Blog Articles

How to propagate native species!

By Emily Mason posted 17-01-2023
Want to better care for nature in your own neighborhood ? We’ve pulled together their top tips to show you how to propagate native plants: 1. Collect your materials To propagate plants, you need the right materials to give your cuttings the best possible chance at success. You’ll need: Coconut fibre and perlite (or potting mix) Sharp, clean scissors Hormone stimulant (or raw unprocessed honey) Small plastic pots One larger plastic pot Place soil into your small plastic pots. If using coconut fibre and perlite, use a mix of 10% fibre to 90% perlite. These materials can help retain moisture which is vital to cutting growth. ...

How to feed your garden birds if you want to attract and support native species

By Toby9005 posted 12-01-2023
As vegetation is removed to make way for urban development, wild species experience a dramatic loss of habitat, making it more difficult for city dwellers to interact with wildlife. But how can you attract back those native bird species? Studies show a lack of connection to nature might lead to anxiety and depression for people in cities. Birds are among the most accessible and aesthetically attractive connection points. Hence, thriving bird communities in cities can have a positive effect on people’s health and wellbeing. Feeding birds is popular in Aotearoa. About half of New Zealand households feed birds in their gardens, predominately with ...

Local beloved Ice Man rescues two turtle nests ~300 eggs!

By Toby9005 posted 11-01-2023
The Rainbow Beach Ice Man was out spotting turtles in the past week and took to Facebook to report on the relocation of turtle nests! “We found two turtle nests yesterday about 30m apart, Well done to Muzza the Turtle whisper!" the post reads. “Please be mindful that it is the turtle nesting season, and they are about. “The first (nest) had 131 eggs and the second 137. Now a ll safely relocated to higher ground. Lindy Orwin from Cooloola Coastcare TurtleCare said special training is required to relocate turtle eggs. “Muzza is a fully trained and permit holding TurtleCare volunteer as well as an awesome Iceman offsider and all round good ...

How 'Caring for our Coastal Emu' became an award-winning project

By Emily Mason posted 09-01-2023
In December Clarence Valley Council won the 2022 Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Award for Natural Environment Protection and Enhancement for the collaborative project, Caring for our Coastal Emu – partnerships to protect an endangered population The project incorporates a range of collaborative approaches our Natural Resource Management team took to protect the endangered Coastal Emu. With an estimated population of less than 50 birds remaining, a major focus of the project was reducing the risk of vehicle strike along the 7km section of Brooms Head Road at Taloumbi, where emus commonly cross the road. Through key partnerships with ...

Reforming Australia's threatened species recovery plans

By Emily Mason posted 14-12-2022
Strategies protect vulnerable species THE Federal Government is deciding how to reform Australia's system of protections when hundreds of threatened species recovery plans have not been updated by past governments as required by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. National laws require that plans be updated every five years, and many have expired or are due to expire within the next six months. This list included the plans for the critically endangered King Island Scrubtit and King Island Thornbill. Environment and Water Minister, Tanya Plibersek is due to deliver her response to the review of national environment laws undertaken ...

Protect Eastern Hooded Plover Eggs This Summer

By Emily Mason posted 13-12-2022
PROTECTING OUR SHOREBIRDS THIS SUMMER Did you know that half of the remaining eastern hooded plover population call Tasmania home? What’s more, approximately 20 per cent of these can be found on our north-eastern beaches. Hooded plovers are small, threatened shorebirds. They live on beaches and rely on these areas to feed and nest. With summer here, hooded plovers are now in their breeding season and will spend the next few months creating their nests. Hooded plovers lay their tiny, speckled eggs in a shallow scrape in the sand above the high-tide mark, and while their eggs are well camouflaged from predators, they are also incredibly difficult to ...

Feral animal control! How to & 'did you know?'

By Emily Mason posted 13-12-2022
Check your gear, know your gear and take the time to learn best practice was the take-home message from the Fitzroy Basin Association Feral Animal Workshop held at Blackwater last month. The workshop was part of an FBA Feral Animal Roadshow stopping at – Moranbah, Clermont, Rolleston and Injune. Attendees at the Blackwater event learnt about trapping with Jordy Oostom (from Northern Trapping) and Darren Pointon (from Out N About Trapping and Outfitters) as well as electric fencing options with Stewart Greggor (from Gallagher Animal Management). Jordy and Darren have more than 50 years of industry experience between them in a large variety of landscapes ...

