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From Siberia to the Merri: the long flight of Latham's Snipe

The Latham’s Snipe is a globetrotter that prefers to stay entirely out of the spotlight.

Quiet, cryptic, and remarkably well-camouflaged, these migratory shorebirds spend much of their time hidden among dense wetland grasses and reeds. For most of the year, they breed in northern Japan and eastern Siberia before making the extraordinary journey south along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, arriving in Australia between August and April to rest and feed before returning north once again.

Saved by the rails

If you’re lucky enough to get a window seat on a Melbourne-bound train from Wallan Station, you’ll look out over a landscape shaped by decades of agricultural drainage and modern development.

“Wallan is growing so rapidly,” says Claudia James, President of Wallan Environment Group. “Every month or two I notice a high-density housing development that has gone up.” 

C‍elebrating a year of growth at Wollert Community Farm

Caring for a creek that stretches over 60 kilometres requires more than just on-ground conservation work. Because Merri Creek weaves through shifting landscapes and diverse communities, protecting it also depends on the relationships between the people and organisations looking after the many different ‘patches’ connected to the creek system.

That collaborative spirit was on display last month during National Reconciliation Week, when MCMC staff joined community members and project partners to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Wollert Community Farm, moving into its purpose-built premises, alongside nugal biik Plants and Seeds, the Indigenous plant nursery based within it. 

‍My Place: Marnie Goding

Marnie is the Cofounder of sustainable clothing brand ELK. Marnie and her team spend two days each year supporting environmental organisations, including MCMC, through their paid volunteering program. ELK regularly join MCMC clean-up days, usually working to collect litter along the creek and surrounding parklands.

What’s your favourite time of year on the Merri Creek?

I love the creek and parks in autumn, especially early in the morning. There is something really calming about the cold air and light, the birds and the feeling that nature is quietly getting on with its day before the city wakes up.

MCMC partner Metro Trains wins sustainability award

MCMC congratulates one of our key partners, Metro, for their recent award for Excellence in Governance Outcomes – Sustainable Leadership at the Infrastructure Sustainability Council awards in Brisbane earlier this month.

The award recognised the exceptional sustainability and biodiversity outcomes achieved by Metro since the commencement of its role working on the Biosite Management Program in 2017. MCMC manages the majority of these ecological biosites, particularly the most sensitive or complex grassland reserves and many that were neglected or poorly documented.

Merri Creek Management Committee. 2 Lee St, East Brunswick, Victoria, Australia 3057 
Phone:(03) 9380 8199     Email:

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