Port Phillip and Westernport

24/11/2020 by

Council rebates for covenants

Do you know that around one third of the 48 regional and rural councils in Victoria offer some form of rate rebate or concession to covenantors? Councils take differing approaches to this issue so it is worthwhile knowing the approach of your local council.

These rebates can make a difference to landowners’ ability to take care of their land as they recognise the cost it takes to steward land.

The City of Greater Bendigo and the Macedon Ranges Shire Council offer a full rate rebate to ‘acknowledge and reward conservation efforts of private landholders’. The Pyrenees Shire Council offers a 50 per cent rebate, while others such as the Cardinia Shire Council, Mansfield Shire Council and the Greater Shepparton City Council offer a per hectare rebate (between $20-$50 up to a specified capped amount). The City of Greater Geelong calculates covenanted land at the lowest ‘farm rate’ (37% deduction).

Native habitat on private land in Victoria continues to be lost but the extinction trend can be reversed by protecting key remnants, building ecosystem resilience and increasing connectivity of habitat. The protection offered by conservation covenants make a vital contribution to this process and rates concessions or exemptions are recognition of this contribution by generous landowners.

If you would like to know more about rates rebates or concessions in your shire, check your council website or contact our Policy Advisor Cecilia Riebl (Monday to Wednesday) on (03) 8631 5819 or ceciliar@tfn.org.au.

24/11/2020 by

Port Phillip and Westernport – Sharing traditional knowledge

The Conservation and Land Management Program trains Traditional Owners from Bunurong and Wurundjeri in the classroom and in the field. The course is run through Holmesglen TAFE on the Mornington Peninsula in partnership with 10 Trust for Nature covenantors.

In total the properties cover 100 hectares and are important habitat for a number of threatened species and vegetation communities, including Leafy Greenhood, Common Dunnart, Swamp Skink, Powerful Owl, Australasian Bittern, Swamp Scrub and Coastal Moonah Woodland. We’re focusing on controlling the larger weed issues such as Sweet Pittosporum, Blackberry and Boneseed which will increase native habitat for the wildlife.

It’s a great example of two-way learning: landholders, teachers and Trust for Nature staff learn the traditional knowledge while Traditional Owners can learn about practical land care techniques such as flora identification and threatened species. It also provides employment for the Traditional Owners in their local area.

Photo by Annette Ruzicka

Trust for Nature’s Ben Cullen said the training is very enriching for everyone involved: “It’s a really new concept where we can help landholders manage their properties and hear from Traditional Owners about their cultural knowledge while the Traditional Owners are receiving training and employment.”

The program is made possible through funding from the State Government and is supported by Trust for Nature, the Bunurong Land Council, the Wurundjeri Tribal Land Council and the Port Phillip & Westernport Catchment Management Authority.

“Those that have the capacity and resources to get out there and do something about the health of the country should, because I really believe this relates to the health of the community as well.”

Bill Nicholson Junior, Traditional Owner.

24/11/2020 by

Protecting our faunal emblems

More landholders on Melbourne’s fringes are legally protecting their properties to save habitat for threatened species. Trust for Nature has partnered with more than 1,450 landholders across Victoria to put

covenants on properties, and 48 of these are in the Yarra Ranges—an area that has some of the last remaining habitat for Helmeted Honeyeater and Leadbeater’s Possum.

Living in the Ranges is a lifestyle choice for many; however landholders are also playing a critical role in saving animals from extinction. As part of Trust for Nature’s 2019 Spring into Nature program, locals had the chance to visit two properties in the area which had conservation covenants placed on title 12 months ago.

The properties showcase what can be achieved when land is given the chance to regenerate. Previously grazed areas now have rich understorey with many native orchids. Residents Gaye Gadsden and David Carr put a convenant on two-thirds of their property in 2018. Gaye said, “I really love wildlife and we’ve just got tens of thousands of creatures that we share this property with and I don’t want to see their home compromised. We’re only caretakers here for at best a couple of decades and beyond that I want to make sure all of those other creatures that we share this place with, home remains.”

A number of covenants are in negotiation and we hope to register many of these over the next six months. We are also working with landholders further east in the Cardinia Shire Council between Western Port and the Yarra Ranges whose properties are also providing critical habitat for Helmeted Honeyeaters and Leadbeater’s Possum. This work is supported by the Victorian Government.

