End of year message from the Chair - Jon Hutchins
It has been a productive year for the Natural Resources Conservation League (NRCL) and the Natural Resources Conservation Trust (the Trust).
Almost $400,000 in grants have been awarded by the Trust this year – from empowering young people in conservation, to supporting research into the impacts of Mallee Looper caterpillars.
These grants foster collaborative natural resource conservation efforts and deliver tangible on-ground outcomes for people, nature, and for future generations.
The Trust’s inaugural Impact Report 2024 was released in April. Prepared alongside the Annual Report, the Impact Report demonstrates to NRCL and other stakeholders the outcomes of the Trust’s grant-making and sponsorships over its first two active operating years. It highlights the Trust’s growing collective impact as a new environmental philanthropic charity – one that builds on the long, associated history of conservation leadership in Victoria by NRCL that dates back to 1944.
Beyond grant-making, the Trust was pleased to sponsor the Southwest Environment Alliance ‘Our Community, Our Environment’ Conference, the Victorian Biodiversity Conference, and the Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) National Leadership Program in 2025. We look forward to continuing our support for environmental events and awards into the future.
This year also saw the completion of the wetland at NRCL’s Cranbourne property, a significant milestone in restoring habitat, enhancing biodiversity and demonstrating best-practice conservation land management. I wish to acknowledge the work of Mal Legg in his survey research and work on our Cranbourne property over many years.
The Trust has just adopted its second Strategic Plan with a clear focus on actions and interventions required as we move towards 2030, with this new Plan scheduled for launch in early 2026.
During 2025, the Trust appointed two additional new directors to the Board: Cecilia Riebl and Jeremy Cheesman and their contributions have already been significant. All Board members of the Trust and NRCL are voluntary and willingly give up their time to make a difference and I thank you all.
As 2025 comes to a close, the Trust and NRCL Boards extend their warmest wishes for a joyful festive season and look forward to collaborating with you in 2026 to create lasting, positive impact for our environment.
New Wetland's first fauna survey results
The first fauna survey of the newly constructed wetlands at the Natural Resources Conservation League property in Cranbourne West has been completed. The survey was conducted by Mal’s Ecological & Environmental Services in the months of September, October and November 2025.
The survey was completed over an area of approximately 10 hectares which contains the newly constructed wetlands, the adjacent waterway and recently planted vegetation habitats. The site contains one original Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) habitat, listed as ‘endangered’ within the Gippsland Plains Bioregion. The rest of the site is newly constructed wetlands which will form their own EVCs over time. In the future these EVCs will grow different habitats which will provide homes for a diversity of wetland fauna species.
The survey identified 43 species of native fauna and four species of introduced fauna including:
- two fish species, including one introduced species
- three amphibian species
- two reptile species: one turtle species and one lizard species
- 37 bird species, including three introduced species
- three mammal species, including one introduced species
Four of the species recorded are of Regional Significance (common long-necked turtle, pied cormorant, black-fronted dotterel, micro bats) and one species recorded is of High Local Significance (fairy martin).
Fauna surveys will continue to be carried out at the wetlands annually to measure changes in fauna species and population densities as the wetlands become more established. The wetland has now been transferred to Casey City Council and will form part of public open space for all residents and visitors to the region to enjoy and observe the fauna that now call this newly constructed wetland their home.
Newly formed wetlands will create their own EVCs over time (photos: M. Legg)
Euroa Arboretum awarded $900K State Government Grant
Congratulations to the Euroa Arboretum, which was successful in their application to the BushBank Seed Sector support grant program, securing $900,000 to:
Expand native woody seed orchards in the Goulburn Broken Catchment by roughly 32 hectares across five sites
- Deliver a purpose-built seedbank facility that will double Euroa Arboretum’s current processing and storage capacity and increase processing efficiency
- Continue to support Taungurung and Yorta Yorta Traditional Owners as they connect to Country – assisting through hands-on training and advice in harvesting, processing and storage of seed for their own cultural purposes
- Invest in mechanical harvesting equipment to quickly and efficiently collect seed during peak season from seed orchards
The Trust had previously awarded $165,000 to Euroa Arboretum in 2024 for the establishment of a seed orchard at Avenel, as part of their Trust funded Growing Climate Adapted Seed project.
Congratulations to all of the hard-working staff, partners and volunteers at “The Arb” who have described this new grant as “a game changer” for sustainable native seed supply in the region that is critical to future revegetation and biodiversity restoration success.
Plantings as part of the establishment of the Avenel Seed Orchard.
VicBioCon 2026
The Trust is once again supporting the student-led Victorian Biodiversity Conference (VicBioCon), which will be held at the University of Melbourne in February 2026. In 2026, VicBioCon will proudly mark its 10th anniversary – a decade of championing biodiversity research and advocacy throughout Victoria. VicBioCon began in 2017 as a grassroots initiative led by students from across Victoria who recognised the need for a low-cost, accessible conference to share projects and research outcomes on contemporary biodiversity issues.
This year, the Trust is again sponsoring the The VicBioCon Research Grant and the Bushland Conservation Grant. The Research Grant is aimed at supporting PhD students and early career scientists undertaking research or conservation action within Victoria. The Conservation Grant supports research projects that encourage and educate youth engagement in forest conservation.
