Blog Articles

World Soil Day competition | $15k prize pool

By SQNNSWHub posted 9 days ago
High school agriculture classes, Landcare groups and First Nations agencies across southern Queensland and Northern NSW can now compete for a share in a soil-health prize pool worth $15,000. It is the first time the groups have been included in the World Soil Day competition run by the SQNNSW Innovation Hub . The wider footprint of eligible entrants still includes primary producers/land managers. The month-long event, now in its third year, opens on 5 November, closing on 4 December 2025, the day before World Soil Day on 5 December. The three prizes, each valued at $5,000, comprise a site visit from the Hub’s Regional Soil Coordinator (and Registered Soil ...

Help shape WeedScan 2.0 | Call for volunteers!

By Centre for Invasive Species Solutions posted 11 days ago
Calling volunteers! The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS) is developing WeedScan 2.0 — Australia’s next-generation weed identification app – and we’d love your help. We’ve nearly doubled the number of species in the app to around 950 plants and gathered over 900,000 images to train our AI system. To build a smarter, more accurate AI model, we’re looking for two kinds of volunteers: 1. Image Curators Help us prepare the training datasets so the AI learns from only the best material. You’ll filter out low-quality, duplicate or off-topic images and spot species that need more photos so we can achieve the minimum threshold of quality images ...

Discovering the Hidden Gem of Peel Flora and Fauna Reserve

By Claudia Macleay posted 11 days ago
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of joining the Wildflower Walk at Peel Flora and Fauna Reserve, a wonderful event hosted by Local Land Services with Sue Wakefield and Dr Megan Halcroft. I hadn’t visited the reserve before, and it turned out to be a delightful surprise — a true hidden gem just waiting to be explored. From the moment we stepped onto the trail, I was captivated by the incredible variety of native plants in bloom. Sue’s deep knowledge and enthusiasm for local flora made the walk both informative and inspiring, as she pointed out delicate orchids, golden wattles, and other wildflowers unique to the area. Megan added another layer of fascination, ...

Nourishing Australia Conference on Nov 1st (with a virtual option plus recordings post event).

By Nourishing Australia posted 14-10-2025
Nourishing Australia Conference on Nov 1st I, UTS, Sydney (with a virtual option plus recordings post event). “How Soil Health Affects the Climate and Human Health. https://events.humanitix.com/how-soil-health-affects-the-climate-and-human-health ABOUT NOURISHING AUSTRALIA We are a small, registered charity dedicated to informing, educating and inspiring people about the importance of nature in nourishing our soils, water, plants, animals and communities. More here: https://nourishingaustralia.org.au/ We would like to offer all Landcarers teams and members 20% discount off their tickets. Please enter Code NA20. We have ...

😂 Australia’s shortest bushwalk!

By Claudia Macleay posted 03-10-2025
I’m really excited about an upcoming event that Napoleon Reef Landcare is running on Sunday 19 October at the beautiful Napoleon Reef Reserve . It’s called Biodiversity in Miniature —and the whole idea is to slow down, look closely, and celebrate the incredible variety of life around us. One of the highlights on the program is what they’re calling Australia’s shortest bushwalk 😂. It might only be a tiny stretch of track, but it’s the perfect way to stop rushing and start noticing the small but important things in our ecosystems. There’ll also be opportunities to take part in mini flora surveys (think clipboards, plant spotting, and feeling ...

Healthy, young male koala spotted in Kurrajong!

By Hawkesbury_Nepean_LCNet posted 02-09-2025
Hey everyone, a beautiful male koala was spotted the other day in kurrajong by a landholder. This is your reminder to please keep an eye out on the roads today and every day for koalas and other wildlife! Particularly around Bells Line of Road and other known koala strike hotspots. #hawkesbury #koala #welovekoalas Come along to Koala Fest on Saturday September 13th from 10am to 3pm at Memorial Park in Kurrajong. Link: Koala Fest Hawkesbury

Bushland Baskets

By Claudia Macleay posted 06-08-2025
Did anyone watch Gardening Australia a few months ago when Millie Ross made those beautiful herb baskets? Well I did, and I have thought about that idea for ages. I loved the idea of creating something that was alive and beautiful! But also portable, maybe rather than herbs, it could be natives? When I was asked for our regional gathering to be part of decorating the room, I thought it would be the perfect place to showcase what our local community and landcare nurseries are growing. Of course, the issue is how to display what they are growing in a way that is easy to transport but also looked good. Then I realised it was the perfect opportunity to create ...

