A Bushfire Recovery program led by Landcare Australia, delivered in partnership with OzFish Unlimited and Native Fish Australia (Victoria), will support initiatives to restore habitat for ten national priority threatened aquatic species in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.  

The Landcare Australia Aquatic Wildlife Habitat Bushfire Program is funded by the Australian Government and will deliver support for on-ground activities with local community groups, OzFish chapters, the endangered native fish hatchery run by Native Fish Australia (Victoria) and landowners across 17 bushfire affected areas.

The funding will provide on-ground bushfire recovery actions for ten threatened aquatic animals, including six fish species, three species of Spiny Crayfish and the Manning River Helmeted Turtle.

Landcare Australia CEO Dr. Shane Norrish recognised the Australian Government’s support for aquatic wildlife bushfire recovery, and how the program will bring together local community groups, OzFish Chapters and landowners with important on-ground bushfire restoration activities.

Dr Norrish said: “Since the Black Summer Bushfires, Landcare Australia has provided funding to 86 community Landcare and environment group projects, made possible by our corporate partners and donors, to help with the restoration of wildlife habitats in bushfire impacted areas.

“Now, with the support of the Australia Government, we can focus on aquatic wildlife and their habitats with projects that will support a fish recovery program, erosion control, weed management, revegetation and citizen science monitoring.”

OzFish Unlimited and Native Fish Australia (Victoria), have commenced working with local OzFish Chapters, landowners and managers after recreational anglers felt the impact of the early 2020 fires, not only on their local communities, but on the waterways they love.

OzFish Unlimited CEO, Craig Copeland said: ‘Recreational anglers in fire impacted areas were reporting the devastation to OzFish. We were receiving daily reports of water quality resembling sludge, complete losses of riverbank vegetation, dying fish, some in areas with threatened species.

‘In response to the fires, OzFishers around Australia have taken up the mammoth task of focusing on their local waterway recovery. This initiative will see our army of recreational fishing volunteers roll up their sleeves to reverse the severe impact the fires have had on their local waterways,’ said Mr Copeland.

Native Fish Australia (Victoria) is eager to support fish recovery with their restocking efforts of endangered fish to benefit restoration of local aquatic biodiversity. In collaboration with Landcare Australia, NFA will collect mature Macquarie Perch to be used in a breeding program for the species.  These broodfish will be taken to the NFA (Vic) Endangered native fish hatchery located at La Trobe University, to produce Macquarie Perch fry. The fry produced will be grown in the hatchery until they reach a suitable size, and then released into the Buffalo River in north east Victoria once the habitat has sufficiently recovered. Macquarie Perch from the Yarra River population will be used in the breeding program due to their genetic robustness and suitability to be stocked across their previous natural range.

President of Native Fish Australia, Tim Curmi said: “Habitat restoration and targeted native fish reintroductions are key to the survival of native species in these bushfire impacted regions and it’s really encouraging for people to know they have access to support to get their projects off the ground which benefit, not only the natural environment, but the whole community.”

The Landcare Australia Aquatic Wildlife Habitat Bushfire Program is funded by the Australian Government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery program.

This Landcare Week, New South Wales Senator Perin Davey and Victorian Senator Raff Ciccone are calling on their parliamentary colleagues to join with them in championing the work of Landcare and the beneficial impact it has on the environment. 

As prospective co-conveners, Senator Davey and Senator Ciccone are encouraging their colleagues to become members of the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare.

Landcare Week acknowledges the thousands of Landcare networks and groups around the country who work tirelessly on conservation and sustainable land management projects in their local area. 

New South Wales Nationals Senator Perin Davey says the work done by Landcare is an essential part of restoring and protecting our local environment. 

“Landcare not only supports our native flora and fauna, but also helps farmers and fishers across Australia adopt sustainable practices to deliver productive and environmental outcomes,” Senator Davey said. 

“Around 58% of Australia’s land is privately owned or leased for agricultural production, therefore sustainable management and farm practices are key to the long-term viability of our primary industries and the continued health of our natural resources.” 

Victorian Labor Senator Raff Ciccone said that Landcare makes a significant contribution to advancing the cause of conservation in Australia in both urban and regional settings.

“Since its establishment, Landcare has had an important role in bringing conservationists from all walks of life together for the common cause of caring for our natural environment,” Senator Ciccone said.

“As one of Australia’s largest and most successful volunteer movements, we all have much to celebrate this Landcare Week. I look forward to continuing to support Landcare into the future.”

News Corp Australia has partnered with Landcare Australia to make a significant $300,000 bushfire recovery donation to support two Landcare projects in Victoria and Queensland.

These donations form part of News Corp Australia’s ongoing support for communities, individuals and wildlife affected by the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires.  In the midst of the January bushfires, News Corp’s global headquarters announced a $5 million contribution to Australian bushfire relief, to assist in the immediate response and ongoing investment in rebuilding the lives and livelihoods of those most affected.

