Talking landscape rehydration with the Gecko CLaN
Pete Hazell shares his enthusiasm for the water cycle and its relationship to farming. [Photo: Brigitte Brocklesby]
The Gecko CLaN Network is a community Landcare network that supports 19 Landcare groups in central Victoria from Yarrawonga to Seymour.
The Mulloon Institute’s Peter Hazell and Angus Dunne facilitated an introduction to Landscape Rehydration for the group on Friday 20 May at the Boho fire shed. The sold-out day covered an introduction to the water cycle and landscape rehydration in the morning followed by a session of reading the landscape out on property.
The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority also attended the day, presenting on approval pathways for in-stream works. The Mulloon Institute seeks to engage and work within the regulatory requirements throughout Australia and was grateful for the local CMA’s involvement.
Peter Hazell and the Gecko Clan reading the landscape. [Photo: Brigitte Brocklesby]
The region is home to some of the oldest Landcare groups in the country. The oldest member on the day, another Angus, stood up before lunch and said, “this is what we wanted Landcare to be when it started”. He was referring to the focus on whole-of-catchment health, not just tree planting. Angus issued a challenge to all of the Landcare members in the room to carry on the region’s passion and commitment to this idea. The nearby landholders in Turnip Creek catchment are indeed already embarking on catchment scale landscape rehydration, as Peter and Angus (TMI) witnessed the previous day.
The day was full of energy, with an abundance of questions and conversations at the lunch time break. Participants ranged from long-term land holders to new farmers looking to engage with their Landcare group. It is amazing how much knowledge and experience a community can hold, and often it is TMI’s role to help facilitate these discussions. We are very lucky and privileged to work with various people who want to regenerate their part of country.
This free event was hosted by the Gecko CLaN Landcare Network and is supported by the Goulburn Broken CMA through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
Learning about the hydrological processes in their catchment. [Photo: Brigitte Brocklesby]