Useful Links

Wildlife Rescue

Contact: https://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/

Catchment-wide Strategies and News

Our Blackburn Creeklands Advisory Committee is a member of the KooyongKoot Alliance (KKA) as are another 20+ Friends Groups within the Gardiners Creek catchment – including our patch and our corridor. KooyongKoot is the original aboriginal name for Gardiners Creek.

The KKA has recently launched its own web-site at with the assistance of funding from the Suburban Rail Loop Authority’s Community Projects Fund.

Appropriate links for the KKA home page and our page on the site are:

Pollution

  • EPA Victoria – for reporting problems or call on 1300 372 842 (available 24 hours).
  • Yarra Valley Water – for reviewing what faults might exist in your area.

Working Bee Weather Checks

Air Quality

https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/check-air-and-water-quality use Postcode 3130 -> Blackburn

General weather including warnings, temperature, wind, cloud cover (do not use UV index)

https://beta.bom.gov.au/location/australia/victoria/central/o2597853301-blackburn

http://www.bom.gov.au/places/vic/blackburn/   (no cloud cover, longer time periods)

UV Protection

https://www.sunsmart.com.au/uvalert/widget.aspx

Thunderstorm Asthma during grass pollen season (01 October to 31 December)

https://emergency.vic.gov.au/prepare/#thunderstorm-asthma-forecast

Heatwave Checks

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/warnings/heatwave.shtml

Indigenous Culture

  • Wurundjeri – Aboriginal cultural heritage work, cultural & educational services and land management.

Local Indigenous Plant Nurseries

Indigenous Plants for your garden can be purchased from these volunteer-run nurseries.
They also provide most of the plant stock used for revegetating the bushland parks.  Please check their web-sites for opening days/hours and sale days.

Indigenous Plant Gardening Guide

Whitehorse Council’s indigenous gardening guide Indigenous Gardening in Whitehorse can be downloaded here (14MB).

It’s very impressive – covering sustainable, indigenous gardening from scratch – the benefits, planting and maintenance techniques, garden design tips, a full list of the indigenous plants in Whitehorse replete with glorious colour photographs of the plants and a list of weeds.

Bush Tucker Plants

  • Indigenous Plant Use Guide by the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub at the University of Melbourne – authored by Barkandji woman Zena Cumpston.  It explores the cultural, nutritional, technological and medicinal use of indigenous plants.

Gardens for Wildlife

The Gardens for Wildlife program is active in our municipality to support local residents setting an area aside in their gardens for local wildlife – the benefits including assisting bio-links and corridors.

TreeProject

The TreeProject was initiated as a City-Country connection where city dwellers would grow indigenous seedlings as volunteers for country residents’ revegetation projects. They need volunteers to raise autumn and spring stock respectively. They also use volunteers as couriers and in admin roles.

If you are interested in participating in this worthy project, please visit the TreeProject web-site for further information.

Whitehorse Bushland Parks

Blackburn Lake, looking south
Blackburn Lake (Nick Carson)
  • Antonio Park – Mitcham (Melway Map 49 C8)
  • Bellbird Dell – Vermont South (Melway Map 62 J6)
  • Blackburn Lake Sanctuary – Blackburn (Melway Map 48 B11)
  • Below the Lake Friends – Blackburn (Melway Map 48 B12)
  • Campbells Croft/Abbey Walk – Vermont (Melway Map 63 C4)
  • Cootamundra Walk – Blackburn (Melway Map 48 A7)
  • Heatherdale Creek Parklands Advisory Committee – Mitcham (Melway Map 49 C12)
  • R. E. Gray Reserve – Nunawading (Melway Map 48 G6)
  • Somers Trail/Simpsons Park – Mitcham (Melway Map 49 B11)
  • Wandinong Sanctuary – Blackburn (Melway Map 61 K1)
  • Wurundjeri Walk – Blackburn South (Melway Map 61 H3)
  • Yarran Dheran– Mitcham (Melway Map 49 B7)

Other