What’s on your block?

RESIDENTS wanting to connect with the local environment and play a role in conservation in the Heathcote area are invited to ‘What’s on My Block’ tomorrow at Tooborac.

Heathcote Area Nature Group (HANG) in partnership with Biolinks Alliance are holding the event to help residents identify and protect wildlife on their property.

“If you have ever wondered if you have a phascogale living at your place or what even is a phascogale, this event has something for everyone,” said Leon Metzeling from HANG.

“We hope locals will join us at the ‘What’s On My Block’ event to uncover the weird and wonderful creatures we share this region with.

“It is a chance to connect with the local environment and play a vital role in conservation efforts in the Heathcote area.”

The Heathcote Area Nature Group is a new group which aims to carry on the work started by Biolinks in the Heathcote region.

“Our big focus initially is raising awareness of and aiming to improve conservation of native animals and plants on private land,” said Mr Metzeling.

“While we have some great national parks in the region, most of the land is privately owned.

“Some of this privately owned land has good conservation values and could be improved to better support our wonderful native wildlife.

“We know from our own experience of using trail cameras how wonderful it can be to see some of the shy, nocturnal animals living really close to us.

“We’d like to share this with others, by making some trail cameras available for people to borrow.

“We can help with their placement, provide details about using nest boxes and also help to identify the animals that are captured by the cameras.”

The event is supported by Heathcote and District Bendigo Community Bank.

It will start at the Tooborac office at 1.30pm and finish at 3.30pm.

To book, go to https://events.humanitix.com/what-s-on-my-block