What's new?
Upcoming changes to the management of the Kara Kara CMN
Since 2012, the Kara Kara CMN has been able to employ a dedicated Landcare Facilitator, a part-time role that has been invaluable in helping the Network to achieve its objectives for protecting and enhancing biodiversity in north-central Victoria. Indeed, our Facilitator has been the main driver of our programs and projects, managing the delivery of on-ground works, attracting project funding and volunteers, organising community events, and generally assisting the Kara Kara CMN Committee to improve Network governance, and its internal procedures and processes.
Until now, funding for this vital role has been provided by the State Government through the Victorian Landcare Facilitator Program (VLFP) which is managed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP).
That will change on 30 June 2021, when the funding cycle that currently supports the Kara Kara CMN’s dedicated Landcare Facilitator role comes to an end. Instead, from 1 July 2021, the Kara Kara CMN will become a member group under the Buloke & Northern Grampians Landcare Network (BNGLN).
What this change means for the Kara Kara CMN
This change means that from 1 July, the Kara Kara CMN will no longer have a dedicated Facilitator to drive and deliver Kara Kara CMN programs. Rather, we will be required to share the Facilitator support potentially available through the BNGLN with 12 or more other member groups.
How this change came about
In 2019, DELWP undertook a Review of the VLFP to identify opportunities for potential improvements to the Program. Two years on, the recommendations arising from that Review resulted in DELWP announcing new, mandatory conditions to the VLFP that will take effect from 1 July 2021.
These conditions effectively required potential host organisations to adopt DELWP’s preferred ‘one-size-fits-all’ Landcare Network-style tiered organisational structure, change their geographic boundaries where these overlapped with other host groups, and potentially alter the basis under which their Facilitators were employed into the future. Further, existing host organisations such as the Kara Kara CMN and BNGLN were required to reapply for funding if they wished to continue to receive Landcare Facilitator funding from that date.
These changes placed the Kara Kara CMN Committee in a difficult position as they would require significant changes to our Network’s organisational structure and territory boundaries in order to comply.
Conservation Management Networks, which were established in the early 2000s under a scheme promoted by a former Labor Government and a DELWP predecessor organisation, do not have a tiered organisational structure. Rather, we operate on a project basis, working alongside and complementing Landcare Networks, and in the process, spanning many community groups and land tenures. This is the organisational structure that the present Kara Kara CMN Committee signed up for, and it is one we all want to maintain.
The other major sticking point was the CMN’s area of operation, which overlaps the southern section of the BNGLN’s territory.
What to do! Well, after a full, frank and wide-ranging discussion about the Network’s options going forward, the Committee decided that it could not meet the inflexible requirements of the new VLFP and, as such, chose not to reapply to host a funded Facilitator position after 30 June. In short, the changes that would be needed for the Kara Kara CMN to comply were too extensive!
This situation is not unique to CMNs. Many other groups involved in environmental conservation in Victoria that do not have a tiered organisation structure ‑ for example, ‘Friends of’ groups ‑ face a similar dilemma.
Applications for funding under the new VLFP closed on March 18.
Finding a way forward
The decision not to reapply for Facilitator funding was a difficult one for our volunteer Committee and one not taken lightly! Despite the potential of receiving some Facilitator support through the BNGLN post 1 July – provided, of course, that their own application for ongoing VLFP funding is successful ‑ the loss of a dedicated, paid employee effectively means a significantly increased workload for the Kara Kara CMN’s small band of volunteers. It will also lead to an inevitable reduction in the Network’s ability to sustain some of its existing programs into the future.
Faced with this prospect, our need for more volunteers, particularly at a Committee level, has never been greater. If you would like to be involved, call our Landcare Facilitator on 0419 550 226 or email us at karakaracmn@gmail.com.
Since 2012, the Kara Kara CMN has been able to employ a dedicated Landcare Facilitator, a part-time role that has been invaluable in helping the Network to achieve its objectives for protecting and enhancing biodiversity in north-central Victoria. Indeed, our Facilitator has been the main driver of our programs and projects, managing the delivery of on-ground works, attracting project funding and volunteers, organising community events, and generally assisting the Kara Kara CMN Committee to improve Network governance, and its internal procedures and processes.
Until now, funding for this vital role has been provided by the State Government through the Victorian Landcare Facilitator Program (VLFP) which is managed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP).
That will change on 30 June 2021, when the funding cycle that currently supports the Kara Kara CMN’s dedicated Landcare Facilitator role comes to an end. Instead, from 1 July 2021, the Kara Kara CMN will become a member group under the Buloke & Northern Grampians Landcare Network (BNGLN).
What this change means for the Kara Kara CMN
This change means that from 1 July, the Kara Kara CMN will no longer have a dedicated Facilitator to drive and deliver Kara Kara CMN programs. Rather, we will be required to share the Facilitator support potentially available through the BNGLN with 12 or more other member groups.
How this change came about
In 2019, DELWP undertook a Review of the VLFP to identify opportunities for potential improvements to the Program. Two years on, the recommendations arising from that Review resulted in DELWP announcing new, mandatory conditions to the VLFP that will take effect from 1 July 2021.
These conditions effectively required potential host organisations to adopt DELWP’s preferred ‘one-size-fits-all’ Landcare Network-style tiered organisational structure, change their geographic boundaries where these overlapped with other host groups, and potentially alter the basis under which their Facilitators were employed into the future. Further, existing host organisations such as the Kara Kara CMN and BNGLN were required to reapply for funding if they wished to continue to receive Landcare Facilitator funding from that date.
These changes placed the Kara Kara CMN Committee in a difficult position as they would require significant changes to our Network’s organisational structure and territory boundaries in order to comply.
