Greater Sydney Landcare Network
Newsletter - July 2018
- GSLN News
- Opportunities
- Member events
- GSLN 2018 AGM - September date TBA
- Kurrajong Koala Fest
- Other Landcare News
- Greater Sydney Local Land Services Landcare Bulletin
- LandcareNSW Bulletin
- JOIN or RENEW your GSLN Membership
- Send us your events!
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Huge turn out for South West Sydney Green Drinks!
 Over 40 people met on Friday 22nd July at the Macarthur Tavern to offload and network. This was the first Green Drinks held in South West Sydney. It was great to see such a huge turn out and hear about all the exciting things going on in the region.
We look forward to continuing Green Drinks - Campbelltown on a bi-monthly basis. Green Drinks - Penrith will likewise continue, also on a bi-monthly basis, so that there will be a Green Drinks every month in western Sydney.
August Green Drinks - Penrith date TBC.
September Green Drinks - Campbelltown date TBC
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Project Aims: This project integrates practices to conserve biodiversity and deliver low-impact sustainable grazing activities across multiple properties; by capacity building local communities to develop and implement a landscape-scale framework in the catchment.
What's happened so far:
Saturday 21st October 2017 – Farm seasonal walk & paddock plants with ID of poisonous plants.
- Info sheets on each of 7 weeds.
- Pasture ID of useful species, what they tell you about soils and management and problems with pastures this time of year.
- ID of African Lovegrass, Serrated Tussock, Chilean Needlegrass, fireweed & GPG. ID of Green Cestrum, Fireweed, Crofton Weed, St John’s Wort.
- Info sheets on each of the weeds.
- Pasture ID of useful species, what they tell you about soils and management and problems with pastures this time of year.
- ID of plants brought along
Saturday 25th November 2017 – Soil sampling & a presentation on weed phenology.
• Info sheets on soil testing
• Understanding soil opportunities and limitations
• Soil depth, texture, acidity and infiltration
• Soil sampling for nutrient testing
• Understanding the lifecycle of weeds and why they succeed
• Seed production and longevity of weeds
Sunday 25th February 2018 – Interpreting soil tests and making fertilizer decisions.
• Interpreting soil tests and making fertilizer decisions - concentrating on acidity and PKS
• Information sheets on soil test interpretation
• How soil structure, biology and changes with depth; pasture species; and stock enterprises modifies what to do
• Modifying the environment to suit the pasture or modifying the pasture to suit the environment?
• Fertilizer strips
Sunday 8th April 2018 – Integrated weed management workshop – risk management & weed controls.
Integrated weed management involves using a variety of methods to; prevent weed entry and spread, to make your farm environment stronger and specifically target the destruction of weeds. Integrated weed management is not only more effective but can be more profitable.
The Field Day looked at:
• Characteristics of weeds which make an integrated management approach essential
• Costs of weed control and how it changes with time since invasion
• Different methods available for control
• Examples of integrated weed management for specific weeds such as serrated tussock, lantana and fireweed
• Where to find information on the management of different weeds.
•ID flowering Serrated Tussock and Chilean Needle grass
•What are the tools for weed management & why multiple management tools are needed?
•Farm walk and discussion of current opportunities and limitations in the paddock/s for weed management.
Sunday 3rd June 2018 – Bio-scapes
Will look at how can biodiversity help at the farm level. And is there more than just the feel good factor? And, is there any money in it?
On the day we will look at examples of nature working for you, including how native bird life can control large amounts of insect pests on your property, how shade and shelter can improve stock production, how wet lands can protect water supply and how native plants can improve the resilience of the pastures through drought and disease outbreaks. We will look at the advantages and how to monitor biodiversity. We will also touch on grants and stewardship payments that can help you maintain your biodiversity.
Look out for future events from September 2018 onward. For more information about this program please contact the Project Coordinator, Glenda Steain on 0418 244 418 or steain@speednet.com.au.
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GSLN membership renewal reminder
It's that time of year! It's time to renew GSLN memberships. Benefits for full members include,
- Voting rights
- Representatives on Committee
- All communications
- Member services
- networking
- sharing events online and in newsletters
- access to joint grant applications etc.
Membership forms can easily be completed online at our website.
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Weed biocontrol survey
Help improve biological control for weeds in the Greater Sydney Region by completing this 10 minute survey
click here
Open until 19 August 2018
This survey part of the NSW Department of Primary Industries'
Managing Established Pest Animals and Weeds Project.
If you have any questions please contact Wendy Gibney email: wendy.gibney@dpi.nsw.gov.au
This activity is supported by the Established Pest Animals and Weeds initiative, part of the Australian Government’s
Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, the government’s plan for stronger farmers and a stronger economy.
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Can you use corporate volunteers / support?
Greater Sydney Landcare Network (GSLN) is working with Landcare NSW to bring corporate sponsorship and support GSLN members.
Corporate organisations often offer their staff one paid volunteering day a year. Could you accommodate unskilled volunteers? Are there other ways a corporate could support your group?
We are looking for proposals from GSLN members to host corporate volunteering events at sites within an hour of Sydney CBD.
Use our online form to nominate your group / site!
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Patagonia environmental + social initiative grants
Patagonia supports small grassroots activist organisations with provocative direct-action agendas, working on multipronged campaigns to preserve and protect our environment. This year's round of grant applications is open from 1 July - 31 August 2018.
Check out their website for guidelines and to apply for a grant.
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Other Landcare News
To catch up on other Landcare news, click at your leisure...
- Greater Sydney Landcare and Community News (Local Land Services)
- Landcare NSW August Bulletin
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Consider joining GSLN and support land-caring for another year
Please consider joining Greater Sydney Landcare Network (GSLN), and contribute to land-caring across Greater Sydney for another year.
To join GSLN, please click here.
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Members, please send us your events!
We would love to promote any events your groups have planned in our newsletter, and on our website, and Facebook and Twitter pages.
GSLN also admins the Adventure Conservation Australia Facebook page and sends out a quarterly Adventure Conservation newsletter. We would love to add any fun, challenging events in wild places that you have coming up.
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