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Port Phillip Westernport

15 August 2022 by

Phillip Island property to be returned to Traditional Owners

community conservation
protected forever

The first land handback to Bunurong Traditional Owners in 180 years is on track to happen at Rhyll, Millowl, or Phillip Island as it is more commonly known.

The eight ha property will be transferred to the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, who are working with Trust for Nature to conserve, restore and maintain the land.

The land, which was donated to Trust for Nature in 2020, is part of the unique, richly biodiverse Rhyll Inlet—one of the most significant sites for migratory birds in Australia and recognised as a globally significant wetland under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation are the Registered Aboriginal Party over an area that includes Phillip Island.

An agreement between the Land Council and Trust for Nature includes 12 months access and management rights followed by a title transfer in 2023.

Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation’s Board of Directors Chair, Kelly Lehmann said, “This is an amazing opportunity for Bunurong people. Through this land we can further support our future generations in learning culture and Caring for Country.

“The Bunurong Land Council is proud to be able to support Bunurong people now and into the future, so we can thrive to establish a better future including opportunities like this for our mob.”

The property also has a conservation covenant on it which ensures that, no matter who owns the land, the plants and animals on the property are protected forever.

Trust for Nature Chair, Gayle Austen said the transfer helps to deliver on land justice, which goes hand in hand with reconciliation.

“Trust for Nature is committed to contributing to a just, equitable and reconciled Australia,’ Ms Austen said.

“This property is not large, but it is a gem, rich with birdlife and with cultural significance for Traditional Owners. We are proud to be working alongside the Bunurong people, including both elders and young Bunurong environmental land managers, to complete the 12 month transition and return this important piece of Rhyll Inlet to its Traditional Owners.”

Trust for Nature Port Phillip Manager Ben Cullen said this moment has been a long time coming.

He said, “With a close partnership with the Bunurong People, we have been able to create an opportunity that will give title back to Traditional Owners and protect the site forever.

In May this year Trust for Nature also announced a plan to transfer its largest conservation reserve, Neds Corner Station west of Mildura, to the Registered Aboriginal Party for that area, the First People of the Millewa Mallee.

The transfer of Neds Corner is expected to be completed in 2024.

Media contacts

Kelly Lehmann, Chair, Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, 0488 112 726

Kathy Cogo, Communication and Media Manager, Trust for Nature, 0466 015 183 kathyc@tfn.org.au. Please contact Kathy for images and video footage.

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9 June 2022 by

Introducing Kimbarly Dulemerrin Reserve

community conservation
protected forever

Kimbarly Dulemerrin, “return of the grasstree” in Bunurong, is the new name for Trust for Nature’s reserve on Bunurong Country in south east Melbourne, determined by the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.

The name refers to the Austral Grasstrees which are found in the area and will soon be planted on the reserve by Traditional Owners.

Trust for Nature is also working with Traditional Owners to develop a co-management plan, including installing new walking tracks and sign posts that connect to adjacent Lysterfield Park.

“As a Board member and an Aboriginal person living in Victoria on Bunurong Country, I am deeply proud of this naming initiative. I am looking forward to seeing more of this across Victoria in the future. Acknowledging our Traditional Owners and sharing language is just one step towards a reconciled Australia,” said Trust for Nature Board member Nina Braid.

Kimbarly Dulemerrin Reserve was acquired by Trust for Nature in 1995 as part of a subdivision and was only ever informally named. The 7.1 ha property protects a range of habitats from forests with granite boulders to vulnerable Grassy Forest and Riparian Scrub.

The reserve protects critical habitat on the edge of Melbourne, for vulnerable Powerful Owls which use the mature forest habitat in the reserve for their food and nesting needs. Green Scentbark, Cobra Greenhood and Dandenong Wattle are some of the special plants found in the reserve.

Trust for Nature Area Manager Ben Cullen said the naming is one step towards working more closely with Traditional Owners.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Bunurong Traditional Owners to look after this place. Kimbarly Dulemerrin is important because it protects habitat for threatened species and helps connect other protected areas in Melbourne.

“It’s a great spot to get a glimpse of a beautiful patch of forest and see birds, and is an interesting stroll for the more adventurous walkers.”

Trust for Nature will be holding an open day at the reserve in spring, and in the future hopes to invite school students onto the property to learn about nature conservation.

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23 May 2022 by

Reserve expansion protects Victorian emblems

community conservation
protected forever

Critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possums and Helmeted Honeyeaters—Victoria’s animal emblems—have a more secure future thanks to protection of 41 ha of habitat at Yellingbo on Wurundjeri Country east of Melbourne.

The 41 ha property has been purchased by Trust for Nature with funding from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and will be added to the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve—a seven per cent increase in the reserve’s size.

Trust for Nature purchased the property from beef farmer Bruce Logan, whose family has been in the Yellingbo area since 1933.

“It’s good to see conservation keep going because it’s important and it’s nice to see the birds around,” Bruce said.

Bruce’s grandfather started farming pigs and dairy cattle before moving onto beef. His family sold two other properties to Trust for Nature which are now part of the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve.

Trust for Nature has contributed about 200 ha to the 550 ha reserve thanks to its strong connections with landholders, including some of the most critical habitat for Helmeted Honeyeaters.

Helmeted Honeyeaters are found only in sedge forests in the area around Yellingbo and have been found on the new property. After declining to around 60 wild birds in 2013 due to the loss of their habitat, the population has increased to around 200 thanks to efforts to release captive-bred birds and protect and improve their habitat.

