April 2025

From the Upper Merri Landcare Facilitator

Welcome to the latest newsletter from the Upper Merri Landcare Facilitator and the Merri Creek Management Committee. Please find below information on local initiatives, opportunities and funding.

To subscribe see link below.

If you would like to share photos, events, updates and projects through the Upper Merri Landcare News. Please email through your submissions to: chriscobern@mcmc.org.au

Recent Events

Hidden Valley Rail Reserve - Spotlighting activity

Members of the Wallan Environment Group and the Hidden Valley Environment Sub-Committee recently participated in a night walk spotlighting along the Hidden Valley Rail Reserve led by MCMC's Landcare Facilitator Chris Cobern.

It was a pleasant evening and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to get out and enjoy the bush at night. During the walk we were fortunate to observe two ringtail possums and two wombats.

Friends of Malcolm Creek litter clean-up

Great work recently by the team of volunteers from the Friends of Malcolm Creek as they cleaned up 100kg of litter and dumped rubbish from Malcolm Creek.
Thank you to Merri Creek Management Committee and Melbourne Water for their support.
Join the Friends of Malcolm Creek for their next clean-up on Saturday the 3rd of May.   

Upper Plenty PS Nest Boxes 

We recently inspected the nesting boxes along Dry Creek that were built by the students from Upper Plenty PS in 2023. We were very pleased to see that sugar gliders and ringtail possums have been using them.

Hidden Valley bushland fauna monitoring

Members of the Hidden Valley Environment Sub-Committee and Landcare Facilitator Chris Cobern have been doing fauna surveying using remote sensor cameras in bushland at Hidden Valley.

The cameras enable us to photograph some of the more elusive nocturnal creatures that inhabit these important areas of remnant native vegetation, and we've been very excited to find a great diversity of native mammals most notably the rare Brush-tailed Phascogale and the Slender-tailed Dunnart.

Other wildlife photographed include Ringtail and Brush-tailed Possums, Sugar Gliders, Swamp Wallaby, Grey Kangaroo. Echidnas and Wombats. Birds were also photographed and include Kookaburra, Boobook Owl, and White-winged Chough.

Coming Up

Beveridge Environment Group community meeting

All Beveridge residents are invited to a community meeting that’s being held to discuss forming a new environmental volunteer group in Beveridge.

Come along to the community meeting to meet other like-minded locals, discuss what environmental issues are important to you, what a new environmental volunteer group in Beveridge could do, and also hear from guest speakers from local environmental volunteer and Landcare groups about their work, and what’s involved.

When: Thursday 15th May
Time: 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Where: Beveridge Community Centre, 72-76 Lithgow Street, Beveridge, at the Beveridge Recreation Reserve.
Supper provided.

To register: https://events.humanitix.com/beveridge-environment-group-community-meeting by Tuesday 13th May (for dietary requirements).

Field day on Farm Dams and emissions 

When: Saturday 10th May, from 10 am - 12:30 pm.

Where: Willomavin, Tantaraboo rd. We will be outdoors at an improved farm dam. Please wear appropriate clothes and shoes.

Speaker: Dr Martino Malerba, senior lecturer, Centre for Nature Positive Solutions at RMIT Uni.
Topics: Benefits of improving farm dams; Practical steps to improve farm dams; Financial benefits of well-managed farm dams; Teal carbon and avoided greenhouse gas emissions; Secondary income through carbon and biodiversity credits.

Morning tea and light lunch provided.

Please RSVP to Vanessa at swglandcare@gmail.com

Bats: Flying Mammals of the Night Webinar

Join Biolinks Alliance for their fascinating Bats: Flying Mammals of the Night Webinar.
In this month's webinar, learn about the diversity and ecology of one of our most misunderstood and important groups of species, and the critical roles they play throughout Central Victoria.

You'll be introduced to the amazing world of bats, including their evolutionary history, biology and ecology. Bats are an often forgotten, sometimes controversial, but incredibly important part of the Victorian ecology.

Date: Wednesday 30th April 
Time: 6-7pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Register here.

Funding Opportunities

Melbourne Water Liveable Communities, Liveable Waterways Program 

These grants, open all-year around, fund projects and longer term partnerships that provide value to Melbourne Water and the community by aligning with at least one of the following themes:

• Connected habitat and catchments
• Integrated water management (IWM) enablers
• Science, innovation and technology
• Liveable cities

Eligible activities include weed removal, revegetation, erosion control, signage, habitat creation, stormwater management, fencing, irrigation plans, farm layout design and more.

Individual landholders encouraged to find out more here.