Gunning District Landcare proudly participated in the NSW DPI and Recreational Fisheries Trust’s “Gone Fishing Day” on November 4, hosting our second Redfin Fishing Competition for children and teens.

Fifty-six participants, accompanied by their families, fished along the banks of Meadow Creek. Despite the lack of catches, the event served as a valuable platform to educate participants about responsible fishing practices and conservation initiatives in their own backyard. Event judge and fish expert Mark Lintermans from the University of Canberra explained that the Redfin perch are voracious predators of the endangered Southern Pygmy Perch and other vulnerable native fish, and are one of the main threats to the native fish species in our local waterways. Participants learned about the importance of stopping the spread of Redfin both purposely and inadvertently through the transport of live fish.

Funding from the Gone Fishing Day grant allowed us to provide 30 fishing rods and reels to participants. Witnessing these young anglers acquire new skills and spend quality time with their families and fellow community members was truly heartwarming.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made it a great day. A big thank you also goes out to those who helped out - including Mark Lintermans, Kim Garsia, Matthew Streat, and Rubin Lees. A special thanks goes to the Gunning Scouts for putting on a great sausage sizzle for the hungry fishers. Numerous children left with fantastic prizes thanks to donations and support from Gunning Ag and Water Solutions, Yass Outdoors, Tackleworld Canberra, and BCF. Mark Lintermans also donated several copies of his book as prizes. 

Over a dozen motivated Landcarers braved the icy winds at the Gunning Showgrounds on Saturday 9 September for our recent Plant ID and Bush Regeneration workshop. The presenters, Jed and Toby Pearson from Southern Inland Environmental, held 3 sessions on the day. Whether it be on their own properties, or as part of our new Bushcare group, everyone left that day with the knowledge and resources to start regenerating native bushland.

The first session was focused on plant and weed identification. Jed created a fantastic cheat-sheet for identifying plants by characteristics like leaf shape, flowers, and seed heads. After learning some ID skills, the group headed up to the bush block at the Showgrounds for some hands-on experience. Jed and Toby first pointed out some priority weeds on the block, including African Lovegrass, Serrated Tussock, St John’s Wort, and Blackberry, and ensured the attendees had a good grasp on how to identify them. Then, the pair led the group around the block and identified nearly every plant they came across. Some special finds were large patches of kangaroo grass, a cluster of native everlasting daisies, and many self-seeded eucalypts.  

On the back of the very popular and successful GDL Paddock Tree Project in autumn 2022, Gunning District Landcare applied for funds from the Biala Wind Farm Community Grant at the end of 2022 to run the project again. We were delighted to receive around $20,000! This funding enabled us to increase the scale of the project, distributing 408 native trees, weed mats and sturdy guards to 18 properties in the Gunning region in 2023. 

We put out a call for expressions of interest in March, with landholders in the Gunning region offered 1-25 trees, weedmats and guards per property. It looked like the project was going to be under-subscribed so we increased the offer to 1-50 trees, weed mats and guards per property. These were quickly taken up!  

Protecting new paddock trees from stock and other annimals is the key to success, so we followed in the footsteps of other Landcare groups in the region (e.g. Hovells Creek Landcare, Upper Lachlan Landcare, Yass Landcare) by purchasing rolls of tough steel mesh to turn into sturdy tree guards. There were two guard sizes on offer: 1.2m high which is fine for sheep and other small animals, and 1.65m high which is good for cattle, horses and other large animals.

Applicants agreed to contribute $20 per small guard and $25 per large guard, and agreed to provide the steel posts to secure the guards. The landholder contribution meant that we could stretch the grant funds further, and it also gave the landholders a greater sense of investment in the project and the trees that they are establishing.

On Saturday 13th May, we held a working bee for participating landholders to cut up and collect their guards, seedlings and weed mat. It is a big job cutting up the guards, but it can be enjoyable when there are plenty of hands to help! The photos above are from this day.

There are a number of benefits for landholders being involved: with the high price of steel, participation in the project meant that landholders were paying less than half for the guards than if they were doing it alone; they had assistance in cutting up the mesh guards; they received appropriate Eucalypt seedlings, propagated by the Yass Landcare Nursery; it gave them access to the expertise from Gunning District Landcare volunteers; and it was a chance to meet other like-minded landholders in the region.  

Scattered paddock trees are vital in the Australian landscape, for wildlife, ecological health and productivity. You can read more about all these important benefits here.

Gunning District Landcare is proud of its Paddock Tree Project and is incredibly grateful to the Biala Wind Farm Community Grant for making it possible in 2023.