Latrobe Landcare groups tackling the Pest Problem with smart social media

By Jodie McEwen posted 17-07-2025
Lots of Landcare groups are trying to help their community implement Pest Management Plans, but it's hard to get the word out to local residents. Caroline and Jo from Latrobe Catchment Landcare Network came to me with this curly issue and asked if I could help. Having to design the training to deal with a specific challenge made it feel even more relevant and useful. I created a brand new workshop to help volunteers use their groups' social media platforms to educate and inspire the local community to take action on both plant and animal pest species. We called the 2-hr Zoom workshop Smart Socials: Tackling the Pest Problem and had over 30 people ...

Bringing the Region Together: 2025 Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Muster!

By Claudia Macleay posted 15-07-2025
Over eight years ago, the concept of a Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Network (CTRLN) was established. The idea was to create a collaborative network of smaller Landcare groups that would be stronger together. This collaboration would not only improve their chances for funding but also enhance their ability to share resources, knowledge, and projects. By working together, they could shift from focusing solely on local issues to tackling regional-scale projects with entire landscapes in mind. In stepping into the Regional Landcare Coordinator (RLC) role, I have worked to bring together our local Landcare Coordinators and, later, our wonderful ...

Allandale: a gift to koalas, a legacy for conservation

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 22-05-2025
Just outside Narrandera, where the Murrumbidgee River winds through the Riverina, a quiet transformation is taking place. Allandale, a 413-hectare property of rolling pastures with pockets of eucalypt-rich woodland, is permanently protected by a NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) agreement, offering hope to a species that, 50 years ago, had all but disappeared from this southern NSW landscape. Prior to the 1970s, koalas were thought to be locally extinct, but efforts to translocate animals from other regions of NSW and Victoria successfully created a colony that grew from an initial 23 koalas to more than 300 over ...

A lifeline for threatened native species: 1080 baiting for Australia’s ferals

By Centre for Invasive Species Solutions posted 30-04-2025
National Coordinators, Centre for Invasive Species Solutions Greg Mifsud National Wild Dog Management Coordinator | Gillian Basnett National Feral Cat and Fox Management Coordinator | Heidi Kleinert National Feral Rabbit Management Coordinator Australia’s iconic native species – from rock-wallabies to the eastern quoll, night parrot and corroboree frog to spider orchids, threatened wattles and hakeas – are being pushed to the brink by introduced species. Pest populations, including foxes , wild dogs , cats , rabbits and pigs , are one of the most prevalent threats to these native icons through predation and the destruction ...

Mycology May is BACK for 2025!

By Claudia Macleay posted 29-04-2025
Mycology May is Back for 2025 – Celebrating Five Years of Fungal Fascination! 🍄🌏 We’re thrilled to announce that Mycology May is returning for its fifth fantastic year! What started as a grassroots celebration of the incredible, overlooked world of fungi has now grown into a much-anticipated month of discovery, storytelling, science, and soil-loving community connection. Each May, we dive beneath the surface—literally and figuratively—to uncover the secret lives of fungi. And each year, the case for fungi being among the most important organisms on the planet becomes even more compelling. 🌿 Fungi: The Hidden Heroes of Our Ecosystems Fungi are ...

Koalas return to Brightling Park after years of conservation efforts

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 08-04-2025
After more than six years of dedicated revegetation and landscape management, a once-rare sighting of a mother and joey koala has become a rewarding symbol of success for conservation agreement-holder John Blanch. The arrival of the koala family is tangible proof the conservation work undertaken on Brightling Park at Georges Plains, is making a real difference in the restoration of local wildlife habitats. When the agreement was signed in 2019, John hoped to improve his land management practices, aiming for enhanced biodiversity and a more sustainable, profitable farm and livestock business. John said the results exceeded expectations. ...

