursday 10th February | 8-9pm
Online
Presented by the RCOW: Sue Brunskill has worked with weeds for more than 30 years in horticulture, bush regeneration and farming. She taught weed management at TAFE for many years and has always been involved in Landcare. Join Sue as she takes us through the basics of identifying weeds. Learn about the different types of weeds and their identifying characteristics. Find out about some useful resources and an App that can help you along the way.
Register for the Zoom link here.
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Are You Bogged Mate? - Rural Mens Mental Health workshop
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Sunday 13th February | 5pm - 8pm
Remel 185, Whorouly
Alpine Shire Council is working with TAFCO to deliver a free event to Farmers across Alpine Shire and King Valley presented by Mary O’Brien on Sunday the 13th February 2022 from 5-8pm.
The workshop is supporting rural men’s mental health and suicide prevention. Workshop will be followed by a Sunday roast and refreshments. Full details here.
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Forecasting future farming impacts on beef cattle
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Monday 14th February | 7.30-9.00pm
Moyhu Memorial Hall, Moyhu
Lachlan Campbell from the North East CMA will talk us through the forecast impacts on beef cattle production in our local area as a result of our changing climate. Climate modelling specifically for our local catchment will be explored and he will discuss the challenges and opportunities with particular reference to water availability and pastures for our local catchment. Light supper provided. Please note that we may move to an outside venue or postpone this event if covid risk levels are still high. Please register so that we can inform you of any changes, RSVP online here by Thursday 10th February.
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Indigo Shire Community Sustainability Council Grants
Applications close 12 pm on Sunday 30th January 2022.
The aim of the Indigo Shire Community Sustainability grants program is to provide community groups within the shire an opportunity to implement sustainability initiatives. For example, community organisations can request funding for projects or events that demonstrate climate change mitigation or adaptation, reduce water consumption or improve water quality, reduce waste generation, support biodiversity conservation; and/or raise awareness or build capacity in climate change mitigation or adaptation, energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and biodiversity conservation.
The total funding pool for the 2021-2022 round of the Community Sustainability Grant is $20,000. If you are interested in applying, please visit the Community Sustainability Grant webpage to download a copy of the Grant Guidelines.
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Strengthening Rural Communities | FRRR
Applications close 5pm Tuesday 22nd February 2022
The Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program aims to give the thousands of small rural, regional and remote communities across Australia an opportunity to access funding to support broad community needs. Given the events of summer 2019/20, it has also been expanded to offer funding to support recovery in bushfire-affected communities.
Grants are available for a broad range of grassroots, community-led initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and assessed quarterly. For more information click here. For more information click here.
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Tackling Tough Times Together | FRRR
Applications open Feb 1, close 5pm Tuesday 1st March 2022
The Tackling Tough Times Together grant program helps communities access the resources they need to support one another through the ongoing effects of the drought.
Grants are available for a broad range of grassroots, community-led initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and assessed quarterly. For more information click here.
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Small Environmental Grant Scheme | Norman Wettenhall Environment Trust
Expressions of Interest open regularly
Providing support for people undertaking projects that will make a positive difference to the natural living environment, in land, sea or air, rural or urban. The Norman Wettenhall Environment Trust supports grassroots organisations and individuals, and academics who are working with on-ground community groups. The expression of interest process opens regularly throughout the year. For more information click here.
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Have Your Say - Victorian Fishing Authority draft stocking plan
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Feedback due Friday 4th February
To help shape what gets stocked between May 2022 and April 2023, the VFA is asking for feedback on its 2022-23 Draft Stocking Plan. Local sites on this list include the King River, Ovens River and Glenrowan Rec Reserve. Submissions on the plan can be sent through to improving.fishing@vfa.vic.gov.au and will be accepted up until Friday 4th of February 2022.
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Policies for our Landcare Groups
OLN has produced a number of policies for Groups to utilise as required. If your group requires a policy document on a topic that is not covered by these policies please discuss with your Facilitator.
Head to our website for these and more useful resources for Landcare groups.
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Managing pests - what to do and what not to do
Trust for Nature webinar recording
Deer, rabbits, foxes - these introduced species pose a number of challenges for protecting native wildlife and habitat. How best to manage the threat? In this webinar, hear from experts in the field on the dos and don'ts of pest management.
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