Conservation Management Networks, which were established in the early 2000s under a scheme promoted by a former Labor Government and a DELWP predecessor organisation, do not have a tiered organisational structure. Rather, we operate on a project basis, working alongside and complementing Landcare Networks, and in the process, spanning many community groups and land tenures. This is the organisational structure that the present Kara Kara CMN Committee signed up for, and it is one we all want to maintain.
The other major sticking point was the CMN’s area of operation, which overlaps the southern section of the BNGLN’s territory.
What to do! Well, after a full, frank and wide-ranging discussion about the Network’s options going forward, the Committee decided that it could not meet the inflexible requirements of the new VLFP and, as such, chose not to reapply to host a funded Facilitator position after 30 June. In short, the changes that would be needed for the Kara Kara CMN to comply were too extensive!
This situation is not unique to CMNs. Many other groups involved in environmental conservation in Victoria that do not have a tiered organisation structure ‑ for example, ‘Friends of’ groups ‑ face a similar dilemma.
Applications for funding under the new VLFP closed on March 18.
Finding a way forward
The decision not to reapply for Facilitator funding was a difficult one for our volunteer Committee and one not taken lightly! Despite the potential of receiving some Facilitator support through the BNGLN post 1 July – provided, of course, that their own application for ongoing VLFP funding is successful ‑ the loss of a dedicated, paid employee effectively means a significantly increased workload for the Kara Kara CMN’s small band of volunteers. It will also lead to an inevitable reduction in the Network’s ability to sustain some of its existing programs into the future.
Faced with this prospect, our need for more volunteers, particularly at a Committee level, has never been greater. If you would like to be involved, call our Landcare Facilitator on 0419 550 226 or email us at karakaracmn@gmail.com.
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Successful end to 3-year habitat improvement program
The end of November brought to a successful conclusion a three-year program of on-ground works co-ordinated by the Kara Kara CMN, with the main focus of creating and improving habitat for the native wildlife of the north-central region. The program had two key elements. The first involved undertaking mass plantings of native seedlings to create linkages between areas of native bushland and help wildlife better move through the landscape. In a win-win for biodiversity and participating landholders, these plantings also helped to improve farm productivity through the creation of livestock shelter belts. The aim of the program’s second element was to help address the shortage of tree hollows in our regional forests through the construction and installation of nest-boxes targeting three species: the Brush-tailed Phascogale (a small tree-dwelling marsupial), and two iconic Australian birds, the Laughing Kookaburra and Southern Boobook (Mopoke). All of these species rely on tree hollows for shelter and for breeding, but all three are in serious decline throughout south-eastern Australia due to habitat loss. Overall, the project saw more than 28 hectares planted with nearly 9,000 native seedlings, and 220 nest-boxes installed across 31 private properties in an area of north-central Victoria bounded by Landsborough in the west, Moliagul in the east, Moonambel in the south and Slaty Creek in the north. And what a fantastic community effort it was! The Kara Kara CMN would like to thank participating landholders who not only set aside areas for planting, but also fenced, ripped and sprayed in readiness for the works. Also the many community volunteers, from individuals, to primary, secondary and tertiary school students and representatives of community-based organisations who planted and watered in the young plants, and the woodworking students and teachers from the region’s secondary colleges who constructed the nest-boxes to the Network’s specifications. The Kara Kara CMN’s habitat improvement program was funded by the Victorian State Government through a three-year Biodiversity On-Ground Action Grant. Pictured opposite (from top):
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Coaxing Banksia cones to release their precious seed cargo
One of the Kara Kara CMN's conservation targets, the iconic Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), flowers over summer. Immediately after flowering, our volunteers are alert to the opportunity to collect seed cones to help save this increasingly rare species. But once the seed cones have been collected, just how do you coax the hard seed cones to open and release their precious cargo?
Here's our preferred method... First, space the cones out on an oven tray and 'roast' at 180 deg C for about 30 minutes. The heat causes the cone's follicles to open. Allow the cones to cool, then gently tap each one on a paper-lined bench to dislodge the loose seeds. Each follicle holds two winged seeds, one on either side of a woody 'separator' structure. Seeds that don't fall out by themselves after this treatment can be gently prised out with pointed tweezers. A fiddly and time-consuming task!
So, what to do with them now?! Seeds harvested by the Network are propagated and the young seedlings used in revegetation works throughout central Victoria. Some also find their way to specially-created Seed Production Areas (SPAs) that have been established to facilitate gene flow between plants from different populations. Progeny from these SPAs are then planted back into original remnant populations to increase genetic variability and help ensure the long-term future of this beautiful Australian native.
One of the Kara Kara CMN's conservation targets, the iconic Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), flowers over summer. Immediately after flowering, our volunteers are alert to the opportunity to collect seed cones to help save this increasingly rare species. But once the seed cones have been collected, just how do you coax the hard seed cones to open and release their precious cargo?
Here's our preferred method... First, space the cones out on an oven tray and 'roast' at 180 deg C for about 30 minutes. The heat causes the cone's follicles to open. Allow the cones to cool, then gently tap each one on a paper-lined bench to dislodge the loose seeds. Each follicle holds two winged seeds, one on either side of a woody 'separator' structure. Seeds that don't fall out by themselves after this treatment can be gently prised out with pointed tweezers. A fiddly and time-consuming task!
So, what to do with them now?! Seeds harvested by the Network are propagated and the young seedlings used in revegetation works throughout central Victoria. Some also find their way to specially-created Seed Production Areas (SPAs) that have been established to facilitate gene flow between plants from different populations. Progeny from these SPAs are then planted back into original remnant populations to increase genetic variability and help ensure the long-term future of this beautiful Australian native.
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Pictured above (from left): Silver Banksia flower; and a Banksia cone after heat treatment with the woody separator structure and winged seed (D Saxon-Campbell).
Page last reviewed: 13/4/2021
