Kooyoora Connections CFOC Project 2012/13

The WCMN has been delivering on ground works and community education events in the Wedderburn district since September 2003.  Since July 2010, the majority of these have been achieved through the Kooyoora Connections Project, which is funded through a Commonwealth Caring for our Country (CFOC) grant.  This good work has continued in 2012/13 with the project well on track to meet or exceed all targets. 

So far in 2012/13 the WCMN has fenced 48 hectares (ha) of remnant Box Gum Grassy Woodland vegetation, undertaken 23 ha of remnant enhancement plantings and completed 46 ha of direct seeding.   Most of these works have been carried out in a key strategic corridor between Mt Kooyoora and the Sunday Morning Hills, and will greatly enhance the longer term biodiversity benefit of this district.  Further remnant enhancement planting and direct seeding is still to be completed, primarily in the Mt Korong district.  This will take place when weather conditions are cooler and wetter.

Weed control in the district has continued to focus on Wheel Cactus and Bridal Creeper (both listed as Weeds of National Significance), as well as Horehound and African Lovegrass.  In 2012/13, 80 ha of CFOC-funded weed control has focussed on the Mt Korong and Little Mount district; these works have been complemented by the treatment of a further 88 ha on roadsides, creek lines and in the Wedderburn State Forest through a DSE Bush Guardians grant. 

This year’s WCMN rabbit control program has also focussed on private properties within the Mt Korong / Little Mount district, with over 150 ha treated.  The WCMN works complement those funded on adjacent public and private land by WCMN partners Parks Victoria, Trust for Nature and Greenhouse Balanced.

The WCMN fox baiting program, which takes place annually over more than 2000 ha, is currently underway at Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve and an adjacent block of private land.  This program aims to provide protection for Malleefowl hens and chicks during the breeding and hatching season.  High levels of fox activity have been recorded around an active Malleefowl mound this year, which has disrupted the hen’s egg-laying behaviour on at least one occasion.  In keeping with an adaptive management approach, the WCMN has positioned more bait stations close to this active mound to increase the likelihood of foxes encountering and taking baits and offer greater protection to these endangered birds. 

The annual WCMN kangaroo monitoring program is also underway.  The program is being led by WCMN Ranger Graeme Tennant and Jeroen van Veen of Bush Heritage Australia, with assistance from Bendigo TAFE students.   

Under the Kooyoora Connections Project the WCMN has also delivered many successful community events.  In 2012/13, these have included guest speaker evenings on bats and seed provenance, a seed collection workshop, a visit to the Mt Rothwell predator-free ecosystem and a bird watching field day, as well as several schools events involving students from Bendigo TAFE and Wedderburn P12 College.  The next guest speaker evening will be “Box Ironbark Bugs” on Friday 17 May at the Royal Hotel in Inglewood – we hope to see you there!  

Article and photos by Karly Learmonth - top photograph, WCMN sign on fenced remnant, bottom photograph, inside a fenced remnant