Drought conditions across the Riverina in the years leading up to 2020 imposed not only a high financial toll on rural communities in the region, but it was also clear that there was a staggering emotional price to pay, as the land that so many families called home continued to become more barren and dry.…
Drones can be used to access a wealth of data on a property. This information can be used to make better management decisions and make farming more sustainable, efficient and organised. Hay Plains Landcare hosted two informative Drone workshops with Ben Watts from Bralca. The workshops included a theoretical component, ensuring all participants were educated…
YACTAC (the Yanco Creek and Tributaries Advisory Council) recently completed an eDNA survey of the Yanco Creek system. Many of the landholders in the area were unaware of the number of platypus in the major creeks in the area (Yanco, Colombo and Billabong). So it was decided to have a public meeting to release the…
Understanding distribution and population status The Yanco Creek System in the NSW Riverina is complex and has many anabranching creek systems, floodplains and peripheral wetland systems. There are several historical records of platypus within the Billabong and Yanco Creek system (Atlas of Living Australia) however there is no further information about the extent or size…
Members of Hay Plains Landcare identified gaps in knowledge amongst landholders around the importance of native vegetation, plant identification and species selection. The group also wanted to encourage community members and landholders to learn about and implement biodiversity in gardens and properties and identify future planning needs to develop a community native garden. Hay Plains…
Many landholders don’t understand the relationships between the plants that grow in the paddocks and the soils that they grow in. So Hay Plains Landcare hosted a hands-on soil biology workshop to provide participants with a better understanding of the importance of soil biology and the various components of soil biology, including soil microbes, soil…
When the new Local Landcare Coordinator program commenced, our Coordinators worked with all the Landcare groups in our region to understand their needs and interests, the issues they faced and the topics they would like to learn more about. This information was very helpful in guiding the development of future projects and grant applications, but…
Many native paddock trees and remnant forest areas across the Murrumbidgee region are in decline. With the long drought and bushfires in 2020, replanting native trees in our rural landscape is a fundamental step in helping our natural ecosystems recover. The ending of the drought has placed enormous pressure on nurseries across the region to…
The Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers group was established in 2019, led by Charles Sturt University. The group aims to understand the current distribution of dung beetle species introduced to Australia, and evaluate new species of dung beetle for importation and release into Australia. They also want to work with farming and land management groups to…
One simple theme which has come up again and again when we ask Landcare members about their training interests is the desire to learn basic skills they can use on their property – such as welding. Knowing that the local Tafe ran welding courses, we decided to contact them and see whether we could arrange…