Rupert Murdoch said in January: “As a company with roots in Australia and an abiding commitment to its people and communities, we are determined to help, both in this time of great need, and well into the future, as the hard work of restoration continues”.

News Corp Australia’s Community Ambassador, Penny Fowler, said investing in rural and regional recovery will continue to be a priority.

“We are pleased to continue our support of rural and regional Australia, in particular, bushfire-affected areas in Queensland and Tasmania who have been through one of the toughest years on record.

We are also delighted to support Landcare Australia who has been on the ground working with communities for 30 years. These projects will go a long way towards restoring habitats and assisting in the mental wellness of communities still struggling with the events of the year.”

In the aftermath of the November 2019 bushfires in Livingstone Shire in Central Queensland, Capricornia Catchments helped to bring everyone together to discuss what it was going to take to assist the community recover. It was agreed that they needed on-ground action to ensure that landholders were better equipped for the future, and to take care of the wellbeing of the community as well as the land.

Funding from News Corp via Landcare Australia will support landholders with on-ground property recovery and preparedness such as property planning, emergency access to escape routes and water sources, as well as best-practice erosion control measures on fire trails and burnt areas. The project will also involve revegetation and restoration of the environment, including the creation of wildlife corridors to enhance habitat.

The project will engage with GenYadaba, a group made up of local youth including young Indigenous people to conduct revegetation, as well as wildlife monitoring using cameras and traps within the burnt areas. Through this project, young people in the community will have the opportunity to work together to learn about the animals that rely on the habitat they will be restoring, and learn new skills in the process, like native plant identification and weed management.

The community are creating a multimedia project that will capture a wide range of stories, ranging from the courage of fire fighters and local landholders, their tragedies, losses and near misses, through to the impacts fire has had on wildlife carers who were inundated with injured animals. Importantly, this coming together will help create a more resilient community and environment for future generations. This collective storytelling will be a celebration of the community, and how they have managed to come though such an enormous challenge.

Shelly McArdle, Capricornia Catchments Project Officer and Board Member of Queensland Water and Land Carers says what is exciting about this project is that it will have a component of wellbeing.

“This is such an important part of disaster recovery because we cannot expect people who have suffered so many challenges to be strong enough to do what needs to be done to recover in a practical sense. Recovery needs to be twofold, we need to be developing initiatives that take care of both people and place. This is how we will connect, strengthen and heal people and the environment together.”

Support from News Corp via Landcare Australia will also provide Landcare networks operating in East Gippsland to work together with their local Landcare groups and private landowners within fire impacted areas in the region. The project will provide an opportunity for the Landcare networks to set aside areas as habitat, shelter, breeding sites or feeding areas (such as shelterbelts and windbreaks) for endangered species. These areas will be improved to try and restore essential ecological functions which support a variety of threatened wildlife including Glossy Black-Cockatoos, Koalas, gliders and possums. The Black Summer fire season has shown how vulnerable many of our iconic species and their habitat are. For example, the Glossy Black-cockatoo (GBC) Calyptorhynchus lathami, saw around 70% of its Victorian habitat burnt.

The bushfire recovery project in East Gippsland will also have a focus on Citizen Science projects and coordinate volunteer support for fencing, planting, and monitoring, including encouraging local school students to participate in the recovery effort. A recent survey has revealed that many people are concerned about the plight of our wildlife after the Black Summer bushfires, and bringing communities together to support wildlife will lead to improved physical and emotional wellbeing by supporting active recovery. This project will also enable local groups to support each other as well as bring people in from outside the region. Landcare groups not impacted by fire have also shown a lot of interest in supporting the communities who were impacted.

Landcare Australia CEO, Dr Shane Norrish says that the partnership with News Corp will enable quality, on-ground projects with multiple partners who are involved in the bushfire recovery, led by the locals who need it most.

“We are currently working with partners, including News Corp, to empower Landcare groups and other environmental community groups in drought and bushfire affected areas. Their support is helping to rebuild communities with on-ground projects, including habitat restoration, wellbeing and mental health activities, as well as engaging new volunteers who want to contribute. This Landcare Week August 3 to 9, we thank the thousands of people and communities for their ongoing contribution to care for the land in their patch of Australia. Landcare in Australia is now more important than ever to the future of our land, water and people.”

MobileMuster provides a free mobile phone recycling program across Australia. In August, they will partner with Landcare Australia to provide an added incentive to recycle.

Every phone recycled will support Landcare Australia’s important work. All brands and types of mobile phones, plus their batteries, chargers and accessories, are accepted and then recycled safely and sustainably.

With Australians spending more time at home over the last couple of months they may have discovered a few forgotten old mobile phones and accessories that they are no longer using.

