Over the next four years, the Merri Creek catchment will benefit from three State Communities for Nature grants totalling over $287,700.

Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) has received $149,247 for the project: Reversing the decline of Microseris scapigera (Murnong or Yam Daisy) in the Merri Catchment. This project will search for Murnong at three sites where it once occurred but has not been seen for several years. We will assess the site conditions at Kalkallo Common, where there’s a thriving Murnong population, and trial techniques to re-establish and maintain Murnong at Ngarri-djarrang (Central Creek) Grassland, Reservoir.

The other two Communities for Nature grant projects come from Friends of Merri Creek which has contracted MCMC to help implement the projects.
$138,374 is for the project: Continuing and extending Golden Sun Moth density and habitat surveys. The surveys will assess Golden Sun Moth density in relation to vegetation characteristics and habitat management. The information gained will guide MCMC to manage the quality of grassland and Sun Moth habitat at Bababi Marning (Cooper St Grassland), Campbellfield.
$150,000 is for the project: Galada Tamboore grassland and escarpment restoration: bringing the management together, to consolidate remnant vegetation. MCMC will work with Melbourne Water to burn and manage two hectares of Plains Grassland for the first time in seven years, and establish pollination pathways for remnant Dianella (Flax Lily) populations and its specialist pollinator, the Blue-banded Bee. We will also run events to interpret the ecological and cultural values of this site for a variety of community groups.