National Tree Day & Narrandera Landcare

By Emily Mason posted 22-11-2022
Looking back on National Tree Day, we just can't pass up talking about the incredible work of Narrandera Landcare Group whose passion for their local environment led to them to engage in two whole weeks of tree planting activities! Together with young landcarers from Narrandera Public School and Narrandera High School, they planted, tree-guarded, watered and mulched hundreds of seedlings. PLUS they've been educating these future landcare leaders on local habitats, biodiversity and threatened species! On July 31st, they topped off their fantastic work by planting under-storey seedlings at the Narrandera Wetlands - all propagated by the group thanks ...

One million trees planted in 2022: NSW!

By Emily Mason posted 16-11-2022
One million tree milestone reached! By Eco Voice The planting of a ceremonial tree has marked the completion of the NSW Government’s ambitious plan to get one million trees in the ground by the end of the year. Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes Anthony Roberts today planted the millionth tree in Camden, alongside Camden Mayor Therese Fedeli, during a community planting day at Elizabeth Macarthur Reserve. “This is the culmination of more than three years of hard work to meet the government’s priority to plant one million new trees by 2022 across Greater Sydney, with countless people taking up the one million tree challenge alongside us,” ...

Koala protection strategy by Toowoomba - resulting in 83% less koala deaths

By Emily Mason posted 03-11-2022
Top 11 Priorities on Koala Protection A collaborative Griffith University project that successfully helped reduce the number of koala deaths in South East Queensland (SEQ) has moved into its next phase. Social Marketing @ Griffith (SM@G) researchers used co-design strategies to determine what locals wanted to know about the furry animals and to learn how people living in SEQ could assist in protecting the endangered species. In its first year, the project, which is supported by Queensland Department of Environment and Science funding, delivered a communications campaign across the Logan City Council area in the 2021/22 koala ...

Read The Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032

By Emily Mason posted 02-11-2022
The Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032 maps a pathway to protect, manage and restore Australia’s threatened species and important natural places. The Action Plan 2022-2032 builds on the Action Plan 2021-2026 which was developed with input from experts, the community, natural resource managers, scientists, conservation groups, and First Nations peoples. New focus areas to reflect increased ambition and respond to some of the challenges identified in the 2022 State of the Environment report include: An objective to prevent new extinctions An additional 10 threatened species that are at imminent risk of extinction added ...

Goulburn Broken Catchment celebrates Eastern Banjo frog in 2022: Year of the Frog campaign

By Melissa Higgins posted 31-10-2022
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority’s 2022 Year of the Frog community awareness campaign is celebrating its October frog of the month! The eastern banjo frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii) is found in the Goulburn Broken Catchment’s grey box grassy woodlands which are a focus of the GB CMA Linking Landscapes and Communities Project. As part of that project it works with landowners, communities, and traditional owners to improve critical habitat. This project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. GB CMA project officer Janice Mentiplay-Smith said the eastern banjo frog was also known as the southern ...

No Robins needed, but are you our Batman? | Saving our Species Volunteer Call-Out

By Emily Mason posted 28-10-2022
It’s no trick – if you volunteer to be part of the latest Saving our Species project, you’re in for a treat as the Department of Planning and Environment is seeking citizen scientists to scan the skies for insect-eating bats in four key locations. The ‘Bats in Backyards’ project is being delivered by the NSW Government Saving our Species program in partnership with Western Sydney University and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. Volunteers are needed in Narrabri, Wellington, Western Sydney and Pillar Valley near Grafton in the first phase of the project, aimed at learning about how bats use different landscapes across NSW. Saving our Species ...

