Celebrating the Bellarine’s bush heroes

THE Bellarine already has a group of coastal “hero” species, and a team of land-based equivalents are being formed.

Not-for-profit organisation Bellarine Catchment Network’s “Caring for our Bay” posters are a feature on public bins on beaches in the area.

The seven heroes – the Burrunan dolphin, the Australian fur seal, the angasi oyster, the weedy seadragon, the southern fiddler ray, the eleven-armed seastar and the growling grass frog – in the initiative aim to help people understand why protecting the region’s waterways is so important.

Bellarine Catchment Network have just announced they will launch a “bush heroes” species collection to raise awareness about inland habitats and why we should protect them.

The organisation worked with local groups and stakeholders to create a shortlist of species – the jacky dragon, the blue-banded bee, the short-beaked echidna, the yellow-tailed black cockatoo and the Bellarine yellow gum – and asked the community to vote for their favourite of the five to be promoted first in the initiative.

The results were consistent, with the short-beaked echidna and the blue-banded bee coming out clear winners.

Research is now being undertaken to find out more about these species and how their life and threats can be presented on posters, bin decals and more.

For more information on the project, email [email protected] or head to environmentbellarine.org.au.