Spyro Kalos, Head of MobileMuster said “There are millions of mobile phones stored in our homes that are no longer being used. We estimate Australians are holding onto 5 million phones* that are no longer working. MobileMuster helps you recycle them and do some good by supporting the environment with Landcare Australia.”

MobileMuster has set a target to recycle over 20,000 mobile phones in August. The funds raised will help Landcare Australia undertake a linear wetland restoration project with the West Torrens community along the Brown Hill Creek in South Australia.

Landcare Australia CEO Dr. Shane Norrish said that the partnership with MobileMuster helps to raise awareness of the important work of Landcare groups and other environmental care groups who are active in our communities across Australia.

“The funding from this MobileMuster campaign will help support a riparian restoration project in South Australia which is being delivered in partnership with the City of West Torrens, community groups and the local Indigenous land managers – the Kaurana people.”

Through recycling over 95% of the materials in a mobile phone are recovered. This process reduces the impact of mobile phones on the environment by avoiding future greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy and conserving natural resources.

Recycling an old mobile phone this August is free and easy:

1. Drop them off at your nearest participating MobileMuster mobile phone retailer or local collection point, or
2. Recycle from home by ordering a mailing label or using our recycling satchel from Australia Post.

*IPSOS, Consumer insights into mobile phone use and recycling (March, 2020). Based on a used sample size of 1000 people Australia-wide. Respondents were randomly selected from an online panel and were aged 16 years + and owned a mobile phone.

WIRES and Landcare Australia have announced that 64 environmental groups across the country will benefit from a landmark $1.185million grants partnership supporting recovery of wildlife habitats impacted by bushfire and drought.

Launched in April 2020, the WIRES Landcare Australia Wildlife Relief and Recovery Grants is a pioneering alliance between two not-for-profits that have been part of the fabric of local communities for over 30 years.

Made possible due to the unprecedented volume of donations to WIRES from within Australia and around the world following the Black Summer bushfires, this grants program will support wide-ranging regeneration projects focused on restoring habitat impacted by the bushfires.

Projects include rainforest revegetation, installation of nest boxes to replace destroyed tree hollows for decimated native species, feeding programs for endangered wildlife, management of invasive weeds, erosion control and protection of our waterways and aquatic habitat.

WIRES CEO Leanne Taylor said this initiative in partnership with Landcare Australia has highlighted the remarkable diversity of projects and activities being undertaken by groups nationally.

“Regeneration of impacted habitat is key to supporting our vulnerable native wildlife,” said Leanne.  “This program is an excellent example of how we can use donations to support grassroot community organisations to make a real difference and deliver positive outcomes for our wildlife now and in the future.”

Landcare Australia CEO Dr Shane Norrish applauded the overwhelming response to the grants program, citing the extraordinary commitment landholders and community environmental groups display towards the relief and recovery of bushfire and drought-impacted regions across the country, particularly when Australia is facing one of its most challenging times in recent history.

Dr Norrish said: “While the nation has been impacted by the worst global health pandemic in living memory, effectively halting on-ground bushfire and drought regeneration activity, the desire and motivation to get on with the recovery effort has been astounding, and the demand for assistance and the quality of applications so great, WIRES provided additional funding to support more groups than originally contemplated.”

Dr Norrish added: “Landcare and environmental community groups need financial support to help with habitat restoration, regeneration and building resilience of bushland while providing protection for threatened species and other native animals which ultimately, enhances conservation outcomes and connects communities.”

As the largest wildlife rescue organisation in the country, WIRES rescues, rehabilitates and releases native animals.  WIRES is partnering on projects that improve long-term outcomes for native animals and help preserve vulnerable Australian wildlife populations.

Landcare Australia supports the Landcare grassroots movement of individuals and groups who have a shared vision to restore and protect the environment in local communities through sustainable land management and conservation activities.

Awarded Grants Projects Include

Rainforest 4 Foundation – After 5,000 hectares in the Nightcap and surrounding National Parks were devastated in the Black Summer fires, Rainforest4 Foundation are leading the way against fire-prone plant species in the hopes of future-proofing neighbouring rainforest.  Safeguarding habitat for impacted animals including koala and Red-legged Pademelon, Mullumbimby volunteers from Rainforest 4 Foundation, along with bush regenerator members of Madhima Gulgan Community Association, are concentrating on eradicating Running Bamboo, a highly flammable weed which burns exceptionally well, on impacted sites near the Whian Whian and Nightcap National Park

East Gippsland Landcare Network – In the devastating aftermath of the Black Summer bushfires, an ambitious environmental project combining people power with sophisticated DNA science hopes to safeguard the future of the platypus in East Gippsland. The East Gippsland Landcare Network will be supporting volunteers of all ages to collect water samples from waterways in the region to determine how bushfires have impacted platypus populations.

For full list of recipients, please visit: www.landcareaustralia.org.au/wireslandcaregrants