WINTER ’09 NEWSLETTER

Hello to all, including our regular readers, members and non members. This newsletter aims to keep you informed about the local coastal environment and enable you to participate when and where ever you can, weather it be in a group activity or looking after our environment as a individual in a sustainable way.

The Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group takes an interest in the biodiversity of our area by continuing to work on projects that protect and enhance the coastal environment. In an age of rapid climate change, our work focus may have to change, and it’s important we keep up with any new issues that face the environment. Your volunteer efforts may mean the difference between success or failure in plants or animals becoming extinct or surviving.

As a reward to our fellow volunteers, the State funded Coast Action Coastcare recently held its 15th anniversary celebrations and invited us to be part of it. We were rewarded for the good work we have done during this time with a free Marine and Coastal forum, enriching our knowledge about the coast. For those who attended, we hope you got a lot out of it, and Coast Action Coastcare is planning more group development and activities for us during the year.

Clean Beaches Award Winners

We are pleased with the announcement that the Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group won the Environmental Innovation Award for Stingray Bay Beach from the recent Keep Australia Beautiful (Vic) Clean Beach Awards presentation in Melbourne.

The world’s first trial and success of the Maremma dogs guarding penguins was definitely the leading edge in gaining first prize. Thanks to all those volunteers who have contributed to our activities over the years in helping to make this award a success - the hours of work that has gone into enabling the Little Penguin population to grow from 4 to over a centaury, the members in cleaning up the Merri by kayak and on Clean Up Australia Day and to the volunteers revegetating Harris street on the banks of the Merri, this is your trophy.

With the season change so too has our

focus. The Little Penguin breeding

finished (as they mostly stay out to sea) so we don’t have a need to monitor their arrivals.

The Short Tailed Shearwaters have taken off, closely followed by their fledglings for the northern summer flight to the Bearing Straight (via New Zealand) and a special group of bird watchers have been counting the rare and endangered Orange Bellied Parrot, which has just flown in from Tasmania and are feeding in the wetlands along our coast.

The first whale of the season of the season has been sited (earliest on record) and a special monitoring group have been learning whale watching techniques and identification to help with the recording of scientific data at Logan’s Beach.

Revegetation Time

We had a glorious sunny start to autumn followed by good soaking rains. With the whole SW district now lush, home gardeners have been able to start early winter gardens and it has also enabled us to plan for an early planting at the Harris on Merri site.

Already we have had the first plantings at our Harris on Merri site. Members and the community were invited to attend and the event was promoted well by the group and WCC. A successful day was achieved with 700 plants and a reward BBQ for the volunteers.

Thanks to WCC for supplying the plants and to Kate McInnes and Ann Park for their organisational skills. Thanks also to the group members who rolled up early to make the day a success.

National Tree Day

Our next big planting day will be on National Tree Day, Sunday August 2nd. Make sure you write that date in your diary now, as we need your support that day. Traditionally this event has been our biggest day of the year with up to 200 people attending.

Last year we went to McGennans car park area, and this year will be holding NTD in the Granny’s Grave area, at the Hickford Pde entrance. We will be filling in the gaps around the promenade that have not revegetated since the footpath was extended and connected to the Hopkins River about 6 years ago. In all we hope to have about 4000 plants and we will be following up the day with a reward BBQ and give aways. Make sure you spread the word around and that all friends, family and community members are invited.

Changes to GHCMA

There have been government cut backs to funding the regional Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority and a few of the services provided by this key environmental agency.

While some of the changes are yet to be announced, Water Watch will no longer continue in its current form and there will be no funding for the current facilitators or coordinators. A new title of Landscape Project Coordinator will be created and that person will be attached to a specific project.

We are not certain how the changes are going to effect our group, but we will certainly miss the huge input that Brenton Bartsch, our present Community Landcare Facilitator has supported and advised us. Good luck in the future Brenton.

National Volunteer Week

In mid May we had National Volunteer Week, and with the promotion organised by Volunteers@Warrnambool and the WCC, our group participating in a bus tour of all our activity sites on the Warrnambool coast.

Volunteers were taken on a guided tour to give them a realistic view of where the project sites are and what we do at each one. With the good will of the promotion, and active interest shown, hopefully we will benefit in the future with some new volunteers.

Thanks to the girls at Volunteers@Warrnambool for promoting the event and for their continued support during the year of referring to us volunteers with environmental interests.

Life on the Edge

The national campaign 2009 Life on the Edge by Coastcare Australia, has come to an end, raising awareness of the issues and challenges facing Australia’s 36,000 km coastline. We were one of the 300 participants with our entrant ‘Protect a Penguin Colony’ that helped raise funds for Coastcare groups around Australia.

The success of this initial campaign means that Life on the Edge will become an annual event, and is expected to be even more successful next year.

Another Life on the Edge of a slightly different kind, is a marine publication pocket booklet put out by the Friends of Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary. It is a well presented guide to the marine animals and plants that live on the edge of the Bluff.

The species contained in the booklet are similar to those in the Merri Marine Sanctuary and a valuable source in the ID of our creatures. For more information on the booklet visit www.barwonbluff.com.au

Governance Training

As part of the group’s ongoing development, six of our members recently attended a governance training session in Hamilton. Topics of basic governance issues, committee succession, legal compliances, meeting procedure and governance by Model Rules was discussed.

