4 3 A u t u m n 2 0 0 5 E U S S Victorian I andcareandcare LL & CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT Plantations benefit birds Controlled traffic farming Managing grasslands with grazing Editorial contributions Carrie Tiffany CONTENTS PO Box 1135 CONTENTS Mitcham North 3132 Phone 8802 4304 E-mail: [email protected] Mailing list enquiries Landcaring Beverley Wallace for the Yarra Platypus encounter Victorian Farmers Federation Phone 9207 5527 8-9 16-17 Fax 9207 5500 E-mail: [email protected] Advertising Bonang River Cypress pine Paul Crock revival survival Phone 0418 377 264 Fax 9428 4676 20 22-23 Cover photograph: Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management is published for the Victorian Landcare Kookaburra by Andrew Chapman. community by the Victorian Farmers Federation in partnership with the Department While every effort has been made to of Sustainability and Environment, Alcoa World Alumina Australia and the Victorian ensure the accuracy of statements in Catchment Management Council. Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management Magazine the Victorian Farmers Federation, its partners, agents, servants, and contractors disclaim all responsibility for the statements quoted herein. The Shearers: Andrew Chapman A touring exhibition “These images have been shot in outback, Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia – semi-arid areas that have always been the backbone of Australia’s once thriving wool industry. Falling world prices for wool, the global move to synthetics and a seven-year drought have seen farmers struggle to make ends meet. “Most of The Shearers has been shot in dry and dusty conditions in the back blocks of Australia, areas that many Australians are not familiar with. As a documentary photographer this is a rich tapestry to shoot images from.” – Andrew Chapman Exhibition dates: April 28th – July 5th 2005 Museum of the Riverina, Wagga, NSW. August 15th – November 20th 2005 State Library of NSW, Sydney. December 1st 2005 – January 15th 2006 Mildura Regional Art Gallery, Mildura, Vic. January 22nd – March 22nd 2006 Broken Hill Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW. May 3rd – July 16th 2006 Horsham Regional Arts Centre, Horsham, Vic. From the editors 2005 Victorian Landcare Awards In this issue the Minister for Environment, John Thwaites, invites everyone to send in nominations for the 2005 Victorian Landcare Awards. There is a category for everyone so consider nominating yourself, your group and/or others doing great work in caring for our State. Remember, you Interest in on-ground works in the Woady Yaloak Catchment is at an all-time high after the catchment group won the Sensis Landcare Catchment Award in 2004. Pasture projects, like this don’t have to be in a Landcare group to chicory and phalaris paddock at Dereel, have been especially popular. enter. Entries close on Friday 1 July 2005. For more information or an entry form please contact the DSE Customer New DSE State Co-ordinator Service Centre on 136 186 or visit www.dse.vic.gov.au Categories for the 2005 David Lucas has joined DSE as the Victorian Landcare Awards new Statewide Landcare Community The Woady Yaloak Catchment Group Development Co-ordinator. won the Sensis Landcare Catchment 1. Alcan Landcare Indigenous Award at the 2003 Victorian Landcare David has spent most of his professional Community Award Awards and went on to line up against life in West and Central Africa working some very impressive projects from around 2. Alcoa Landcare Community in collaboration with the Environment Australia before taking out the National Group Award Ministries of the Cameroonian and award in September 2004. Guinean Governments, a variety of local 3. Bushcare Nature and international non-governmental Alice Knight, past chair of the Woady Conservation Award organisations and many diverse local Yaloak Catchment Group, said winning the communities. award brought an almost overwhelming 4. Murray Darling Basin demand from people within the catchment Commission Rivercare David’s key area of interest is in working wanting to get involved in projects. Award with local communities to overcome obstacles to increased capacity and “It was very exciting. The publicity from 5. Australian Government innovation. the awards really increased the uptake of Landcare Regional Award on-ground works. Many landholders are “This leads us to address the root causes 6. National Landcare Program working away as individuals or with of environmental problems and find new Individual Landcarer Award neighbours but when they saw the ways to sustainably manage natural catchment group on the television and in 7. Natural Heritage Trust resources to the economic and social all of the papers it was a great reminder for Coastcare Community benefit of whole communities,” David said. them of the broader projects they could Award David returned to