Catchment workshops cultivating resources

MOORABOOL Catchment Landcare Group is one of many that will host a series of workshops for landowners across the region as part of a collaboration with the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.

Part of the State Government’s Our Catchments and Our Communities Fund, the inaugural program is titled Small Block Big Dreams, and will see catchment groups deliver varying topics on sustainable land management.

Moorabool will take point on an information session at Mt Rothwell Conservation and Research Centre on Saturday, 2 April, after which participants will be invited to attend an additional four workshops over the coming months.

Each catchment group will target a specific area of land usage, and Moorabool’s Landcare coordinator Jackson Cass said their focus will be on bush blocks and lifestyle.

“Some of the themes our workshops will be covering include native vegetation, biodiversity, soils, waterways, cultural awareness, wildfire and climate, pets, plants and animals,” he said.

“The aim of the program is to get people to the point where they can learn enough to become a catchment steward in their local community.

“We’re trying to promote better land management activities in such a way that these people can become someone in their region that people can ask to for help on their properties.”

The program is aimed at small land holders, and with workshops capped at 14 people and Mr Cass said the information session has already filled half its 60-person limit.

Small Block Big Dreams is expected to occur biannually over three years, and Mr Cass said Moorabool’s contribution will be an “intensive crash course” that will see an upskilling for bushland property-owners.

“People will be able to walk away from the program with a bit of an action plan for their property,” he said.

“They’re going to be able to identify some management actions on their land that they’re going to undertake.

“It should also create a bit of a network for the people that attend the workshops between them, the Corangamite Authority, and really everyone who’s involved with it.”

MCLG’s four workshops will be held at varying locations across the region on Saturdays, April 30, May 7, May 21, and concluding on Sunday, May 22.