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FEBRUARY - Aiden Banfield from the Victorian Wetlands Network spoke to the group on the importance of wetlands in the environment and what we could do to enhance and manage them.
Four of our members joined a bus trip to look at works undertaken by the Kooreh Landcare Group and the North Central CMA Waterways unit. Our group fully supported the Donald 2000 Pick up a Bindi Day and congratulated the people of Donald for their enthusiasm and effort in tackling the bindi problem. The bindi is not a local priority weed. It is a regionally controlled weed and under this classification landholders are meant to take responsibility and all reasonable steps to control its spread. Three members attended a Buloke Woodland Community consultation meeting at the DSE Horsham Office. MARCH - Tony Pope, Buloke Shire Environmental Health Officer spoke to the group on the benefits and importance of a healthy environment, and how it applies to his role in the shire. Members attended the My Connected Community (mc2)training program delivered by Buloke Learning Towns to Landcare groups in the area. APRIL - Three of the group's members were appointed to the Avoca/Avon Richardson Implementation Committee with the North Central CMA. Donna Pilgrim, Waterwatch/Stormwater facilitator North Central CMA, explained how to use our new water quality monitoring equipment. Waterwatch is a national community based monitoring network aimed at raising awareness and knowledge of water quality and river health issues. MAY - Held our first dinner meeting and welcomed guest speaker Mr. Terry White, executive officer for the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance. Wrote to the Buloke Shire Council making them aware of the excessive amount of dead and fallen timber being removed from roadsides for firewood. It is important to leave dead and fallen timber as habitat for our native fauna and people should be aware that approval from the Shire and a permit from DSE are required before they can collected any firewoood from roadsides. JUNE - As part of their Envirofund projects Donald 2000 and Donald and District Landcare Group held a public working bee on June 20th to remove rubbish from the Richardson River and to plant 800 trees on Myer's Island and along the river in rip lines prepared last November. JULY - On July 4th planting working bees were held. Along the river at the back of the golf club 3,000 trees were planted by Landcarers and members of the Donald Golf Club. A small group of Landcarers gathered at Myer's Island to plant another 800 trees. The Central Murray Regional Waste Management Group, Regional Education Officer gave an Ecological FootPrint (Calculating our impact on the Earth) presentation at our July meeting. AUGUST - Landcarers, Donald 2000, town residents and landholders combined to plant 4,000 trees along the river on private property near the Donald Golf course on Sunday, August 1st. Four members attended the Salinity Solutions, Working with Science and Society conference in Bendigo. Two of our members enrolled in the Managing Wetlands on Farms accredited course co-ordinated and conducted by Greening Australia Victoria, and supported by The University of Melbourne and the North Central CMA. Guest speakers Rob Cordover, Warwick Noonan and Phil Dyson gave an update on the group's Seaweed Solutions for Salinity and Sustainability - the 4S Project. Donald and District Landcare Group was nominated and received recognition at the North Central Natural Resource Management Recognition Event held in Bendigo on August 25th. Five members attended. Our Chairman and Secretary were again involved in the organisation of the North Central Landcare Dinner and Festival held at Charlton on August 28th and 29th. At the 2004 Powercor, Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network Landcare Awards held at Charlton on Saturday, August 28th Donald and District Landcare Group took out 1st place in the General Landcare Award for their project Seaweed Solutions for Salinity and Sustainability - the 4s project. SEPTEMBER - The proposal for a Donald Neighbourhood Environmental Improvement Plan (NEIP) was submitted to the EPA for approval. Dr Graham Moore and 39 third year Environmental Engineering students from The University of Melbourne visited Donald to inspect the town's water supply and wastewater infrastructure. They met with members of the Landcare community before being shown one of the seaweed project sites at Donald East. Three members attended the 7th Annual Wimmera Biodiversity Seminar “Lowdown and Legless” Grasslands of the Wimmera held at Murtoa on Thursday, September 16th, 2004. Three members attended the Climate, Catchments and Communities conference held in Bendigo on September 29th, 2004. OCTOBER - Three members attended the Birchip Landcare Group “Chariot Wheel (maireana cheelii) Project” launch at the Birchip Uniting Church Hall on Wednesday, October 6th. On October 14th member Vaughn Dunstan, a third year Applied Science (Environmental Management) student at the University of Ballarat organised and implemented a community-based project - a Landcare Promotional Day and Membership Drive in Wood's Street, Donald. A free tree from Banyandah Nursery and a Landcare showbag were presented to 10 new members. Vaughn thanked the group for giving him the opportunity to develop and enhance skills that are vital in community consultation. Donna Pilgrim Waterwatch/Stormwater Facilitator, North Central CMA joined Vaughn Dunstan and Landcare members to involve the community in a National Water Week activity - painting a length of poly-pipe with images of the Richardson River and what it means to them. Members of the community travelled down to Halls Gap on Friday October 22nd to be a part of the celebrations of linking all the pipes painted from around the regions together and celebrating our waterways. The group agreed to participated in the Conservation Volunteers of Australia (CVA) trial of benchmarking standards and associated training and support in relation to risk management and volunteer management. NOVEMBER - The Donald Neighbourhood Environment Improvement Plan proposal was approved by the EPA. The Chairman and Secretary attended the Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network meeting held in St. Arnaud on November 10th attended by 25 people representing 14 groups. On November 24th the executive met with Gary Snowden, Manager of the Commonwealth funded Benchmarking Trial Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) who is helping our group develop appropriate volunteer policies and procedures, including risk management and occupational health and safety (OH&S). DECEMBER - Guest speaker Tim Bloomfield asked our Landcare group to assist with a Lapwing (Plover) Survey in the Donald area. Tim is undertaking private research and is using the lapwing as an indicator species of change in fox numbers in the landscape. He explained what would be required of members who would be taking part in the survey in 2005. |
