Three Landcare groups under the umbrella of the Far South Coast Landcare Association (FSCLA) have received substantial grants in order to protect and preserve flora and fauna impacted by the Black Summer bushfires in the Bega Valley.
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Grants were received through the Landcare Led Bushfire Recovery Grants Program funded by the federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.
FSCLA will use its $20,000 grant to expand its native seed bank which collects, stores, and distributes native provenance seed to local nurseries to create plants that will be used for habitat replanting.
The association will be using the funding to employ two seed bank officers who are both local individuals working in either bush regeneration or nurseries.
"The timing is good because there's quite a lot of planting projects going on at the moment," said Landcare coordinator for the Far South Coast Jess Bettanin.
"With the reasonably wet 18 months that we've had, it's been a good season for grass seed, so it's a good opportunity to tap into that and make the most of an abundant season in terms of seed."
Barrabaroo Landcare also successfully acquired a grant of $50,000 to help its restoration work on Barrabaroo Creek, which has seen an increase in invasive weed species and non-native predatory animals such as foxes.
A botanist will conduct flora surveys to identify weed infestation along the creek to inform subsequent weed management and native revegetation projects.
Trail cameras will also be purchased to track the movement of pest species and the recovery of native wildlife. With Local Land Services guidance, pest species will be reduced to decrease predation on vulnerable species.
"The idea is that then those cameras would be available for other Landcare groups, so we would lend them out," said Barrabaroo Landcare coordinator Jo Forbes.
"The cameras could also be used to monitor the nest boxes that we have installed over the last year, there's about 100 of them," she said.
A community field day will also be held further down the track for landholders to assist with plant and weed identification.
Yowrie Valley Landcare has received $64,000 to target invasive weeds and native species replanting to protect the Yowrie River and surrounding properties.
Ken Masters from Yowrie Landcare said the money will be used to purchase a 1200L firefighting trailer for watering plants, two tractor mounted weed spraying units, two quad bike mounted spray units, four backpack sprayers, and for poisons needed to control the invasive weeds.
They were also able to purchase grass seed, shrubs, established trees, hand tools, stakes and plastic sleeves for regeneration work.