National Tree Day

UGLN and the Kinglake Landcare Group hosted two National Tree Day activities at the Koala Browse Reserve in Kinglake.
On Friday 26th July 50 students and teachers helped to plant almost 400 plants in only a few short hours and on Sunday 28th July a small band of dedicated volunteers in windy and cold conditions helped plant a further 240 plants.

Kinglake Scouts Hayley and Tristan on National Tree Day

This site was important because it is an area that was devastated by the 2009 fires.
The aim was to revegetate the area to increase biodiversity and provide habitat for wildlife including the Greater Glider and Long-nosed Bandicoot that live in the adjacent Number Two Creek Reserve.

Kinglake Primary School students.

Kinglake PS students on National Schools Tree Day

We would like to thank 15Trees for helping to provide the trees for this important project.

California Conservation Corps

Volunteers from the California Conservation Corps (CCC) are currently in Australia on an 8 week exchange project with Conservation Volunteers Australia.

The have been working in South Australia and Victoria carrying out erosion and salinity control, seed collection, construction and maintenance of walking tracks, endangered flora and fauna surveys and monitoring.

During their time in Victoria the CCC spent a couple of days removing Blackberry, Broom and Tutsan from the Number Two Creek Reserve in Kinglake and helped with site preparation for a Kinglake Landcare/UGLN national tree day planting proposed for the nearby Koala Browse site.

Volunteers from the CCC at the Koala Browse site.

Lorax Project 2012

The Upper Goulburn Landcare Networks revegetation 'Lorax Project' has finished for another year after a very successful year of tree planting throughout the fire affected areas of Murrindindi Shire.

JBWere volunteers at Buxton

This year 452 volunteers from NAB, ANZ, JBWere, Camberwell Secondary College, Strath Creek Landcare Group, Kevin Heinz Garden Centre, Conservation Volunteers Australia, Kinglake Landcare Group and the Salvation Army helped plant a total of 12110 indigenous plants.

ANZ volunteers at Kinglake

We also had great support again from Fifteen Trees who were able to provide much needed funds to purchase many plants for our project.

NAB volunteers planting trees funded by 15Trees

The Kevin Heinz Garden Centre with funding assistance from Rotary again grew many thousands of plants for us and even came up for a day to plant some at the Kinglake Lions Park.


Kevin Heinz Garden Centre volunteers at Kinglake Lions Park

We developed a great project with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority which allowed us to fence and revegetate many kilometres of riparian areas along the King Parrot Creek and Spring Creek in Flowerdale.

NAB volunteers planting along the Spring Ck at Flowerdale

We revegetated 32 hectares of farmland and waterways on properties at Strath Creek, Flowerdale, Kinglake, Glenburn, Buxton and Murrindindi.


ANZ volunteers at Glenburn

The Lorax Project will continue in 2013 and thousands of seedlings are being grown as we speak in preparation for next years planting season.

NAB volunteers at Buxton

We will also be helping the Strath Creek Landcare Group with the tree planting component of their biodiversity project.

Volunteers at Strath Creek

Anyone interested in volunteering with our project in 2013 or landowners interested in getting tree planting carried out on their properties contact Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.

Kinglake Wildflower Walk

On Sunday 19th August we had a small group of eleven adults and children on an enjoyable wildflower walk through the Kinglake National Park presented by a very knowledgeable Richard Francis from ABZECO.

Kinglake Landcare members Peter and Will and kids

The group got to see the early blossoming wattles, Love Creepers, Early Nancy lilies, Pultenaea and Daviesia species and emerging orchids with the occasional one flowering. 

David & Laurie Wakefield from Strath Creek Landcare

Epacris impressa (Pink Heath)

The rain stopped for the day and the group had a pleasant lunch at St Andrews Hotel.

The day was held by the Kinglake Landcare Group and funded by the Victorian Bushfire Fund.

Richard Francis (left) & Roger Cook

For those who missed the event we are running another one on Sunday 16th September.
Attendance is free and lunch provided.
Contact Kinglake Landcare President Tim Connell on 0408 599 485 to register.
Photos by John Stewart.

