In this edition: Funding, flooding, fish and online

New projects receive features around the catchment Australian Government Despite the restrictions and limitations with engagement due funding to COVID-19, you will see from this newsletter update that October flooding keeps there is still a lot of great work happening across the Glenelg Hopkins CMA region by our staff, partners and community. catchment wet We were thrilled to receive funding for three projects from the Meet our Working for Australian Government recently. This funding will be targeted crew at our waterways and help protect the critically endangered What's happening in Mussel and help improve fish habitat along our Landcare in the estuaries, which will have big benefits for recreational fishers. catchment. Since our last newsletter our region has experienced several Our latest virtual events extreme events, including significant flooding in many parts of and where to find them the southern catchments which also led to a fish death event in the lower Glenelg estuary. online. Our staff were involved with the flood response and fish Looking for funding? See death event and will be continuing to make assessments of what's currently available. flood damage over the coming months. I hope you enjoyed our live events as part of the Victorian Nature Festival. Although not as exciting as undertaking a tour in-person, the live events have enabled many more viewers across Victoria and even to witness the amazing landscapes that the Glenelg Hopkins CMA region has to offer. The Budj Bim Tour with the Budj Bim Rangers Glenelg Hopkins CMA was particularly successful, with a peak attendance of 2200 www.ghcma.vic.gov.au people and 2800 engagements. Telephone: (03) 5571 2526 Based on the success of these events we have big plans for Email: [email protected] similar events in the future to showcase the amazing Postal: PO Box 502 environment, people and places we work in around the Hamilton Victoria 3300 catchment! Adam Bester, CEO Glenelg Hopkins CMA CMA NEWS: Musseling up for habitat restoration The endangered Glenelg River Mussel (right) will have its habitat in the Crawford River Regional Park improved over the next nine months after funding through the Australian Government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery program was announced. Protection of the Crawford River habitat will be undertaken by Glenelg Hopkins CMA and will include livestock fencing, revegetation and weed control to protect known populations, along with aquatic surveys to look for new populations. The $180,000 project will be completed in partnership with the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research and Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.

Image: Tarmo. A. Raadik Coastal rivers receive big funding boost Recreational fishers and the fish of the coastal waterways in the Glenelg Hopkins region are the winners after the announcement of more than $580,000 in restoration projects recently. The two Glenelg Hopkins CMA-delivered projects will benefit from projects improving the health and productivity of habitats that support fish stocks and fisheries under the Australian Government’s Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program. The announcement included $285,201 for the Enhancing estuaries in the Portland Basin and $301,795 for the Habitat for the rivers of . The Glenelg Hopkins CMA will work with fishing groups Examples of fish structures which will be built as part of the project. to enhance fish habitat across seven high priority estuaries between Portland and Warrnambool. The fish habitat improvement works will include providing wooden structures for fish to feed and hide in the river while also improving conditions along the bank and fringing wetland areas that are important fish nurseries. The Hopkins Basin project will work on the and Merri River estuaries at Warrnambool. The Portland Coast project will work on the in the east with projects at Yambuk Lake, , Surry River through to Fawthrop Lagoon at Portland at the western end. CMA NEWS: October rainfall brings flooding to catchment

As a result of some steady rain over 7 - 9 October in the lower parts of the region, unprecedent flows were experienced in waterway systems, which were already saturated systems. The rain fall amounts varied around the catchment but included 80mm around Warrnambool, 68mm at Hamilton, 55mm at Casterton, 53mm at Dartmoor and 52mm at Cape Nelson. Flood warnings were issued for Casterton with a moderate flood warning for the surrounding districts in Warrnambool. There was also a flash flood warning for Coleraine with the SES attending to incidents at Heywood, Port Fairy and Allansford . The CMA’s Flood Response Plan was enacted and staff together with Warrnambool City Council employees and consultants undertook inspections, survey pegging and flood level information at various sites.

Our doors are still closed but you can still contact us: Right: Drone images of the flooding of the Merri www.ghcma.vic.gov.auRiver and the township of Port Fairy under flood Telephone: (03)in October. 5571 2526 Email: [email protected] Postal: PO Box 502 Hamilton Victoria 3300 WORKING FOR VICTORIA: WFV teams plant 46,000 trees ... and counting Glenelg Hopkins CMA has partnered with the Victorian State Government to help deliver the Working for Victoria employment initiative; an employment program designed to help people that have lost their jobs due to COVICD-19. Our CMA has employed 20 new crew members split into two crews of 10, with one based in Hamilton and the other in Warrnambool. The crew from Hamilton has an agricultural focus primarily working with landholders across our region (pictured below) while the Warrnambool crew is focused on environmental works on public land. The crews have undertaken a large tree planting program including riparian and shelterbelt plantings and individual paddock trees on farming properties. To date, more than 46,000 trees and shrubs have been planted and guarded on a number of properties. This planting activity is nearly complete and both crews will start a woody weed control spraying and removal program on a combination of private, public and urban areas. The crew members are also offered training to upskill for future employment opportunities and have completed a chemical user’s certificate and snake identification course. Further training will occur over the next couple of months including White Card and possibly chainsaw certification. All crew members have expressed their appreciation for being given this opportunity and through this program can help contribute to a healthy and sustainable environment and continue supporting their own families. Keep an eye out on the Glenelg Hopkins CMA social media accounts over the coming weeks as we profile the team members of our WFV crews including those pictured here: (from top) Phoenix Gardiner, Koroit; Jean Pearce, Hamilton; and Lorna Delaney, Mortlake - pictured with landholder Greg Richards. LANDCARE NEWS Junior Landcarers in the catchment receive funding

