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Our Projects
We are dedicated to preserving the natural environment and promoting sustainable land management practices. Read about Kinglake Landcare’s current and past projects below.
Boxes for Birds - creating shelter for our local wildlife
Boxes for Birds is a Kinglake community nest box project, in partnership withBirdlife Australia. In late 2024 and early 2025, we will install 85 nestboxes onmembers' properties and public reserves across the Kinglake Ranges.The majority of the nestboxes will be purchased from LaTrobe University,funded by the Victorian State Government through the Victorian LandcareProgram. Further boxes will be constructed at a nestbox constructionworkshop early next year, funded by our FRRR Rural Skills grant.Five boxes of varying sizes will be installed on each property to accommodatedifferent size birds including Small bird/Treecreeper size, Pardalote size,Small/medium parrot, Duck or Kookaburra and Owl size boxes.Property owners will monitor their nest boxes twice yearly and record the birdsor other animals that are using them (or not). We have purchased a new nestbox inspection camera for that purpose (funded through the grant) and remotemotion cameras that can also be used.
Rural Skills Courses
This project seeks to provide local residents with essential skills for rural living across a range of topics including:
• Protection, enhancement or establishment of native vegetation
• Pest animal management
• Environmental weed management
• Sustainable farm practices.
Skills will be taught via a series of workshops to be held at the Kinglake Ranges Neighbourhood House throughout 2024, including:• Farm fencing workshop• Farm Chemical Users• 1080 baiting course• Nocturnal animals• Weed identification course​• Chainsaw course• Nestbox workshop
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Caring for Your Patch in the Kinglake Ranges publication
In 2023, members of the Kinglake Landcare Group produced a booklet ‘Caring for Your Patch in the Kinglake Ranges’ to assist residents to connect with the local natural environment and learn how to protect and enhance their 'patch’.The publication is an adaptation and modification of an earlier booklet‘Sustainable Gardening in the Kinglake Ranges’, created and published by Sustainable Gardening Australia (SGA) and Kinglake Landcare Group (KLG) in 2012. In recognition of the change in residents and needs since that first publication, ‘Caring for Your Patch’ seeks to inspire, educate and appeal to young and old. Beautifully designed, the booklet features front cover artwork and wildlife characters illustrated by local Kinglake artist, Michelle Bolmat. Its contents include backyard garden design, food growing, plant selection, weed and pest animal management and more.
Available for free download here and at Landcare events and various locations across the Kinglake Ranges, with thanks to the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) for generously providing grant funding for this project.
Round-leaf Pomaderris project
In 2008, a pipeline development near Kinglake exposed a patch of rare plants,including Pomaderris vacciniifolia (Round-leaf Pomaderris), thought to besome of the last estimated 150 plants of that species left in the world.The subsequent furore over the potential destruction of this rare plant led to iteventually becoming listed as Critically Endangered, the highest nationalcategory of risk of extinction.Fire plays an important role in the evolution of many Australian plant speciesand the plants of the Kinglake Ranges have developed the ability toregenerate after a fire. The Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 stimulatedgermination of seeds lying dormant in the soil and gave the Round-leafPomaderris a boost in numbers.The Kinglake Landcare Group have since worked with the Murrindindi ShireCouncil and Parks Victoria to ensure the survival of the plant by seedcollecting, propagating, planting, and distributing the plant around the district.We have planted and distributed over 1500 plants over the past 10 years.Regular audits and maintenance of previous plantings in public reserves &roadsides are also carried out. We now estimate that numbers in our districtalone are in the thousands.In a sheltered forest environment, it is a slender shrub growing to a height of 3metres. In an open position Round-leaf Pomaderris will grow up to 4 metrestall and 2 metres wide. The shrub is covered with creamy white flowers in latespring. The seeds of Round-leaf Pomaderris attract King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas in early summer.