A new Landcare group has been formed focusing on the Waranga micro-catchment region covering the areas of Stanhope, Girgarre, Rushworth, Harston and Colbinabbin.
A community launch for the new Waranga Catchment Landcare Group will be held on Saturday, October 8 in Rushworth.
While there are a number of Landcare groups in the region, the formation of the Waranga group is an attempt to link the groups and develop an overall plan with a co-operative approach.
Waranga Catchment Landcare Group Committee chair Louise Costa said while there was considerable interest in environmental issues across the major catchments, the big regions like the Goulburn-Broken were difficult to tackle for volunteer groups, so micro-catchments were a way of breaking that down.
Ms Costa said recent years had been hard on existing Landcare groups, with COVID-19 restrictions preventing face-to-face meetings.
“We see an opportunity to create a union in those groups and an opportunity to work together on projects which link them,” she said.
An example of a project is the revegetation of the rail trail which runs from Murchison through Rushworth to Stanhope.
The Waranga catchment extends along the western edge of the Waranga Basin and the Heathcote ridge-line and between the Stanhope-Girgarre wetland system and the hills of the box ironbark forest south of Rushworth.
“Conservation and Landcare groups have long played a crucial role in providing environmental awareness and carrying out projects within this catchment but until recently, they have been relatively separate from each other and focused on smaller, isolated projects within their own communities,” Ms Costa said.
“It became clear that a new approach was necessary to sustain these groups whilst working on a more holistic plan to address conservation issues within the micro-catchment.
“Through collaborative planning, we can ensure that future projects reflect that all areas within the micro-catchment are being treated as a connected system; like joining the dots across the landscape.”
The community launch for the new group will be held on Saturday, October 8 at 10am on the Rushworth Village Green and will be celebrated with a wildflower walk led by one of the region’s respected botanists, Sally Mann.
A lunch will follow at the village green from noon.
A new committee will be formed after the launch with monthly meetings to be held across the catchment to discuss planning, projects and vision.
Anyone interested in becoming part of this initiative can contact Louise Costa on 0437 153 203.