14 Dec 2017 Ovens and Murray Advertiser, Wangaratta VIC (General News) by Jamie Kronborg INDIGO, Alpine and eastern Wangaratta district Landcare groups have secured significant project grant funding from the Victorian government. Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) said a $175,000-plus allocation had been made to aid preservation and conservation of the natural environment in the North East under the Victorian Landcare Grants program. Groups in Indigo and Alpine shires are sharing more than $31,000. Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability is one of the biggest recipients with a grant of $7200 to fund enhancements to biodiversity along Silver Creek, where much work has already been carried out. Stanley Landcare will receive $6300 to manage and review methods to contain the spread of gorse in the local community. Swamps, Rivers and Ranges a communitydriven landscape restoration project designed to strengthen links between people and the environment in which they live has secured $4600 for a native bird nest box project. Burgoigee Creek Landcare has been granted $500 for a maintenance project at Everton and Rutherglen Landcare has been similarly funded. Upper Ovens Valley Landcare has been given $5940 for community education and works on riparian reserve improvement and engagement activities, while Myrtleford and District Landcare and Sustainability has been given $3000 to implement a nest box monitoring program and foster community awareness of native bird nesting. Falls Creek Environmental Interest Group is to receive $3000 for a small community engagement project linking the ski resort community to alpine flora and best management practice to aid wider understanding of the alpine environment. Ms Symes said the grants would help local Landcare and environmental volunteer groups to pursue priority projects in the region. She said that while there were smaller allocations for local staff support and maintenance, larger grants had been made to local projects in which groups are seeking to improve biodiversity through revegetation, and remnant vegetation enhancement and protection. In northern Victoria we have some of the hardest working local environmental groups in the state and I am pleased that (the government) has again supported them to improve our environment, Ms Symes said. We need to take great care of our natural environment and the unique biodiversity of this part of the world. Ensuring our volunteers and community groups are well supported in their amazing work is vital. The grants program provides funding for these groups to undertake on-ground works that contribute to the improvement and protection of the regions natural resources. Ms Symes said the funding also supported projects that promote innovation and build capacity through activities for land stewardship and on-ground change, start-up funding and maintenance grants to ensure a strong Landcare base. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.