Happy Christmas EVERYONE see you again next year

There were many international volunteers in the group , this girl had only been in Australia for five days .

New Coordinator Phil Rance helped out in Chris' absence ( Mary has badly broken her ankle and is in hospital awaiting an operation )and enjoyed his first day working with volunteers.

The bus driver spent his time rewriting his science fiction noval in the bus - he emerged at lunchtime.

Clever use of a day away from the office was made by management , staff appraisal interviews were held in the paddock!

15 December 2010. Our very last team of planting volunteers for the year came from BMS Pharmaceuticals . This planting of aquatic and terrestrial plants was part of our Kinross Farm project at Flowerdale. Landcare supervisors :Janet Hagen & Phil Rance

The BMS volunteers arrived on time and ready for action. Agility and flexibility were the skills required for planting around the dam without falling into the water. 200 water plants and 300 lands plants were added to the edges of the beautiful dams at Kinross Farm , improving the habitat value of the site. (Phil noted sacred kingfishers and gang gang cockatoos watching us work) A peaceful and productive morning was enjoyed by all the participants , who promised to return again next year. Their catering crew did and excellent job preparing a BBQ lunch before the rain set in again !

Gumboots Essential for Aquatic Planting

Kinross Farm Flowerdale.

20 volunteers from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory . Parkville (Biotherapies & Human Viral Vaccines plus 11 volunteers from the Department of Planning and Community Infrastructure. Spring Street Office.

Our very first aquatic planting day , yes we were actually planting sedges , rushes and reeds , into the mud under the water while standing in the shallows around the Kinross Egg Farm dam.
The beautiful weather made this a most enjoyable activity . Gumboots were the order of the day and 31 pairs were borrowed from GMLN & CSL . No snakes bothered us and no-one accidentally slipped into the water , even the mosquitoes and flies behaved themselves.

These were very speedy workers , first 300 plants were planted in about half an hour ! After BBQ lunch another 200 were planted quickly .

Through staff donations to Landcare and CSL’s match, givingforgood funded the purchase of these plants to help revegetate the area surrounding a number of ponds on the Kinross Farm. Neighbouring land was devastated in the Black Saturday Bushfires and revegetation of the ponds will help to improve water quality and reintroduce native fauna. (CLS source their eggs from Kinross Farm to make flu vaccines etc). Karen Brisbane , Corporate Landcare Coordinator , organised this project with Chris Cobern.

Victorian Mobile Landcare Group

The Victorian Mobile Land Care Group are wonderful bunch of conservationalists who travel all over the state helping to improve our environment and assist whose in need .

They have plenty of fun together while doing this noble work .

We have been fortunate to have Doug Parke and his team return this year to help with bushfire recovery fencing at Gleburn & Kinglake.

Quote from VMLCG web site :

"On Saturday 11 September 2010 the Victorian Mobile Landcare Group was pleased to be able to complete a stint of fencing work with Jim and Beverly, farmers in the Yarra Valley (some 60 km out of Melbourne) who were severely affected by the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

The VMLCG was only too happy to help Jim and Beverly and we value the connections we have now made with them".
"We conduct this work as a partner to the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network's (UGLCN) efforts to coordinate fire recovery work in this area.
This type of work is also part of Landcare's "Fire Buddies" initiative, linking Landcare groups to aid recovery projects. We look forward to continuing our work in assisting farmers and the UGLCN in these efforts."