Meanwhile support for existing covenanted properties continues in collaboration with Zoos Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and the Port Phillip & Westernport Catchment Management Authority. The Friends of Helmeted Honeyeater and Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum are two amazing volunteer groups working in the area.

For more information about projects in the Port Phillip and Westernport region, contact our Conservation Officer Rachel Douglas on (03) 8631 5888 or racheld@tfn.org.au.

Regenerate understorey

All wildlife appreciate mid and understorey plants to live in.

if you already have shrubs, grasses and herbs, removing grazing stock might be enough to encourage regeneration
fence temporary exclusion plots to give new plants a chance to establish if rabbits, wallabies and other grazing animals are in high numbers
if you need to manually revegetate, enquire at your local nursery or Landcare group for tubestock or seeds for indigenous species.

24/11/2020 by

Protecting Properties, Connecting People

Photo: Annette Ruzicka

Protecting Properties, Connecting People is a great example of protecting biodiversity, reducing bushfire risk and strengthening community.

In partnership with the Wurundjeri Tribe, the Traditional Owners of the Dandenongs, we have been working with private landowners in the Dandenong Ranges to improve the biodiversity of their properties. Together, we’ve been controlling woody weeds which helps reduce bushfire risk in areas where native plants and animals don’t naturally rely on fire to thrive.

In 2016, Trust for Nature obtained funding under Round 2 of the Port Phillip & Westernport CMA Dandenong Ranges Environmental and Bushfire Reduction Community Grants program. The Protecting Properties, Connecting People project, for which the funding was granted, aimed to assist at least 10 covenanted property owners in the Dandenong Ranges improve their biodiversity values and reduce bushfire risk by controlling high-threat weed species. The Traditional Owners of the Dandenongs, the Wurundjeri Tribe, and their Our Country or ‘Narrap’ team, were engaged to carry out the works.

The project is now complete, with results well exceeding original targets.

“Seventeen private properties covering more than 100 hectares have now been treated in Yellingbo, Monbulk, Emerald, Olinda, Belgrave South, Selby and Lysterfield.”

The team also had the opportunity to work on the Trust for Nature-owned property ‘Kopelis’ and Yarra Ranges Council’s Butterfield Reserve. The project has facilitated knowledge sharing between the Wurundjeri, TFN and private land holders whilst protecting some of the highest quality remnants of native vegetation and habitat on private land within the Dandenongs.

High-threat weed species were controlled on 17 private properties, across an area of more than 100 hectares.

The weed works were carried out by the Wurundjeri Tribe’s Narrap team. This work was completed according to new conservation management plans that were developed for each property. The plans prioritised high biomass, high threat and highly flammable woody weeds for removal. The project enables knowledge transfer of traditional bushland techniques which have been used by Indigenous people for thousands of years. Targeted weeds included Cedar Wattle, English Broom, Portugal Laurel, Cape Ivy, Blackberry and English Holl

Trust for Nature priority species covered:
The area is home to threatened species including the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix), Leadbeater’s Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) and White Star-bush (Asterolasia asteriscophora ssp. albiflora)

Region:
Port Phillip & Westernport

Geographic area of project:
Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Ranges

Trust for Nature project contact:
Ben Cullen

Project partners:

Australian Government, through the National Landcare Programme
Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council
Port Phillip & Westernport Catchment Management Authority

24/11/2020 by

Protecting Tootgarook Swamp

Already 60% of Tootgarook Swamps is protected with Trust for Nature conservation covenants

A group of students help transform the Mornington Peninsula. Bunurong Land Council’s CEO Dan Turnbull said, “It’s been extremely encouraging to have neighbouring Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal Victorians working collaboratively with Bunurong Traditional Owners on Bunurong Country in order to nurture our broader Port Phillip Bay traditional lands and coasts”.

The enthusiasm is evident!

Watch how the area is being transformed

Trust for Nature is currently working with Nature Glenelg Trust, the new owners of two large wetlands to develop management plans and covenants for the wetlands.

These actions would protect habitat for two key threatened species; the Brolga and the Growling Grass Frog. Growling Grass Frogs are one of the largest frogs in Australia and their numbers have declined by 50 per cent in the last 10 years due to a fungal disease, habitat degradation, water pollution and predation by introduced fish species.