Wet seasons rejuvenate Central West native seed bank

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 08-04-2025
After years of persistent drought, the Central West has experienced nearly four years of above-average rainfall after the drought-breaking downpours of 2020. For local grazier and conservationist Tracee Burke those rains brought much-needed relief to the parched landscape and ignited a biodiversity resurgence on her Burkeway conservation area near Gooloogong. The property has, with four wet years, enjoyed a mass germination of native tree species. Seeds dormant in the soil during years of drought sprang to life, carpeting the region with fresh growth of white box (Eucalyptus albens ), Blakely’s red gum ( Eucalyptus blakelyi ), red stringybark ...

Ecology and Faith – Hope in Action

By Claudia Macleay posted 04-04-2025
🌿 April Green Drinks 🌍 Our next Green Drinks gathering is shaping up to be a deeply thought-provoking evening, and we’d love you to join us! On Thursday, 24th April , we’ll welcome Sister Ann-Maree O’Beirne for a special presentation titled “Ecology and Faith: Hope in Action.” This event will explore how our ecological crisis calls for more than just practical solutions—it invites a spiritual and theological response. Sister Ann-Maree will share how a theology of the natural world can help us encounter the divine in nature, inspiring a sense of grace that leads to meaningful action. Through the lens of faith, we’ll be invited to reflect on our ...

Researcher wins award at Australia’s largest ecological conference

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 06-02-2025
Our Research Strategy program’s PhD candidate Joshua Lee received an award from the Ecological Society of Australia’s 2024 conference in Melbourne last week. Joshua received the society’s Fundamental Ecology Award for his research to assess biodiversity more effectively on conservation agreements. In receiving his award, Joshua presented his research to conference attendees saying efficient monitoring is essential to the private land conservation goals to protect and enhance biodiversity. “Traditional methods often focus on species counts, which, while valuable, can miss the ecological nuances that drive ecosystem function and resilience,” the Western Sydney ...

Collaborating with Charles Sturt University to Revive the 'Save the Bush Toolkit'

By Claudia Macleay posted 19-12-2024
Super excited to share this last achievement for the year! Over the last few months, I have been working with Charles Sturt University on gaining permission for the Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Network (CTRLN) to be able to share the Save the Bush Toolkit on our website as a resource for all our local landcare groups. Last week we received the letter signed by the Deputy Vice Chancellor that our request was approved! The Save the Bush Toolkit , was originally developed by Dr. David Goldney and Sue Wakefield in 1997. Dr. David Goldney, was a respected environmental scientist and passionate advocate for landholder-driven conservation. He dedicated his ...

Join Grazing Decisions to be better equipped for future drought

By Ag360.com.au posted 06-12-2024
New round of successful pasture assessment program available for the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales Farmers across the Northern Tablelands are now better prepared for future dry spells, thanks to the completion of the Drought Resilient Pasture Landscapes (DRPL) project that has been led by the University of New England (UNE) since the end of 2022. Over the course of the Future Drought Fund project, UNE, Southern New England Landcare (SNEL) and GLENRAC Inc have worked with farmers through an on-farm coaching program that has better equipped them to navigate climate variability and drought conditions. One of the biggest keys to ...

The NSW government has released a new Drought, Fire and Recovery Guide

By Drought Partnerships Team posted 29-11-2024
The NSW Government has released a Drought, Fire and Recovery Guide . The recovery guide is split into relevant chapters to help producers navigate the complexities of recovering from extreme weather events and includes a section on financial management and personal recovery . The financial management section links to tools and support for farm business finances , referencing Australian Government support. The Drought, Fire and Flood Recovery Guide is a sister guide to the Managing Drought, Fire and Flood Guide with the former focusing on recovery and the latter on preparedness and response. Feel free to share this information with any interested ...

Central Tablelands Regional 2024 Muster

By Claudia Macleay posted 05-11-2024
As the Regional Landcare Coordinator for the Central Tablelands, this year it was my role to I had the privilege of organise and lead our 2024 Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Network Muster—a pivotal gathering aimed at uniting our network, aligning our priorities, and planning for a resilient future. The two-day workshop, held at Reflections Wyangala Waters - Holiday Park, brought together 18 dedicated members from the Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Network along with two staff members from Local Land Services. Facilitated by Kim Boswell from The Forever Agenda and Peter Pigott, State Community of Practice Manager with Landcare NSW, the event provided ...