CSIRO is building a National Biodiversity DNA Library of all Australian species

By Toby9005 posted 24-10-2022
The National Biodiversity DNA Library (NBDL) aims to create a complete collection of DNA reference sequences for all known Australian animal and plant species. Just like COVID wastewater testing, it will enable DNA detected in the environment to be assigned to the species to which it belongs. CSIRO Director of the NBDL Jenny Giles said environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis has the potential to create a revolution in biodiversity monitoring. “Monitoring biodiversity and detecting pests is extremely important, but it’s hard to do and is expensive in a country as large as Australia. eDNA surveys could change that by allowing us to detect animals, plants and other ...

Tips and techniques on revegetating for Woodland birds | Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Council

By Emily Mason posted 20-10-2022
Early on Sunday 25 September, around 20 landholders gathered for a glorious sunny day of bird walks and tree planting in Forties Creek. The theme of the day was to look, listen and learn about woodland birds and the best methods to conserve and create suitable habitat. The event was the final in a two-part series run by Upper Shoalhaven Landcare and South East Local Land Services (LLS), raising awareness of the Save Our Scarlet Robin Project. The LLS project has helped landholders around the district fund fencing and native plants to protect and revegetate over 500 hectares of habitat for a range of threatened woodland birds. Tips and techniques on revegetating ...

Habitat boost for Northern Rivers koalas from NSW Koala Strategy (& apply for a Koala Grant)

By Toby Davidson posted 14-10-2022
Private landholders are being supported to restore 200 hectares of koala habitat in the Northern Rivers through a new initiative that is planting 250,000 tree seedlings, backed by the NSW Koala Strategy. The NSW Koala Strategy - the biggest commitment by any government to secure koalas in the wild - is supporting a range of conservation actions that will provide more habitat for koalas, support local community action, improve koala safety and health, and build our knowledge to improve koala conservation. The NSW Government has committed a total of more than $190 million to deliver the targeted conservation actions that the strategy sets out. These actions ...

Rare turtles discovered at Borinya!

By Melissa Higgins posted 14-10-2022
Borinya students ( Wangaratta VIC) recently found six very rare baby Broad–Shelled Turtles in their grounds! Student Jade Scown found the first baby turtle on the grass beside the newly built learning centre, with other students and teachers then joining in the search and by the end of the week they had six turtles. Local ecologist Ian Davidson from Wangaratta Landcare and Sustainability (WLS), who identified the turtles, expressed great enthusiasm about the turtle find, saying that in all his years as an ecologist he has only seen hatchlings of this species a handful of times. Teacher Kjirsten Robb said Borinya's turtles were lucky to have survived ...

Buzzing Bee Selfie Competition for native bee awareness with Berri Barmera Landcare

By Emily Mason posted 13-10-2022
Berri Barmera Landcare this week launched its Bee Hotel Selfie Competition, aimed at boosting community awareness of a native bee project. The first person to find all of the bee hotels “secretly installed” last week around Berri and Barmera will win $200! Each bee hotel is hand-made and unique, constructed with the help of a number of community groups, including the Berri Community Men’s Shed, the Berri Girl Guides and Barmera Primary School year 3s and 4s. Berri Barmera Landcare also ran community workshops and guided walks as a part of the Berri Barmera Community Bee Hotel Project. The bee hotels are designed to provide a habitat for native bees to ...

Native plant 'Prickfoot' recorded in Warrnambool vicinity for the first time

By Toby9005 posted 10-10-2022
A native plant never officially recorded in the Warrnambool area has been spotted in what one landcare expert describes as a "perennial remnant of what was hundreds of years ago"! 'Prickfoot' or Eryngium vesiculosum is a spiky, short-rooted plant belonging to the parsley family. Have you seen any out-of-the-normal natives in your area? Snap a pic and send it to your local landcare group! Article attrition.

Solar power backpacks are helping save one of Australia’s rarest birds from extinction: plains-wanderers

By Emily Mason posted 08-10-2022
15 critically endangered plains-wanderers have been released into Oolambeyan National Park, wearing tiny solar powered satellite backpacks that will gather critical data for up to 2 years Anything but plain, the plains-wanderer is the sole member of its species family, and genetically distinct from any other species in the world. Saving the plains-wanderer has global significance, as its extinction would mean the loss of the last remaining species in the genus. NSW Environment Minister James Griffin said the release of the birds is part of the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program, which is backed by a $175 million commitment over 10 years. ...