Farewell Doug Evans

In August, Doug Evans left his position of Regional Landcare Coordinator with the Port Phillip and Westernport CMA. Doug started in the role in 2002 and has been a committed advocate for Landcare in his region.

His love of nature started when he was young. Collecting lizards and keeping a few birds as a boy led to a zoology degree. His work with environment groups started with the establishment of the Greenlink Sandbelt community indigenous nursery.

Doug has been the Chair of the Christmas Hills Landcare Group since its formation in 2006, and a founding Board member on the Nillumbik Landcare Network since it began in 2013.

Doug believes that Landcare groups and networks are most successful when they have clarity of direction.

“Common goals and a shared sense of purpose is unifying for members and partners. It’s worth taking the time to do good planning and see how you fit into the bigger picture,” Doug said.

He also considers that being socially inclusive, having good governance, organisation, and access to resources are the necessary ingredients for Landcare groups to really fly.

Soil resources

Soil Health Guide North Central Victoria (2016)

This practical guide provides instructions for farmers on visual soil assessments in the paddock in order to identify soil health issues. Soil health observations and results are linked to soil condition, limits to productivity, and management actions to improve soil health. The guide uses nine simple visual tests that can be conducted in the paddock and includes a score card for farmers to record test results.

The guide is available on the North Central CMA website at http://www.nccma.vic.gov.au/publications#node-175

Corangamite Region Brown Book

The Brown Book is an online resource for managing soil health in the Corangamite CMA region. Simple solutions are provided to a series of soil health problems and questions. Topics covered include assessing soil condition, managing soil biology, soil carbon, soil structure, nutrient imbalances, soil acidity and soil health for grazing and cropping.

The resource is available online at http://www.ccmaknowledgebase.vic.gov.au/soilhealth/

Understanding Your Soil Test, Step by Step (2015)

Produced by Cath Botta from the Yea River Catchment Landcare Group, this practical booklet aims to assist land managers in understanding and interpreting soil test data. The information was written for the dryland grazing zones of the Goulburn Broken CMA region, but can be applied to other dryland grazing zones in Victoria.

The booklet is available to download from the Yea River Catchment Landcare Group’s website at https://yeariverlandcare.wordpress.com/resources-2/

Access the magazine's index to search for other stories by author, title, and subject, here.

Next issue

The next issue of the magazine, to be published in January 2019, will feature stories on women in Landcare. Stories on the women who have shaped Landcare in Victoria, and continue to contribute to it at a local and broader level, are sought.

We are also interested in hearing about the challenges women have experienced through their involvement in Landcare and how we can encourage more young women to participate.

Please contact the editor with your story ideas and suggestions for inspirational women that we can feature in this issue. The magazine fills up very quickly so please get in touch well before the contribution deadline.    

Contributions should be sent to the editor by Wednesday 7 November 2018.

Carrie Tiffany, editor

Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management Magazine

Email: editorviclandcare@gmail.com