It was pointed out that Donations to our group of $50 or more are Tax Deductible, but need to be paid to Landcare Australia first to make it legal ( see Don for details)

If there is a member that can see a topic or group training that would benefit us as a whole and add to your personal profile, talk to one of the executive committee about it and we may be able to follow it through. We hope to be having an OH&S training course later this year, but we would like some input from you too with other ideas.

Farewell Amanda

With regret we bid farewell to Amanda Peucker after finishing her PhD on the Genetics of the Little Penguin. While doing her thesis, Amanda has been diligently coordinating and leading the scientific team on Middle island for the past four years and is now moving on with her career. Good luck and thanks Amanda from all of us.

We are hoping a like minded graduate student will see an opportunity and step forward to continue on with scientific studies on the island.

News in Brief

  • A draft Sustainable Water Strategy for Western Victoria is being developed by DSE, CMA, Wannon Water and Southern Rural Water and is due to be released in June for community comment. The strategy is due to cover water resources, river health and the key challenges facing the region.
  • Congratulations to Kate McInnes, environmental officer at WCC, for being nominated for a customer service award in April. Kate, who always works with a smile, liaises with many groups, schools and organisations in the community helping them to understand a vast range of environmental issues.
  • We are looking at having a ‘weed awareness’ workshop in early spring, where you can learn how to identify, eradicate and what will be the best replacement option. More details next newsletter.
  • John Amor has nominated the combined WCLG and the Point Danger Committee of Mngt. in the State Landcare awards for both group’s use of the maremma dogs to successfully protect native fauna in the SW. Award ceremony is on Sept.8th.
  • The Whale Watch group has been trained and have started at Logans Beach. If you wish to be involved contact Mandy Watson on 5561 9961
  • Orange Bellied Parrot surveys have commenced and there are two remaining for the year, one in July and the other in Sept. Contact Jody Honan for more info. 5561 9933
  • Green Corps and Lisette Mills are revamping all the painted culvert lids in Warrnambool with friendly environmental awareness stencils. If you would like to help or know of and any lid that needs freshening up further than 4 blocks from the CBD, contact Lisette on 5561 4672
  • Sadly we will not be involved with Fun4Kids this year as Coast Action Coastcare’s funding focus has shifted to more community education awareness programs and workshops. This brings to an end 5 years of involvement from our group.
  • Clean Up Australia Day in March attracted 120 people, of which we were proud to be involved. It doesn’t take long for more litter to appear, so if you happen to be out and about and see a mess, pick it up and do us all a favour.

 

Maremma News

Environmental scientist and dog trainer Dave Williams tells us that all is going well with the (award winning) Maremmas.

Training consists of daily trips to the island for sent marking and familiarisation with the resident fauna. While the dogs are not guarding the penguins they have a hen house of chooks to guard.

When driving past Middle Island you may notice two poles towering the boardwalk. They are for the soon to be installed web cams and are nearly ready for testing. The WCC’s competition of naming the dogs is presently being decided and we should be told soon.

Weed Warrior Release Day

The Weed Warrior program, coordinated by Nicole Woods, had a ‘release day’ in the South Warrnambool wetlands recently with PS students from Merrivale and East Warrnambool breeding their own little bugs before releasing them on to the diminishing Bridal Creeper.

There were 60 students getting a ‘hands on’ relationship with the environment and an understanding of using biological agents to eliminate a pest plant. It was also a wonderful sight to see the East Warrnambool guys arrive in a long ‘congo line’ on their bikes, all with reflective vests and helmets with teachers at the front and back.

The following is a letter from Marty Gent, the SW Greenhouse Alliance project coordinator, with an overview of the working group’s aims and direction of the recently formed Alliance:

South West Greenhouse Alliance: Supporting the Community with Action on Climate Change

The South West Greenhouse Alliance is a working group under the auspices of the South West Sustainability Partnership. The partnership is an incorporated body consisting of 15 members from local councils, tertiary institutions, water authorities and government departments, all committed to adopting a regional sustainability program.. The partnership aims to establish a culture of sustainability in the SW through management of the environmental, economic, social, cultural and heritage resources.

 

The Greenhouse Alliance arm of the partnership works along with community groups and individuals by the building up of community capacity in helping with the development and running of projects that will reduce our emissions with the advent of climate change.

 

Some of the major projects we are currently working on include:

  • Working with BOC local trucking companies on the development of a liquid natural gas (LNG) plant and refilling stations to make industrial transport more greenhouse friendly.

 

  • Supporting alternative energy and working with local and state government in establishing the South West as an ‘Alternative Energy Cluster’

 

  • Working with Partnership members and local community groups in the running of the Smart Living expo and workshop series; aimed at raising awareness and helping to build the capacity of our community to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.

 

In my role as the greenhouse project coordinator, I am particularly interested in supporting community action on climate change. As a way of getting different groups together to share ideas and develop community projects, the Greenhouse Alliance will be sending out invitations to interested groups for a forum to be held on July 16th at a venue to be determined. The evening will feature a facilitated discussion and workshop designed to help and support the development of climate change projects that also have health, and social benefits.

 

If you are interested in climate change issues and in helping our community to become more socially economically and environmentally sustainable, please come along and share your thoughts and ideas. To book your place at the forum or for more information please feel free to give me a call on (03) 5564 8881 or 0428141599. Marty Gent