Category: 2023 Winter Newsletter

2023 Winter Newsletter

 

FROM THE EDITORS
If it had been due on 20th July, this Winter newsletter would be well on time! As it is, we hope the wait hasn’t inconvenienced anyone. We all know it’s winter, this year – cold, wet, dark; but we are assured El Nino is on its
way.
So, we’re making the most of the wet and green aspects, a beautiful winter for ducks – wetlands are abundant with waterbirds, native plants flowering, bush birds getting ready for mating/territory issues, water plants (and
others) thriving, fungi prolific. It’s a joy to be amongst it all, and we hope you all can be too.
Speaking of fungi, Alison Pouliet’s new book is reviewed in this issue. We have it and it’s wonder-full!
Happy hunting, and keeping warm by the fireside.
For those of you who have yet to run across our new Chief Ranger, Charlie Richardson: there is … Read the rest

PREZ SEZ July 2023

PREZ SEZ July 2023
Welcome to this edition of the FOGG Newsletter and a well done to the editors for their work to publish items relevant to Grampians Gariwerd along with summaries of our activities. As you will read further into this
newsletter, we had some hiccups getting our contribution to Clean up Australia Day underway. However, all went well in the end and many thanks to the small team who cleaned up Reeds Lookout and surrounds.
We have pretty much established a calendar of activities for 2023 although as we have seen there can also be some flexibility as the year progresses. Your committee is always open to suggestions for topics to be covered or perhaps working bees if our age group allows. Just contact a committee member if you have an idea. In particular you may have a suggestion for a location/activity for a Christmas function. Normally the … Read the rest

Gariwerd rock art in the Australian context presented by ben Gunn: June 2023

Friday 16th June : Gariwerd rock art in the Australian context presented by ben Gunn.
A well attending group were presented with a PowerPoint talk on how the rock art of Gariwerd is both different from that anywhere else, but still fits within the broader pattern of Aboriginal rock art across the continent. As so many of the public have seen the well-preserved and visually spectacular rock art of northern Australia, the immediate reaction to seeing that in Gariwerd is one of disappointment; a problem not assisted by the near lack of any suitable on-site interpretation. The problem, however, is not unique to Gariwerd, as most of the rock art across southern Australia is similarly small, hard to see, and poorly preserved. But Gariwerd is unique and very
significant because, unlike other areas of southern Australia, it has a particularly high number of rock shelters used for rock art (160+ … Read the rest

Grampians Ark Landscape-scale fox control for threatened fauna recovery. June 2023

Friday 7th June: Parks Info night presented by Kailee Savoia, Grampians Ark Landscape-scale fox control for threatened fauna recovery.
The July gathering of FOGG was a presentation by Kailee Savoia, PV Coordinator of the Grampians Ark project.
Kailee provided an overview of the project work thus far and outlined some of the plans for the future. We also had William (Bill) Playne, PV Ranger – Visitor and Community, join us to listen to Kailee’s presentation and he assisted with some of the questions raised. Kailee explained that Grampians Ark is a state government funded project from the State Government’s Weeds and Pests on Public Land Initiative. Funding was allocated over four years with this project ending in 2025. It supports herself and two other ranger roles as well as funding the materials and equipment required. Foxes are listed as a threatening process for several species in the Grampians Gariwerd, namely: … Read the rest

Raising Rarity

Raising Rarity:

Preventing extinction of Victoria’s threatened flora The Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria (RBGV) was successful in procuring a grant to fund this 3-year project. The project starts on 1st June this year and covers 24 threatened species across Victoria, 11 of them occurring only in Western Victoria. RBGV are partnering with a number of organisations and there is a community engagement component to help with searching for and monitoring of these species. There will also be conservation genetics work done on collections already at RGBV as well as the collection of additional material to ensure the species diversity into the future. The gardens will also do work to optimise methods of germination on 11 species which are currently difficult to grow. For 10 species, little is known about how they are pollinated, so baseline data will be collected on pollination for these species; a researcher based at La … Read the rest