The first weekend of removing woody weeds from Oolong Ck was a huge success. Ten local volunteers, plus a volunteer and OzFish Unlimited staff member from Dubbo got stuck into work on the weekend of 25^th and 26^th March. The team cleaned up a large area adjacent to Garry Cosgrove Bridge. The main target was blackberry and elm suckers. We discovered that welding gloves are extremely useful when dealing with blackberry!

Removing weeds is a critical first step in the objective of establishing appropriate native vegetation to enhance habitat for our local endangered Southern Pygmy Perch.

There is still plenty of work to be done, and there will be two more opportunities to help out – on Sat 22^nd & Sun 23^rd April, and Sat 27^th and Sun 28^th May (2023).  

OzFish Unlimited will again provide the fully equipped River Repair Bus and a staff member to facilitate the clean-up. Even an hour or two is much appreciated.

For inquiries and to RSVP, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Local Land Services has provided the funding for this project, with administration and input from Upper Lachlan Shire Council.

Gunning District Landcare is excited to be involved in the latest search for Koalas in the Mundoonen Nature Reserve, working alongside NSW Parks and Wildlife Service and ACT Parks and Conservation.

In early December 2022 we helped to put out 'song meters' throughout Mundoonen Nature Reserve, which will hopefully pick up the Koala calls if they are indeed living there. These recordings will be analysed later this summer - if anyone would like to help out, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The last confirmed sighting of a Koala in Mundoonen Nature Reserve was 2005.

Gunning District Landcare has a passion for our local endangered Southern Pygmy Perch, and has been working towards the conservation of the species over many years. 

On Friday 25th November, Vice-Chair Janet Heffernan and Coordinator Sonya Duus got to tell GDL's story of caring for Southern Pymy Perch at the 'Fishers for Fish Habitat' forum in Newcastle, organised by OzFish Unlimited. It was a fabulous opportunity to meet like-minded folk and to learn about the many and varied projects that are protecting and enhancing fish habitat along the coast as well and throughout the inland waterways.

Gunning District Landcare are partnering with OzFish, as well as DPI Fisheries, fish scientist Mark Lintermans, local landholders and the community to undertake habitat enhancement on Oolong Creek, where Southern Pygmy Perch are known to be living. 

Seventy-five native trees have been planted in the Gunning Showground bush block, as part of a project funded jointly through Gunning District Landcare and the Australian Government’s Planting Trees for The Queen’s Jubilee Program. Last Saturday a ceremony to dedicate the planting to the plantinum jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was held in the Gunning Shire Hall, attended by councillors John Searl, Susan Reynolds and Lauren Woodbridge. Community representatives from Gunning were also in attendance, along with Landcare members and visitors. Councillor John Searl presented a eucalyptus seedling to the Chair of Gunning District Landcare, John Storey.

The 2.2 ha bush block includes large sections of Box Gum Grassy Woodland, a critically endangered ecological community. Unfortunately, only a few percent of the land area originally made up of Box Gum Grassy Woodland remains, and most of it is fragmented and sparsely dispersed across south-east Australia. We are fortunate indeed to have a significant area of this vegetation within our village.

We are grateful that the Shire Hall was made freely available for the event by Upper Lachlan Shire Council.

It was wonderful to finally get people together for GDL's Annual General Meeting (AGM) and General Meeting this year, after the last couple of years when COVID made such gatherings difficult. These back-to-back events were held on Saturday 5th November at the Gunning Shire Hall, and culminated in a delicious sausage sizzle provided by the Lions Club of Gunning.

The AGM was deliberately brief. Local Councillor John Searl expertly officiated the nomination process and all the executive positions for 2023 are filled by the same people as last year: John Storey remains as Chair, Janet Heffernan as vice-Chair, Scott Keyworth as Secretary and Susan Medway as Treasurer. Matthew Streat and Nerida Hart remain as general committee members. We got to acknowledge Bob Spiller, who served on the committee last year but who will not be returning this year. Bob has played a pivotal role in Landcare in the district over many years, and we look forward to his continuing involvement in projects such as Feral Fox Fighters and Mates of Mundoonen. The committee currently has one casual vacancy for a general committee member and we welcome anyone who would like to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more. 

The General Meeting was an opportunity to showcase some of the projects that GDL is currently involved with. Three relevant and locally produced short films were screened - Feral Fighters (about coordinated fox baiting), Finding Nanno (about endangered Southern Pygmy Perch in the Gunning district), and Yass Habitat Linkage: The Value of Photos (which celebrates connectivity plantings in the region). The Chair then provided an over-view of all the other GDL projects before inviting questions and feedback. 

We would like to thank Upper Lachlan Shire Council for making the Shire Hall freely available for these events.