Photo Gallery
Biodiversity in Bass Valley native orchids wildlife rescue
2 Eco Blog
3 Giant Gippsland Earthworm Bass River Flows
4 Deep ecology What we do
5 Group submissions
6 Bass Coast Shire Vandals
7 Photo Gallery
8 Regenerative agriculture
9 Brittle Landscapes
10 Native veg offsets
11 What is sustainability?
12 Margo Kroyer-Pedersen Wildlife Shelter
13 The benefits of a Steady State Economy
Some of the things we do!
Here are a few examples of some of our activities. We are constantly adding to our research data and new photographic records are added to our files.
The first sighting of a Bobuck (Mountain Brushtail Possum) on the Bass River for 25 years. This was a complete surprise as we had no idea that a breeding colony was left in the valley. Recently another colony has been discovered in The Gurdies Flora and Fauna Reserve.
Using an infra-red scope to identify wildlife at night. Surveys have been conducted over many years and added greatly to our knowledge of the nightly activities of regional wildlife. Mountain Brushtail Possums, Feathertail Gliders, Sugar Gliders, Powerful Owls, Barking Owls, Tree Goannas and heaps more have been spotted with the infra red gear.
Wildlife rescue forms a major part of what we do, and looking after the animals in the shelter takes up a huge amount of time and costs $5,000 - $10,000 a year.
Some of the vegetation on the Bass River is like this - but it's pretty hard to find. There is only one small patch of riparian forest left on the river, and part of it fronts a property which is owned by a sand extraction company.
Part of Giant Gippsland Earthworm habitat. Some areas like this have been cleared by deliberate overgrazing with massive Simmental cattle - to overcome any legalities about destroying native bush!
The baseline data we prepared on river bank vegetation and in stream biota was the first time such work had been undertaken on the Bass River.
This publicity was generated in 1995 demonstrating that underground water reserves were ideal for supplying potable water for the region because of the huge volume of sand which acted as a filter. That water was (and still is) threatened by massive sand extraction proposals.
One of things we try to do is educate people not to be vandals - like the stupid dingbats who removed a horse jump so they could drive a vehicle down this management track into the Grantville Flora and Fauna Reserve. This problem wasn't helped by the CFA who insisted that the track be upgraded even though their argument that the road was an escape route in case of fire was shown to be absurd! There is still a long way to go.
There's still a great deal to learn about the Giant Gippsland Earthworm, but because of habitat loss it may not be around for much longer. Another species of giant earthworm has also been discovered in the Strzeleckis.
5000 copies of the Grantville Banner were distributed throughout Victoria to promote each of the Native Orchid Festivals held in the township. They were a great success in raising awareness about the value of native vegetation - and orchids in particular,
Little Forest Bats are just one of seven bat species in the region.
Tree Ferns on the Bass River being smothered by siltation from a sand extraction site.
Our leaflet on growing native plants in local gardens has been distributed to many households in the region.
The mouth of Bass River is habitat for the endangered Orange-bellied Parrot and surveys are conducted most years.
