Honeysuckle Recreation Environment Project (HREP)
Stage 3 of the Honeysuckle Recreation Environment Project began in mid 2016 when the group completed its four year Victorian Government funded Communities for Nature Grant program and sought alternative funding.
As mentioned in the HREP Stage 2 description we had been successful in receiving a one year Threatened Species Protection Initiative – Community Volunteer Action Grant in late 2015.
This enabled us to not only continue our revegetation, fauna surveying and community education program to the end of 2016, but to also analyse the three years of data that had been gathered in fauna surveys from February 2013 - December 2015.
A second round of the Community Volunteer Action Grant was made available in 2016 and we were successful in our application.
This grant meant that in Stage 3 for 2017 at least, HREP could continue with the program of revegetation of the Honeysuckle Creek environment and the grassy woodlands within the Violet Town Recreation Reserve. The target threatened species needing protection and habitat restoration are the Squirrel Glider and the Grey Crowned Babbler.
- Continue with the fauna surveys but now add identical surveys of an adjacent area of the creek not revegetated. This enables us to compare the impact of our revegetation program with an area of the creek not revegetated.
- Hold a field day about the threatened species present along the Honeysuckle Creek (the Squirrel Gliders and Grey Crowned Babblers)
- Produce written information about the issues of threatened species and their habitat needs Stage 3 was also been notable for its high rainfall.
Over the spring and summer of 2016–2017, the area experienced several high rainfall events and consequent high water levels along the Honeysuckle Creek.
These dumped quite a bit of flood debris and silt on top of the revegetation plants along the Honeysuckle Creek verges in the HREP project area. They also caused a burgeoning of weeds and wash outs of parts of the Honeysuckle Creek Walking Track.
There is never a dull moment for the HREP Group and we often call on the wider community to give us a helping hand.
If you are interested in doing something positive to increase the survival chances of our native flora and fauna or the health of our local waterways then please join us at our working bees or join our group.
Everyone is welcome!
