Welcome

Welcome to a 2026 year that started us off with a salutary, powerful series of weather events that carried with them a vision of our new climate horizons.  We are all sobered by the fires and the misfortune suffered by those in the way of those fires – the Harcourt area in particular. Along with other landcare groups, we will offer assistance via Connecting Country to work to improve the ongoing capacity of our area to restore, survive and thrive. 

Connecting Country has a list of useful information and resources for anyone affected. We recognise that some of our members have been at the forefront of helping our community during these last weeks and thank them sincerely for their dedication and thoughtfulness.

WHAT WE HAVE IN STORE FOR 2026

Our own immediate response includes to keep working along our creek-lines – for us, Forest and Moonlight Creeks – under the grant received from the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). Together with our partners (see box below), we have completed the first year of the grant and will build on that until February 2028 as we work with nature to achieve quality improvements along our waterways.

Our usual working bee days will remain the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month with a change or two to get around other events. We will send details of upcoming working bees well prior to each date and encourage you to attend when you can because every stage of a working year – including the much-unloved maintenance – requires lots of assistance and allows good chats, a swig of quality coffee and a chomp on a delicious savoury scone (or BYO).

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The purpose of our group is to enhance the natural environment of Castlemaine and Mount Alexander Shire and increase community enjoyment of our natural assets. We aim to restore the urban waterways of Forest and Moonlight creeks, to provide a healthy aquatic environment and create thriving habitats for local flora and fauna. We have regular working bees to prepare for planting and manage weeds. Depending upon annual conditions, we plant from late autumn to early spring. We plant indigenous species from local native plant nurseries with a view to survival under a changing climate.

We would like some more committee members – if you are interested please email or ring Christine on 0418 325 350.