The property also extends habitat for the lowland population of Leadbeater’s Possum, also only found at Yellingbo, and threatened by the degradation of its streamside habitat.

“This is a really important piece of habitat for Helmeted Honeyeaters and Leadbeater’s Possums – the whole reserve is critical to the survival of these species,” said Trust for Nature Area Manager Ben Cullen.

“After working closely with this landholder, the protection of this very high quality property will serve as a bridge between other areas of habitat in the region. Including it in the reserve means it will never be developed.”

Trust for Nature is working with other landholders in the area to protect habitat on their properties forever with conservation covenants, adding to the area protected for the honeyeaters and possums.

Media contact

James Whitmore, Communication Coordinator, Trust for Nature, 0450 7653 811, jamesw@tfn.org.au

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30 November 2021 by

Congratulations to conservation graduates

graduation celebration
protected forever

Trust for Nature congratulates the nine recent Indigenous graduates of the Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management.

The Trust celebrated the students at a ceremony on Friday 26 November featuring the Djirri Djirri dancers.

MP Sheena Watt, who spoke at the event, congratulated the students.

“The learning and teaching that happens in this course is two-way, where the students learn practical skills and also share their knowledge and culture with the people they work with,” she wrote on Facebook.

The 2021 course is the third time the course has been run. It is organised by the Trust in partnership with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Holmesglen.

Chelsea Cooke, one of the graduates, said the course complimented her work as a ranger.

“It’s a great opportunity because I’m learning so much and I’m also able to bring that to my work field,” she said. Chelsea has recently been employed by Trust for Nature in the Melbourne region.

“It’s been an amazing year of learning and working together and sharing knowledge,” said Trust for Nature regional manager Ben Cullen. “I can’t wait to see the role these grads play in the future of how our natural areas are managed.

“Traditional Owners have told us they want to work more on country and want support to do that. Trust for Nature is in a position to help join those dots. The course is guided by Aboriginal people and we work with them to deliver it.”

Students from this year’s course have included descendants of Bunurong/Boon Wurrung, Wurundjeri, Tati Tati Mutti Mutti, Ngarrindjeri, Wadawurrung, Arrernte, Gunaikurnai, Dja Dja Wurrung, Ngurai illam wurrung and Yorta Yorta Peoples.

In 2021 students gained experience through conservation projects on land protected by Trust for Nature through conservation covenants and in close collaboration with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.

Students worked on protecting midden sites on the Mornington Peninsula; participated in a cultural burn at Coranderrk Station with Uncle Dave Wandin – the first cultural burn on the property in over 160 years; and built a bush food planter box, now installed on a property donated to Trust for Nature by Helen McDonald and her late husband, comedian John Clarke, on Phillip Island.

The 2021 the course was supported by the Victorian Government, Zoos Victoria and the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority. A fourth intake of the course will be run in 2022.

Media contact

James Whitmore, Communications Coordinator, Trust for Nature, 0450 653 811, jamesw@tfn.org.au

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8 November 2021 by

Community takes legal steps to protect critically endangered possum

community conservation
protected forever
Credit: Zoos Victoria
Credit: Zoos Victoria

One of Victoria’s oldest intentional communities has protected more than 180 ha to help save the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum.

The Moora Moora cooperative on Wurundjeri Country in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges, near Healesville, was established in 1974 and is home to 30 households.

The property, featuring 80-year-old Mountain Ash forests, is important habitat for the Leadbeater’s Possum, which were found on the property for the first time in 2020. Protecting more habitat is essential for saving the possum, with some researchers predicting it could be extinct within decades due to habitat loss.

One hundred and eighty hectares of the property is now protected under a conservation covenant, a legal agreement placed on the property title that protects habitat for wildlife forever.

“Moora Moora was founded with sustainability in mind. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m really pleased we can protect the natural environment on the property,” said community founder and member Peter Cock.

“Placing a covenant on the property is a commitment to making sure that when I’m gone, the land is still protected. It makes us accountable to the future and helps us to face nature rather than see it as a background. Nature also needs our partnership,” he said.

Founded in 1974 on Mount Toolebewong, the Moora Moora Cooperative Community is home to around 60 people who live on the property under a cooperative arrangement. The community includes six hamlets and a farming area.

Supported by the Victorian Government Faunal Emblems project, the covenant protects habitat for Leadbeater’s Possums and other threatened species such as Lace Monitors and Powerful Owls.

Trust for Nature conservation officer Andrew Kulhmann said the property is an example of very high quality habitat.

“This covenant was more than two years in the making. With so many households managing the property, it was more complex than other covenants and important to make sure everyone was comfortable with it.”

“The covenant protects mixed vegetation including Wet and Damp forest communities. Nearly all of it burned in the 1939 bushfires and the regrowth is developing a mature forest structure. This will provide Leadbeater’s Possum and other native fauna species with excellent quality protected habitat.”

“The quality of the covenanted area is testament to the work of the community in looking after it. The property serves as a buffer zone for the nearby national parks, helping connect areas of habitat across the ranges,” he said.

As part of protecting the land Trust for Nature will develop a management plan with the landholders and help with conservation activities such as weed and feral animal control, including managing a holly infestation on the property. Removing the holly will restore a hectare of land under the covenant called Moora Moora Sanctuary, a site for the remembrance and remains of community members.

This Moora Moora covenant adds to the more than 1,450 voluntary covenants placed by landholders on properties across Victoria.

Media contact

James Whitmore, Communications Coordinator, Trust for Nature, 0450 653 811, jamesw@tfn.org.au

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