The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change has just announced $409,500 in funding to support 113 projects through the 2020 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants. From Red Cliffs to Marlo and across the state, grants of up to $5,000 each will support Victorian primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, pre-schools, childcare centres, and youth groups. Successful grant recipients will be running a wide range of projects, including nurturing bees, establishing Indigenous gardens, nest box building and installation, wetland regeneration, frog ponds, butterfly and sensory gardens, bush tucker trails and many more. In the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment, the following groups were successful. We look forward to seeing their end results! Warrnambool Kindergarten collective ; Dunkeld Kindergarten CPSG; Portland Secondary College; South West TAFE; Portland North Primary School; Wave School Warrnambool

Bushfire recovery funding for region

The Victorian Government is continuing to support the recovery of the state’s bushland and biodiversity following last summer’s unprecedented bushfires, with a major cash boost for local projects.

Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands $7,400.00 This project builds upon previous work undertaken by the Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands Inc. (FoFW) showing current remnant populations retain sufficient genetic diversity to begin rebuilding healthy populations of keystone species across the VVP. Seed orchards are an effective conservation management tool to establish genetically diverse plantings for future seed harvesting, thus ensuring remnant populations are not threatened by seed collection activities. This project will utilise an area burnt by bushfire in December 2019 on private land to the North West of the township of Dunkeld, Victoria.

Lexton Landcare Group $30,000.00 This project will support 14 landholders in the Lexton and Amphitheatere area, in the North-Eastern corner of the Glenelg-Hopkins Catchment region. Lexton and Amphitheatere were ravaged by high- intensity bushfires in late 2019, predominantly through the Ben Major Conservation Reserve but also a significant amount of farming land. Many people who were affected are located on the surrounding edges of the conservation reserve, from where the fire spread. This project will be taking a multi-method approach in assisting the landscape to recover from the fires, establishing long-term resilience across the landscape. The approach will assist numerous landholders over the entire fire area of approximately 3,000ha, mitigating priority soil erosion, rabbits, and revegetating areas that have been severely impacted. WHAT'S NEW ONLINE Online showcase of our catchment Glenelg Hopkins CMA's three live events as part of the inaugural Victoria Nature Festival in October were hugely successful. Over 2000 people logged in to join a walk around the Tyrendarra IPA area with the Budj Bim Rangers. Videos from the live events can be viewed on the CMA website HERE

Women on Farms video launch In lieu of a face-to-face event, the Our Catchments Our Communities- funded Celebrating Women on Farms videos were launched online on October 6. The three videos featuring the three keynote speakers who were VIDEO booked to talk at the event can be viewed HERE LAUNCH

Wander the grasslands Coronavirus as meant many of the Glenelg Hopkins CMA's annual field days cannot take place. Thanks to technology, we are still able to take you out in the field! You can see the grasslands and wildflowers of the Victorian Volcanic Plains in two new videos produced this spring. Wildflower walk video HERE and the virtual farm grasslands field day HERE Twinning is winning Despite the current restrictions on catching up to network in a face-to- face environment, the Glenelg Hopkins CMA's Twinning program continues to push forward with its mentoring program. This year's graduates might have had to undertake their mentoring in a slightly different way, but it hasn't stopped them! You can catch up with the latest stories of mentorship HERE

Meet the WFV Team members The Working For Victoria crews employed by the Glenelg Hopkins CMA through funding from the Victorian Government has found some amazingly passionate people. Through December and January we will meet the team members who are part of our agricultural and environmental teams. Meet them on our Facebook page every week HERE.

Follow us on social media: GlenelgHopkinsCMA ghcma GHCMA FUNDING - WHAT'S AVAILABLE?

Bittern habitat incentive funding available Glenelg Hopkins CMA has funding available to support landholders to help bring back Bittern or Bunyip-bird habitat. If you have wetlands or waterways with about 30 cm of water and suitable stands of rushes and reeds, funding is available to: fence off wetlands or sections of reedbeds; reinstate drained wetlands; reduce or remove stock grazing on wetland areas; undertake weed removal and pest animal control; undertake appropriate fire management. Contact: Jacinta Hendriks, Glenelg Hopkins CMA e: [email protected]; or ph: 0408 793 326

This project is supported by Glenelg Hopkins CMA, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Incentive payments for Red-tail black cockatoo sites

Glenelg Hopkins CMA is currently working with Greening Australia to revegetate feeding habitat for the endangered South-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. These endangered birds have a highly specialised feeding habit, limited to the fruit of Brown and Desert Stringybark, with much of this habitat having been historically cleared. The Glenelg Hopkins CMA is currently seeking expressions of interest from landholders on the Glenelg Plain to receive patches of critical feeding habitat revegetated on their properties (see map for project area). For more information, or to register your interest contact:

Ben Zeeman, Glenelg Hopkins CMA ph: 0411 311 328 e: [email protected] au

Dave Warne, Greening Australia e: [email protected] This project is supported by Glenelg Hopkins CMA, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.