Applications for Grants are now open – visit the VicBioCon website for all the details.
GROUNDED festival sponsor
The Trust is proud to be sponsoring GROUNDED in 2026 – a cross between a world class conference, an informative field day and a food festival. It will be held at Yan Yan Gurt West Farm in the Otway Ranges, on 22 and 23 April, 2026.
GROUNDED brings together those who want to support, learn, and expand systems that produce food and fibre that ultimately improve ecological, financial, mental, and physical health – and in doing so, community health. GROUNDED is for farmers, eaters, and anyone interested in healthier landscapes, food and community
Over the two days, attendees can expect bold conversations, standout speakers, hands-on workshops and paddock demonstrations across multiple stages. Add local food and drink, live music, on-site camping and starry skies – this is the gathering you’ll be talking about all year.
For more information, or to get your tickets, visit the GROUNDED website.
Mornington Peninsula Landcare Network progress report
In November 2024, the Trust awarded $155,700 to the Mornington Peninsula Landcare Network/Westernport Biosphere Foundation for their Enabling Biodiverse, Productive and Sustainable Rural Landscapes Project.
This project aims to create a substantial wildlife corridor network throughout their UNESCO listed Biosphere Reserve. The primary goal is to provide safe passage for koalas, but once completed, all wildlife will be able to move across near-continuous bushland biolinks from Point Nepean to the Bass Coast.
As part of this project, more than 61,000 plants were put in the ground using 34,000 hours of volunteer time. The team also completed tens of hectares of weeding and general amelioration work. Twenty landholders participated in the Meet Your Bushland program, and over 30 presentations were made to local community groups and schools along with a presentation given at VicBioCon25 which was well received.
Works planned for 2026 include the completion of a major biolink connecting Greens Bush to Arthurs Seat. Want to know more? Visit their website.
Two new Landscape Action Plans from New Futures project
Landholders, farmers and stakeholders in the Round 2 New Futures pilot landscapes celebrated the launch of their Landscape Action Plans recently, the culmination of nine months of work to develop their 20-year vision.
The Kiewa-Wodonga landscape launched their Landscape Action Plan on 21 November, presenting four emerging landscape action and investment opportunities to participants from Kiewa Catchment Landcare Groups and Wodonga Urban Landcare Network. The vision includes caring for the Kiewa River, reducing waste and boosting soil health with biochar, establishing a beef collective and farm dams for biodiversity and tourism.
“New Futures Kiewa-Wodonga presents a new way of planning, and securing investment for ongoing productivity and care of our landscape”, Mary-Anne Scully, Kiewa-Wodonga Facilitator said.
The Heytesbury District Landcare Network launched the ‘Craters to Coast’ Landscape Action Plan at the Schulz Organic Creamery and Café on 10 December, inviting stakeholders and farmers to embrace a vision of ‘A leading region where investment in collaboration, innovation, and respect for Country sustains productive landscapes, biodiversity, healthy waterways and community wellbeing’.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the New Futures Round 2 landscapes over 2025 to deliver meaningful engagement towards grassroots and collaborative action, with these plans just the beginning”, Anthony Gallacher, New Futures Project Manager said.
Keep an eye out on the Landcare Victoria website for the release of the final pilot Landscape Action Plans.
Looking Back – State Library digitisation project
The NRCL has a long history of publishing materials related to conservation. Throughout the 20th century, the League produced an array of resources, including books, pamphlets, conference proceedings and a quarterly magazine. The quarterly magazine was published from March 1959 until December 2003, providing valuable insight and information on natural resource management and conservation in Victoria.
The State Library of Victoria has preserved over 30 of the NRCL’s publications, including the quarterly magazine. This collection serves as an important record of the state’s environmental heritage and conservation efforts.
In 2025, the NRCL and the State Library Victoria entered into a partnership to enhance access to these important publications. Under this partnership, the Library committed to digitising 24 of the NRCL’s publications, totalling approximately 5,200 pages. The NRCL granted permission for these newly digitised works to be made available through the Library’s online catalogue.
The digitisation project was carried out by the Library during the second half of 2025. The resulting digital files will be progressively uploaded to the Library’s online catalogue. Once uploaded, the public will be able to freely access the digital files in 2026, using the catalogue’s search function on the Library’s website.
Membership is not a requirement to access NRCL’s files, however, Victorian residents may also wish to consider becoming a member of the State Library of Victoria. Membership can be obtained via the Library’s website. Individuals who become members are granted access to the Library’s extensive collections and resources. This includes the ability to order digital copies from the collection as well as access to ebooks, ejournals, magazines, and newspapers.
An example publication of what will become freely available in 2026 is Building a Forest Conscience, by Libby Robin (find it on the NRCT website now). This historical portrait book on the creation of NRCL and its activities up until 1990 is an important record of the first 50 years, following the 1939 Black Friday bushfires and the subsequent community led action that formed the Save The Forests campaign in 1944 – NRCL’s predecessor organisation. Recommended holiday reading for all who are interested…!
