Projects
Brunswick Valley Landcare regularly applies for grants to run on-ground projects. In the table below are details of our current projects with more information on our activities below.
| Funding Body | Grant Name | Grant Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPI Fisheries | Habitat Action Grant | Restoring Fish Habitat Brunswick River | Implementing a part of the “Bringing Back the Bruns” project on 2 private properties in Main Arm. The project aims to improve fish habitat in the main arm of the Brunswick River through 1.2 ha of weed control and revegetation of riparian forests 750 trees over 1 year |
| Byron Shire Council | Community Initiatives Program 2021/22 | Helping BVL Keep Up | Provide staff and volunteer committees with better equipment to better meet community needs, increase BVLs organisational capacity. Existing laptops are old and need repair on a regularly basis. |
| Landcare Australia | Landcare Led Bushfire Recovery Grant | Wildlife Safe Havens Glider Project - Bushfire Recovery Strategy for Byron Shire, NSW | Deliver immediate habitat support for Gliders (Greater, Squirrel, Feathertail and Sugar) on both private and NPWS land through: * installation of 60 glider-specific habitat solutions across 10 strategic project sites * trialling a mix of 48 nest boxes with 12 hollow augmentations (fast-tracking the natural hollow forming process using highly specialised arborist skills in identified trees with recently lost limbs) * address existing fragmentation of suitable glider habitat by extending corridor connectivity from National Parks to private land managed by actively engaged Landcare members * monitor project sites in five cycles of on-ground surveys deploying telescopic pole camera and song meter technology * conduct habitat assessments (inc food trees) and hollow audits on project sites including assessment of feral pest impacts * conduct 4 spotlighting surveys with participating landholders, deploying audio call technology, and embedding citizen science into monitoring * analysis of Project monitoring data by specialist ecologist and share findings through Project. |
| Landcare NSW | Working together | Involving Traditional Owners | Inviting Traditional Owners to attend field days and workshops |
| NSW Government - Environmental Trust | Restoration & Rehabilitation Grant- Community | Ridge to River: Mooibal Spur Corridor Restoration Stage 1 | Stage 1 will restore 2.2 km of the Mooibal Spur ridge line. It is an important connection between the ridges of Mt Jerusalem National Park and the main arm of the Brunswick River and Cape Byron Marine Park. The project aims to improve the condition and connectivity of locally significant ecological links through an area of High Environmental Value North Coast wet sclerophyll threatened flora and fauna habitat. A total of 7.2 hectares will be restored through 2.2 hectares of native species planting and 5 hectares of regeneration. The habitat will be enhanced through nest box installation and monitoring. The local community will be engaged through field days, workshops working bees, educational resources and signage. |
| Byron Shire Council | National Landcare Program Smart Farms | Managing Land in the Micro Climate of Byron Shire - Capacity Building for New and Lifestyle Land Managers | Deliver 6 practical field days/workshops/farm tours/seminars on regenerative agriculture and land management topics |
| Northern Rivers Community Fund | Growing Seeds of Hope: Connecting Schools to Regenerative Agriculture | Brunswick Valley Landcare (BVL) under Farming into the Future, in partnership with the Dorroughby Environmental Education Centre (DEEC) will create and run field days on regenerative agriculture with supporting educational materials for secondary school students and their teachers. Having both a social and environmental focus it creates connection by bringing students and their teachers together in a hands-on day of activities, learning and demonstrations from experienced practitioners and professionals. Run in the Byron, Lismore, Ballina, and Murwillumbah/Tweed School & Council areas we aim to: • create and value connections between school students, teachers, farmers and indigenous land managers to “spark" change and encourage students to think about how their food is produced • promote agriculture practices to combat climate change, make a profit, and produce healthy sustainable products • provide student learning & support materials for continued benefit through a repeatable annual program • create connection via informal teacher professional learning and networking • encourage schools to begin junior Landcare groups by providing financial support and incentives. |
|
| NSW Government - Department of Planning, Industry and Environment - Climate Change and Sustainability Division | IRCC Increasing Resilience to Climate Change Community Grant | Climate resilient landscapes” guide | Our initiative is: Adapting to Climate Variability - A Planting Guide for the Northern Rivers region. This project will deliver adaptive actions to strengthen the community connection to local vegetation, gardens and landscape. The project will strengthen the community knowledge to better understand the effects of temperature, fire, flood and drought in the Byron Shire and broader Northern Rivers region. |
| Australian Government | Community Environment Program | Mothers Day Community Tree Planting 2021 | Planting for Mothers' Day 2021 |
| Ozfish Unlimited | Landcare partnership program | Fish Habitat Planting | Fish Habitat Planting on the Main Arm of the Brunswick River |
| Replant Byron | |||
| Byron Shire Council | Community Initiatives Program (Section 356) | ‘Take a Walk in the Park’, Maslen Arboretum, Heritage Park | To increase visitation of Maslen Arboretum by Byron Shire residents and visitors. The work improved the amenity of the area and helped inform visitors of the unique native flora of our region through improved signage and self-directed walks. |
| Landcare NSW & Local Landcare | NSW Landcare Program | NSW Landcare Coordinator Program | 1.3 days per week funding for the Landcare Support Officer |
Making cows greener
BVL arranged a very successful, full-day workshop on Regenerative Agriculture in late 2018, attended by approximately 200 people at The Farm, Byron Bay.
