Help remove litter from Merri Creek
Visitors to Merri Creek are often alarmed by the amount of litter trapped among vegetation and on the creek banks. The great majority of this litter comes after rain runs it from local streets into the creek, via underground stormwater drains, and it's obviously a lot worse when it rains heavily.
There's been a lot of community interest in helping to remove this litter. This is great, but we want to ensure that litter clean-ups are done safely. Wet weather brings hazards such as slippery/muddy banks, site flooding and strong water flows. We always complete a site safety assessment before going ahead with community litter clean-ups. Follow the 'Read more' prompt to find out how we support people to safely undertake litter clean-ups.
Wild Chat: Rewilding & Living Bequests in Darebin - Recording
The recording of the webinar, Wild Chat: Rewilding & Living Bequests in Darebin, on 5 September 2021 is now available HERE.
Hear about ‘re-wilding’ in Darebin, focusing on an unlikely candidate, the very English-style park, Oldis Gardens in Northcote, and the wild work going on there. Also find out about the Harry Nash Indigenous Garden that's being developed there, and Living Bequests. Perhaps you might be inspired to make a bequest, or to form a new Friends of Oldis Gardens group,
Organised by Merri Creek Management Committee and supported by City of Darebin.
Webinar - 45 years of restoring Merri Creek - Recording
Watch the recording HERE of this popular webinar held in late July 2021. Local environmental legends Ann and Bruce McGregor discuss their 45 years of involvement in transforming Merri Creek from a weed-infested drain to bushland haven, illustrated with graphic before-and-after images of favourite areas.
Photos: Ann McGregor on the remains of a winch in East Brunswick, looking across to Merri Park Northcote, 1986 and 2019. Photographer: Bruce McGregor
Living together: Powerful Owls in Yarra’s neighbourhood - Video
On Sunday 20 September 2020, Merri Creek Management Committee held a webinar about our urban relationships with magnificent Powerful Owls.
Urban Ecologist and PhD Candidate, Nick Bradsworth (Deakin University), and Senior Biodiversity Officer, Craig Lupton (City of Yarra), shared their experience of the secret lives of Powerful Owls (Ninox strenua) in inner Melbourne.
A recording of the presentation is now available, so you can see how we can affect the long-term home for Powerful Owls, even in our own backyards.
This webinar was funded by the City of Yarra. Photo: © David Diehm. Source: https://birdlife.org.au/projects/urban-birds/powerful-owl-project-pow
Reporting rubbish and litter issues
With increasing numbers of people using the Merri Creek Shared Path, MCMC is receiving more reports from people concerned about litter and rubbish. We appreciate being notified of these issues. However the best way to get action on dumped rubbish is to report it to the relevant Council, as they are responsible for rubbish clean-ups.
The SnapSendSolve app makes reporting of rubbish easy. You use your phone to snap a photo and send a report. The app knows which Council area you are in. One of our staff members recently used SnapSendSolve for this photo of rubbish under the Moreland Rd bridge over Merri Creek. Moreland Council promptly responded and the rubbish was removed.
The benefits of 40 years of activism along the Merri
Merri Creek stars in a recent paper on Communities caring for land and nature in Victoria published in the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education by long-term Merri Creek activists, Ann and Bruce McGregor.
The McGregor's paper explores the importance of getting to know an area to be more a part of it and nature, and that areas suitable for outdoor adventure lie unnoticed near the centre of Melbourne. It outlines evidence that humans need nature in order to live happy, healthy lives and gives personal examples from Ann and Bruce's 40 years of activism on Merri Creek.
It highlights the important role that community organisations like Merri Creek Management Committee and Friends of Merri Creek have played in caring for land and nature along Merri Creek, and the significance of the Victorian National Parks Association at the state level. The paper was originally presented to the Victorian Outdoor Education Conference in 2019.
Photo: newspaper cutting of Ann and Bruce McGregor planting along Merri Creek in 1977.
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