Moorabool Catchment Landcare is sure that the shire can refind its former ecological glory.
And the group’s efforts have been lauded at the 2015 Corangamite Landcare awards.
Members have been progressively developing a wildlife corridor between Wombat State Forest and the tip of the Brisbane Ranges National Park.
Co-ordinator Elle Fox says people have been planting indigenous plants, shrubs and trees for the past few months after receiving $82,000 from the federal government for the next three years.
“We wanted to encourage our urban members to plant nectar-producing plants … to attract native animals safely back to the township,” Ms Fox says.
“The wildlife corridor is pretty much vital for insect, animal and even plant movement.”
Even though the group has been busy clearing up Moorabool for the past two decades, Ms Fox says this is its first large-scale project.
“Basically, before this we were concentrating on linkages on the Moorabool river,” she says. “But we’ve never had funding for more than one or two years.”
Federal funding given four years’ ago to clean up weeds has paved the way for the wildlife corridor, Ms Fox says.
“Being recognised feels amazing. None of these people do it for the recognition, they do it for the conservation,” Ms Fox says.
Sumeyya Ilanbey