Free Pest Plant and Animal Control Courses

On Sunday 18 & 25 September 22 people from the Kinglake and Glenburn area attended the nineth free UGLN pest management course.
The course was held at the Kinglake Scout Hall and run by NMIT lecturer and Kinglake resident Kevin Chandler.
A delicious morning tea and lunch was provided by Flowerdale's own catering business 'Molly's Kitchen'.

Since April 2010 we have been running free Weed Identification and Control Workshops, 1080 baiting and Farm Chemical Users Courses throughout the fire affected areas of Murrindindi Shire.
The courses have also been held in Flowerdale, Yea, Strath Creek and Marysville.
They have all been well attended with almost 200 people having benefited from the opportunity provided by UGLN and funded by the Federal Governments Çaring For Our Country' program.

Focus On Fauna

These photo's were take on a property at Kinglake West on the Pheasant Creek using remote sensor cameras.
It is part of UGLN's 'Focus On Fauna' fire recovery program which is being carried out in the Strath Creek and Flowerdale area by David Wakefield from Strath Creek Landcare Group and also the Kinglake Ranges with assistance from the Kinglake Landcare Group.

The lyrebird photo's were taken at a display mound I found at the site. The male was calling for about 8 minutes when a female came by which of course attracted his attention.
The other photo's were taken at a disturbed area next to the forest where it looked like animals came out to graze.
For more information on UGLN's Focus on fauna go to http://focusonfauna.wordpress.com/

Children contribute to the project

Kinglake Scouts and Kinglake Landcare group at Pratts Rd


Rotary Nesting Boxes and Kinglake Scouts

Middle Kinglake Primary School

Yea High School

Clean Up australia Day

Marcellan College Boys Fencing

23/6/2010

The Boys from Marcellen College did a great job clearing away this burnt fence on the Leadstone property at Kinglake.

It rained all day but they volunteered to get wet

27/6/2010

This NAB team was pulling down a burnt fence on the Mt Slide Rd in Kinglake . It was an extremely wet day but this group insisted on volunteering for the bushfire recovery project. They worked with Chris & Bridget all morning before eventually giving in the good sense and calling it day at lunch time . 63mm of rain fall that day !

It is not all about Tree Planting

Woody Weed removal has been another important activity volunteers have undertaken .

After the bushfire is an excellent time to get on top of invasive exotic weed species.

Volunteers have been 'cutting and painting' broom , blackberries, holly and gorse from patches of remnant bush.

Loppers are used to cut the plants at ground level then the cut stems are quickly dabbed with neat round-up. This kills the plant and has the added benefit of using very little chemical .

It is time consuming and physically demanding work ( a little bit boring really ) but these young volunteers from SW Sydney Environment Group managed to clear a large patch at Kinglake West , Stony Creek Reserve. Thanks guys.

Small Block - Big Job

August 10th 2010

Kinglake West -Cold wet day.

A coach load of 35 NAB volunteers,

Janet & Cathy.

The challenge for the day was how to fit 300 plants into John & Holly's small block. Lots of natives grasses, lillies and creepers were planted. A real 'backyard blitz' makeover!

They lost their house and garden in the fire and are rebuilding themselves. They needed plants and mulch to fill in the muddy exposed areas and as well as screening from neighbours and the road. The rain didn't stop this team from finishing the job but we were happy to retreat to the Flying Tarts Bakery for a splendid lunch and an early trip home in a warm bus.

(Chris took the other half of this team pulling weeds in the StoneyCreek Reserve)

Best $200 We Ever Spent...

The toilet has been a fantastic investment. It follows us everywhere, hasn't complained and is yet to do a wheel bearing. For remote sites it is essential and you can almost feel the relief of the volunteers when they turn up and you direct them to it during the ice-breaker. We have left it around the country-side at cleared blocks and turned up to see it has been gently moved to allow for construction and being used by the guys on the construction site! Here it is posing at a site in Kinglake.

