Maisie Enders has dedicated much of her life to restoring the land. At 90 years old, she manages her 120 ha farm at Carboor by herself. Recently she received a hand from a Working for Victoria works crew to rebuild dilapidated fences.

Maisie and her husband Stan bought the property in 1953 and later practiced regenerative farming and holistic farm management. Maisie was also a wildlife carer, taking in hundreds of orphaned wombats, wallabies and possums. In 2004, the entire farm was placed under a conservation convenant, protecting this important habitat and sustainable farming system forever.

Lately though her cattle have been getting out through deteriorating fences. Thanks to the North East Catchment Management Authority (CMA), Trust for Nature has had access to Working for Victoria crews funded by the Victorian Government to support landholders with covenants throughout the catchment.

Working for Victoria (WFV) is a state government initiative responding to the COVID pandemic. It is designed to help jobseekers find work across Victoria and North East CMA has employed three teams working with organisations including Landcare, Trust for Nature and Parklands Albury Wodonga, as well as with private landholders.

A team of seven – Blake, Chris, Alex, Isaak, Bryce, Shannon and Fraser – have rebuilt fences on Maisie’s land to protect tree belts, re-hung a dozen gates to make them open smoothly, repaired old fencing and slashed under an electric fence so Maisie can turn it on safely.

Chris and Isaak, who have completed undergraduate degrees in environmental management and science, said the program helped them gain practical skills and certifications. Alex, who grew up on a local farm, said he enjoyed the opportunity to be out of the office.

The crew has been helping out other landholders in the region, including Diana Simpson, whose covenant is adjacent to Warby-Ovens National Park. The crew removed old fencing, giving wildlife unrestricted access to the park.

Trust for Nature and the North East Catchment Management Authority have announced the recipients of the first round of environmental grants through the Bush for Birds project.

The Bush for Birds project aims to protect, manage and increase habitat on private land for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot.

There are estimated to be fewer than 400 Regent Honeyeaters and 2,000 Swift Parrots left in the wild.

Landholders submitted expressions of interest (EOI) for funding for a range of activities including fencing remnant bushland, planting trees and shrubs, thinning dense regeneration and weed control.

Twenty-four landholders were successful in receiving funding, collectively they manage over 500 ha of remnant bushland and are undertaking more than 120 ha of revegetation.

Trust for Nature Regional Manager Will Ford said the project attracted a lot of attention which demonstrated the community’s interest in threatened species.

He said, “Ninety EOIs were submitted for this first round of funding, which goes to show how important these iconic species are to the local community.”

“Landholders have been really keen to get involved and contribute to threatened species conservation in a practical way.”

Waldara landholders Barbara McDonald and Judy Bonwick’s grant application was successful.

Barbara said, “We were thrilled to hear that our project got the go ahead. “We think it’s really important to strike a balance between farm productivity and conservation, and this project will help us to achieve that.”

Will said their farm project contributes greatly to protecting threatened species: “This property sits between the Ovens River and the Warby Range, so it’s a really important part of the landscape from a wildlife connectivity perspective.

“The proposal included fencing a good quality patch of native woodland, managing invasive weeds to promote natural regeneration, and linking up areas of bush with strategic paddock tree plantings.

“More than 60 per cent of Victoria is private land, so landholders have a critical role to play in providing habitat for threatened species.” “I’m looking forward to working with such committed landholders to achieve some really positive conservation outcomes,” Will said.

Tucked away on a property in Nagambie is a special stand of grass-trees.

It was so amazing that even the landholder was surprised by what he saw when he first found them.

The property has about 10 ha of grass-trees, an extremely slow growing group of plants which are endemic to Australia and can be recognised by their narrow, stiff, long leaves which sprout from the top of the trunk.

What is so encouraging about this patch of grass-trees is that they span across various ages – from the very young to the very old, with some more than two metres high.

Landholder Mike Davies (pictured) said he is proud of these distinctive plants which are popular amongst visitors.

He said, “I take family and friends to see them when they come to visit. Most have never seen this many grass-trees or any of this size or grandeur.

“This whole property is more than 100 ha and to be honest I had never walked the entire ridgeline where they are found, so I was really surprised to see so many, and particularly see some so old. They are incredible.”

Trust for Nature approached Mike about the conservation significance of the property and he was keen to find out about how to protect the grass-trees in the long term.

As a result, he is considering placing a conservation covenant over the land so they are protected forever.

Trust for Nature’s North East Conservation Officer Shae Brennan said protecting the grass-trees will ensure they are there for future generations to enjoy, even when the property changes hands.