The 2010 planting season is upon us so now is the time to get your workmates together to help out our community and parks. We are seeking corporate volunteer groups to help with the following urban projects:

• Yarra River waterway cleanups (Inner city)
• Community Connections – working with community groups on projects in your local area
• Urban revegetation projects in inner city parks
• Half day Albert Park volunteer days

• We also have volunteer projects taking place on the outskirts of Melbourne for:
• •Watsons Biolink Project - Kinglake National Park
• • Caitlin's Retreat

Watsons Creek Biolink Project - Kinglake National Park

Creating the link

The Watsons Creek Biolink Project aims to convert 80ha of former farmland to improved habitat for native fauna. This will create a link between the severely fire affected Kinglake National Park and the unburnt Warrandyte-Kinglake Nature Conservation Reserve.

Ninety-eight percent of Kinglake National Park was burnt in the February 2009 fires with a fire intensity never before experienced. The fire has resulted in a vast reduction in small mammal numbers, specifically the Brush Tailed Phascogale and Common Dunnart, in Kinglake National Park. The Biolink project will enhance the connection with known populations of these species in unburnt forest and facilitate the recovery of these species.

The Watsons Creek site is located within Kinglake National Park (Everard Block) and was not affected by the February 2009 bushfires. Constructing a corridor of continuous vegetation will allow animals to re-inhabit Kinglake National Park. Thirty plots within the site will be fenced with each plot approximately 30m x 30m. Seedlings will be planted in the plots to give them the best start and protect them from browsing animals including rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies and deer.

History of the site

The Watsons Creek Biolink area is approximately 330ha and was initially cleared in the 1950s for grazing. The land was leased for grazing until 2006 when it was purchased by Parks Victoria and now makes up part of Kinglake National Park.

Location and access

The Watsons Creek site is located within the Warrandyte-Kinglake Nature Conservation Reserve adjoining Kinglake National Park. This site can be easily accessed from Marshalls Road approximately 10.3km from the township of St Andrews and approximately 61km from the Melbourne CBD. The site is slightly sloped and just a short walk from the carpark.

Volunteer Day

Fifty thousand seedlings have been propagated from seed collected at nearby sites in 2009 with help of Green Corps, Californian Conservation Corps and community groups. The seedlings will be ready for planting in May 2010. We are looking for volunteers or groups of volunteers who wish to participate in planting the seedlings.

For enquiries or to register your interest, email volunteer@peopleandparks.org
 

Caitlin’s Retreat

What is Caitlin’s Retreat?

Caitlin’s Retreat is an innovative recreational facility for children with special needs and their families. The first centre of its kind in Australia, Caitlin’s Retreat is a nature based sanctuary, short stay host farm accommodation and innovative day access program for eligible families.

The project aims to help young people with special needs and their families as well as groups of young people with special needs by introducing them to environmental education, sustainable living and using nature for its therapeutic benefit.

The site will host young people and their families for up to 4 nights, groups of young people with chronic illness in a day facility setting and special school groups to introduce them to environmental education. The site will also host small groups of young people with a chronic illness for short stay camps. The project is a `host farm’ which will be operated using principles or permaculture and sustainability. Click here for more information on Caitlin's Retreat.

Volunteer Day

The volunteers will be making a big impact to the Caitlin's Retreat property with this volunteer day.

The focus of the day is to maintain the Permaculture/Organic garden and farm area. The garden allows families staying at Caitlin’s Retreat to be able to select their own fresh organic produce.

Not does this provide healthy food, but it is also be a wonderful activity for children, some who may have not had the opportunity to see vegetables growing or have had the experience of picking their own produce to eat.

We have put together a mixture of activities to meet different levels of fitness, skills and the personal interests of the volunteers. The activities for the day can include:

• Maintaining the permaculture garden
• Chicken Coop maintenance
• Maintaining the Orchard area
• Weeding garden beds
• Removing dead foliage for fire reduction risk
• Maintaining Children’s play equipment area

For enquiries or to register your interest, email volunteer@peopleandparks.org