Hello to all the landcarers of the Upper Wimmera!

My name is Elia Pirtle and I am very excited to be starting as our new local landcare facilitator for the Project Platypus Upper Wimmera Region. I am a trained research scientist and scientific communicator, with a background and interest in both conservation and agriculture, so I jumped on this opportunity. The Landcare program represents a unification between conservation, agricultural and community goals, and I am eager to plant myself right in the middle.

Project Platypus held its Annual General Meeting October 21st at the Stawell office. It was a very social and enjoyable night, with representatives there from most of our local landcares, as well as from the local CMA. We heard updates from our board on the work Project Platypus has completed in the past year, including revegetation works at sites important for landscape connectivity, and the securing of funding to support waterway restorations along Mt. Cole creek.

We also welcomed two new board members to the team, representing Jallukar and Halls Gap Landcares: Welcome to Margot Galletly, and Jeff Parson!  We also said farewell to two of our hard-working board members: Ange Turrell and Jess Gardner are stepping down due to work commitments. Jess has been a very active contributor well-networked in the Landcare community and revegetation organisations through her position with Greening Australia. Ange took the lead role in the development of Project Platypus 2022-2024 Strategic Plan. We all thank them both for their contributions and desire
to continue to support Project Platypus!

• The Stawell Urban Landcare Group recently ran a clean up of the Rifle Range reserve, as well as their adopted portion of the Western Highway, to keep our reserves and roadsides free from litter from dumped waste, such as garden scraps which can be packed full of seeds of weeds.
• There have been some suspected sightings of a platypus in the Mt Cole area – but so far no one has been able to get a definitive photo. Crowlands/Warrak Landcare Group is keen to get to the bottom of this – members suggested perhaps a photo competition could speed things up?! They are also keen to expand on some environmental DNA monitoring that was undertaken in their area as part of the Great Australian Platypus Search, a project led by ODONATA. Environmental DNA testing involved screening water samples for minute traces of DNA left behind, such as from fur, scales, or of course, poop. You can learn a bit more about eDNA in the short introduction video here.
• Black Ranges Land Management Group is in the process of finalizing a pest animal and weed strategy document, which will help them prioritise their local control efforts. Halls Gap Landcare Group is also laying plans to develop a priority weed strategy, to keep weeds from spreading into the national park. Both groups are interested in collaborating to create some informational material for the highest priority weeds to share with the community.

I’ll soon be meeting folks from Moyston and Elmhurst at their upcoming AGMs (along with our neighbours in Ararat, who are part of the Upper Hopkins Land Management group’s network of Landcares to our south).

We have been treated to amazing wildflower displays for several weeks now, but in the last week a slightly late bloomer has joined the party in a big way – the Vanilla lilies!

Read the full post at the Project Platypus blog, linked below.

I will kick things off with Serrated Tussock.

Some updates include:

• A Serrated Tussock community awareness project is getting underway in Landsborough, and Project Platypus will work on planning an information session for the Landsborough Landcare group.
• The Good Neighbour program, run by Parks Victoria and is sponsored by DELWP, has a focus on supporting landowners who neighbour our parks to control invasive species, protecting our wilderness areas. The program will start funding control of boneseed and bridal creeper near Stawell.
• Parks Vic is undertaking mapping and modelling to get ahead of the spread of sallow wattle.
• DELWP has been following up on recent reports of new weeds in our area, including Fourtone Viooltjie near Gerang Gerang and prickly pear near the Grampians Rail Trail, and are also working on developing a treatment for Soldiers/Cape Cowslip in North Goroke State Forest.
• Project Platypus has been hard at work undertaking local weed control work, which has recently included works focused on Patterson’s curse near Germainia, Cape Tulip and Boneseed near the Black Ranges, and Bridal Creeper at Old Glenorchy and in Stawell.

As I start getting to know better all our Landcare groups, I’ll keep you updated with projects and progress within our circle of Landcares. Please let me know if you would like to share anything with your fellow landcarers in the PP region through this newsletter, such as events you’re group is running, great resources you have come across or developed, or exciting accomplishments from on your own plot of land!