Serious Landcare Activity in Kinglake

You know the community's active when the 'lolly-pop' turns up! Kinglake Landcare are serious about rebuilding and rejuvenating their local environment. Public safety is high on the list when planning and conducting on-ground works. We've been busy on National Tree Day:

• 40 volunteers including grade four students from Middle Kinglake Primary School attended the National Schools Tree Day at Number One Creek on Friday 30th July. We planted 300 shrubs and ground covers and finished off with a sausage sizzle and refreshments.
• An ecologist from Practical Ecology was also on site to talk to the volunteers about the management plan he has completed for the site. 
• 37 volunteers turned up despite the wet weather on the following Sunday for National Tree Day. We were able to plant over 400 trees and shrubs. A Channel Seven news team, in town to report on the Royal Commission findings, turned up after the event but were still able to film a few of the Kinglake Scouts for the evening news.

Thank you to Pat Ash Civil for donating the marquee- it came in very handy.

Kinglake residents Michelle and Colin (below right) tree planting at Number One Creek on National Tree Day.

ANZ in blizzard conditions.....brrrrr

25th June 2010

ANZ staff put up with bitterly cold conditions whilst pulling out burnt fence lines in regrowth at Kinglake. We know they'll ensure their fingers thaw out before they start work.







'Fat thumbs' may not be welcome in the accounts department, but they are easily tolerated when tree planting and there's no chance of causing a financial meltdown!

10 NAB Fencers without Boundaries

Upper Goulburn Landcare's fence re-building work is going from strength to strength.

Today we removed 700m of old fence and finished up by 2pm. The weather held off until about 3pm and I caught up with Alan Stafford at Kinglake West about another fencing job.

You might recognize a few of the NAB blokes in the photo from Trevor Young's at Heathcote Junction last month!

My dog Gemma had a good day too, plenty of pats and sausages. A couple of the crownies left in the Landcare trailer from Saturday went down well tonight as well.

Cheers, Chris.

ANZ Teamwork at Kinglake

Monday 12 July was a good day in Kinglake West for planting. This ANZ team worked with Chris Coburn to put in 220 plants at Fenech's. Bernadine took a day off work to be with the team and was very grateful for their assistance.
Sites around the house weren't ready to plant, so Bernadine will do those herself another day.

Thanks ANZ.

Janet.

Washed Out

Unfortunately, all the tree planting events on Friday 25th June were canceled. Janet looks very sad as she unpacks the trailer before going inside to spend the day by the fire.

It rain all day with 63mm falling in many parts of the ranges. Teams from GE and ANZ were dissappointed. The ANZ team were still keen to get out of the office into the open air for a bit of exercise (offices must be terrible places). They came to Kinglake and pulled down some burnt fences in the rain with Chris & Bridget.

That shows real landcare toughness and endurance. Good on you, guys.

Tree Planting in Antarctica

Well that is what it felt like!

A team of 11 ANZ volunteers from the Docklands Human Resources department braved gale-force winds and temperatures below 5 degrees to plant 300 trees in Kinglake on Tuesday 29th July .

I think we did see the occasional snow flake fall around lunch time. Our fingers froze and our faces went numb . Everyone was extremely hungry as we huddled in Gloria and Phillip Wood's rickety old shed for a warming BBQ lunch then turned the BBQ on full to thaw our fingers.

A quick half hour of planting after lunch and then the crew headed off the ridge top with car heaters on full. Thanks girls and guy; also thanks to Gloria and Phillip for their hospitality and to Andrew from Treeproject for his efforts at the end of the day.

ANZ volunteers in Kinglake

Volunteers from the ANZ's Queens St office (Trade and Supply Chain-Institutional; did I get that right?) went to Karen & Bernie Ostenried's place in Kinglake yesterday.

It was a freezing day in Kinglake. We started planting in fog & mist, with the temperature around 3 degrees (well, that's what it felt like) and a strong wind in the afternoon .

We were very happy to have the new shed to shelter in at lunch time. Karen and her mum supplied fabulous pumpkin soup and bread sticks to supplement our BBQ lunch .

This great team of workers created new windbreaks for the house (when it is rebuilt) and shelter for the horses, by planting, staking and guarding 320 plants.
Had an interesting chat with Karen at lunch time about the fires and how the community is recovering.

Thanks David , Adam , Ankit , Gavan , Catherine & Gary . (if only Susan had come!)
I hope you all warmed up in the car on the way home.