Victoria with his young link up with. 8. Landcare Australia Local family last year and is looking forward to “The Woady Catchment is a productive Government Landcare working closely with the Landcare catchment and we have had very strong Community Partnerships community across the State. interest in some of our cropping projects Award and the Pro Graze courses we are running,” Alice said. 9. Rural Press Landcare Primary Producer Award David Lucas comes to Alice encouraged other groups to enter Landcare after working the awards. on capacity building 10. Westpac Landcare Education projects in Africa. Award Landcare community “Woady applied many times before This photograph across the State. was taken during a actually winning, but we got there in mountain climbing the end,” she said. expedition in Fiji. Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management Page 3 Letters Best letter The prize for the best letter in this issue goes to Jim Blucher for sharing his experiences of dealing with feral cats. Jim will receive a copy of The Little Green Handbook, by Ron Neilsen. A fascinating read, Neilsen argues that with proper global management we can have both global economic growth and a sustainable future. A new book is now up for grabs so please send your letters to Carrie Tiffany (address on page 2). Letters must include a name, address and telephone number and be less than 300 words. Letters may be edited for clarity and length. Dear Editors, There are many areas of moss beds in the Kiewa Valley that are very healthy I write on behalf of the Alpine Conservation and have been grazed continuously for and Access Group in response to the article over 150 years. on restoring our high country mosslands in the last issue. Lightning strike and aboriginal burning assisted in keeping moss beds healthy. The facts are that less than 1% of the alpine Aboriginals used moss to carry fire as it grazed area is covered in moss beds. Extended will smoulder for weeks. Cattle are a bed areas only occur in very slow moving water necessity to maintain healthy fuel load where filtered subterranean water is forced to reduction and soil aeration which many the surface by clay seams or rock barriers. scientists seem to know nothing about. A moss bed will not survive on rain alone. These facts are backed up by my lifetime’s Water purification by moss beds is infinitesimal. experience of experimentation and ownership Water is purified by subterranean seepage and of moss bed land. when flowing over gravel in catchment streams. Only a very small percentage of this water Alan Mull flows through moss beds. Mt Beauty Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management Page 4 Dear Editors, roast chicken. Now after nearly two Our first decision was to leave our much decades of trapping I rarely hear a cat loved ten-year-old cat behind with family I believe the cat problem is one of our own calling in tomming season. and to visit it often. How could we enjoy making... our new environment knowing that our The bird species count in the garden has When we shifted to this area 40 years ago cat may be preying on the many small increased from the original eight to about 50 we brought our ageing suburban cat with us. birds that visit our garden and most with nine of these species using the garden for Although our cat died a few years later we importantly, those small animals and breeding. We also grow fruit trees and roses still noticed birds being killed in our garden. birds that we don’t see? and find the birds very effective at controlling The unwanted kittens from the township four aphids and codling moth. On the issue of tree guards cooking newly kilometres away were being dumped nearby. planted tube stock, I too have experienced Jim Blucher Over the next ten years as the size and plant this problem. I have changed to using wire Morwell diversity of our garden increased so did the netting formed into a cylinder with wire number of bird species, and the number of ties and placed over two stakes. As these birds being killed. Dear Editors, trees only need protecting from rabbits and not the elements I have seen great I turned to cage traps and after some trial I can relate to your reader from Gannawarra results. and error was catching a feral cat every Shire concerned about the issue of domestic two or three weeks. The most effective cats. In 2003 our family moved 30 kilometres Kaye Sullivan bait proved to be the carcase of a fresh out of town to the edge of a National Park Mt Richmond surrounded by native bush. Message from the Minister for Environment As the Minister for Environment, Holding regular forums with the Landcare I encourage all Landcarers and members I am delighted to be responsible for community is a key milestone within the of other community groups to consider the Victorian Government’s support Government’s Victorian Action Plan for nominating themselves and others.