Annual Report 2008
Group Leader: Don McTaggart

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present my fifth annual report since taking office. It is now thirteen years since the Warrnambool City Landcare Group was formed and started caring for the Coastal Reserve area of Warrnambool. Ten years later the name changed to the more appropriate Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group, where we have all continued on with the mission to enhance and protect the coastal environment of Warrnambool.

Our group is as healthy and active as ever with membership of well over 100, although not all are financial. There are five ongoing coordinated projects and we are involved in many national and community driven activities and events. Our ever popular newsletter has become seasonal because of time restraints and cost, so in order to communicate effectively and efficiently, the use of emails to update and remind members of impending activities, is frequently used. Most members use this service and those members who haven’t given me their electronic address are encouraged to do so. I am also happy to make special arrangements for those without email.

I guess the jewel in our crown is the Middle Island project. Where else is there an island you can walk to in the middle of a Marine National Park, only 5 minutes from the CBD and have Little Penguins raising chicks? We love our job on the Island and over the years has been weed eradication and revegetation, building nesting boxes and ongoing monitoring and support with PhD research students. This year was marked by a magnificent penguin monitoring team of volunteers led by Kristie King who tirelessly collected data for scientific research based at Deakin University. We gained grants to buy microchiping and scanning equipment, and with help from Philip Island Nature Park, some members were trained to handle and microchip the birds. Researcher Amanda Peucker has revealed that she has found penguins microchiped 3 & 5 years ago and there was one banded 14 years ago. Not bad for a penguin whose average age is only 8 years old and amazing after all the devastation that has gone on there in the past.

We have also had a good working relationship with the WCC which has led to generous sponsorships from Powercor, BHP and the CMA. This has led to a WCC backed Maremma dog trial project, closing off the island to the public and introducing two dogs to the island. These dogs were considered a success as the penguin population has started to rise again and fox’s have been kept at bay. Towards the end of the breeding season a problem developed with the young dogs when they started playing with some penguins and accidentally killed them, so it was decided to remove them from the Island. This year the project is still being trialed, but with two new dogs, trained in assistance with Melbourne Zoo and Philip Island Nature Park and it is hoped the dogs will be working by Christmas.

The community and press have been fantastic during the maremma trial with a type of ownership in reporting of trespasses to the island and the passing on of information about the project respectively. We have responded with an educational program for the community with the publication of a Middle Island Brochure and Book Mark. In January during the Summer by the Sea program, Coast Action Coastcare funded interpretative Meet the Maremmas trips, which were booked out within one hour of advertising. Plans are in place to double the number of trips to the Island this summer.

Environmental groups are dependant on governments granting us funding for works, so when 8 out of ten Envirofund grant applications for SW Victoria Coastal Groups were unsuccessful early in the year (we were one of the eight), funding became a problem for us. We had to change plans slightly and spend wisely and not take anything on we couldn’t afford. Thanks to the WCC for helping out with plants for National Tree Day and we cut back at Harris on Merri Reveg project with weed maintenance and just replacing plants that had not survived from previous plantings. The new federal government has changed the way funding is structured from the CMA’s right through to environmental groups. It scraped Envirofund and replaced it with Caring for Country Community Coastcare. After learning how the new system works, we applied for work on our revegetation sites and Middle Island activities in partnership with some WCC initiatives, so I guess it is still a wait and see approach until the announcement of the successful applications are announced.

Our group also offers funding sponsorship to other groups who are not incorporated, so through our incorporation capacity, they can apply for the funding dollars they need for their projects. We are responsible for their reporting and gain a commission for our effort and they get the benefit of the funding. This year we have sponsored the Dolphin Research Institute in the ‘I see, I care’ program (to introduce programs to Schools and Community in SW Vic.), and for the Connies to produce educational cards for school children across SW Victoria. Last year we sponsored the Friends of the Merri Marine Sanctuary for a Calendar and the SW Tafe for the Conservation and Land Management students in the Granny’s Grave weed restoration and revegetation project.

The Harris on Merri Revegetation project is looking very nice now after starting three years of growth. This year Ann Park, who picked up the Rotary Environmental Good Practice Award, opted not to expand further along the river bank, but to consolidate the plantings with a maintenance and replacement program. Thanks to the hard working band of volunteers who toiled all year and supported the project. In consultation with the WCC and 2nd Generation Funding we have erected an interpretative sign at the viewing platform. With the spring flowers blooming, the riparian area look first class, and hopefully the judges will think the same as we have entered the project in the GHCMA Environmental Awards with a decision pending at the end of October.

The Harris Street site was also used as the base for kayaking in the estuary, where we cleaned up rubbish discharged from open stormwater outlets flowing down the river into the Marine Sanctuary. Thanks to Water Watch for sponsoring the activity and to the non kayakers who did lots of weeding waiting for the kayakers to return for a barbie.

Our Weed Warrior Program under the direction of Nicole Wood has had up to 180 PS students in 6 schools using safe biological control methods to eradicate the Bridal Creeper from the South Warrnambool wetlands. After 3 years of possibly a ten year target, SW Tafe students have GPS the site and the spread of creeper vines is definitely in decline. Because of the plants large underground tubers, it takes time to claim victory. Meanwhile the students are benefiting from the exercise.

Thanks also to Kevin Sparrow, Bruce Campbell, Ian Fitzgibbon and a few others for pulling together a Environmental Weeds of Warrnambool Booklet. The booklet has been approved by WCC and is awaiting approval and some funding from GHCMA. It is hoped to be printed and ready for distribution before the end of the year.

This year, planting on National Tree Day was still our biggest day of the year with 130 members and community personal attending. Traditionally held at the Flume, we moved our planting site to the west of McGennans car park to assist the WCC. The council is starting a replacement of the high non endemic vegetation along the beach front with endemic shrubs and grasses. The day, well organized by Kate McInnes, went like clockwork and everyone were rewarded with a sausage on the barbie. It was good to see growing families returning from previous NTD plantings.

A special aspect of our group is to liaise with other environmental groups and organizations and to support their activities where possible. This year we supported the Warrnambool Community Gardens first open day and helped with the formation of the Basalt to Bay Landcare Network. We have members on committees of Making a Difference (MAD) for the Merri and the Middle Island Steering Group. We have been involved with Fun 4 Kids, Tarerer, Multi-cultural Festival and National Volunteer Week. We were also presenting ourselves at Deakin during DUSA O Week, Dis-O Week and helped out with their riparian weed maintenance day. We are involved in the Summer by the Sea Program, Flagstaff’s Day on the Hill and have an affiliation with the Whale Watch Group. We also attended the WCC’s Sustainable Workshop and made a submission to the State Governments Green Paper on Land and Biodiversity at a time of Climate Change.

To finish this busy year, I would like to thank all of you for your enthusiasm and team qualities, for as a group we work well together. Different members get different things out of the group and the whole fabric of our purpose is held together in this web. Every volunteer is unique and a necessary part of our success and we need to respect and work to make all new members welcome. Also I must thank our facilitators John Amor and Brenton Bartsch for keeping us buoyant and pointing in the right direction and to the WCC’s environmental officers Ian Fitzgibbon and Kate McInnes for giving so much of their time and going out of their way to help the group.

I certainly hope next year is as kind to us as this has been this year, and we continue on to make our environment better for everyone.

 

Don McTaggart

Group Leader