Speakers included Dr. Charles Massy, farmer and author of The Call of The Reed Warbler, Charlie Arnott, grazier and biodynamic educator, David Trevor-Jones, grazier and holistic farmer Byron Bay, Glenn Morris, organic beef producer, Pam Brook, Brookfarm, Rob Randall from Norco and Rob Pekin from Food Connect.
Attendees were treated to great presentations and a wealth of information to help educate and inspire producers and interested people. Topics included the basics of Rag, why and how?, examples of successful adopters, product marketing, trends and the thinking process for adopting Rag practices.
More workshops arranged by Farming Into The Future are proposed, and a video of the FITF day is available.
Farm Forestry
In 2019 BVL arranged a workshop and field day at a large native cabinet timber facility in Federal, NSW., featuring species from the Big Scrub subtropical rainforest.
Approximately 70 attendees were inspired by the facility, the speakers discussing their journeys and their do’s and don’ts, Southern Cross University experts and researchers, and local producers who are integrating green crops with timber production.
Native cabinet timber production in this region has a big future and several new growers have entered the process since the workshop.
Restoring fish habitat on Marshalls Creek, Brunswick River
Brunswick Valley Landcare in conjunction with Byron Shire Council, has been successful in its recent application for a NSW Government funded Fish Habitat Action grant from the Department of Primary Industries.
Brunswick Valley Landcare has been working in the popular spot known locally as Shaleys Corner, Casons Lane, New Brighton. The aim is to revegetate the currently eroding creek banks using native trees, shrubs and sedges. Once established the root systems of the native vegetation should aid in greatly reducing any further erosion of the creek bank. Areas that have already suffered from erosion have degradable coir logs installed to aid in establishment of native plants. Weeding of non-native species has also occurred.
The project has formed partnerships and consulted with National Parks and Wildlife Service, Cape Byron Marine Parks, Ocean Shores Country Club, Madhima Gulgan Community Association (Aboriginal Bush Regeneration Team) and Nature Ally Bush Regeneration.
Going to dizzy heights to install nest boxes
Owl Box number 12 in Brunswick Valley Landcare’s Nest Box Project has been generating a lot of excitement! It contains evidence that three different creatures have made their home in it, or at least tried to.
The boobook perched on a nearby branch is the latest occupant. I believe at least two of the eggs inside are hers.
A whole lot of wood duck down feathers and the other two eggs in the box lead me to believe that a wood duck was interrupted in her brooding and chased from the box.
In the winter there were lots of leaves in this box and a squad of gliders … this photo from June 2016.
Not such good news from one of the motion detecting cameras that was installed at one of the boxes that has a lot of activity. A feral cat climbing a large eucalypt! A cat trap has now been placed at the base of the tree but no luck yet capturing the villain! You can view the video here Cat Video on Facebook
Brunswick Valley Landcare’s Nestbox project started in 2014 after a successful crowd funding campaign to raise funds to install owl nest boxes. It has now grown and we have installed 40 nest boxes over the last 2 years. We have lots of different kinds of boxes, not only ones for owls. We monitor the boxes regularly and add the information to our database. The monitoring has shown that hollows must be in short supply as 60% of our boxes are occupied and some within 3 months of being installed.
To see more of the results from the last round of nest box monitoring please visit the Brunswick Valley Landcare Facebook page. Brunswick Valley Landcare Facebook
To borrow a cat trap please contact Byron Shire Council.