In July, Landcare Victoria awarded Merri Creek Management Committee winners of the 2024 Australian Government Community Partnerships Landcare Award. This award acknowledged our work over 35 years, transforming the Merri Creek from a weed-smothered drain to a much-loved waterway running through a picturesque bushland corridor together with our many volunteer and Friends-of groups. We thank the many people that have been part of this ongoing journey and who continue to love the Merri Creek through their volunteering, their advocacy, their donations and their support.

The awards received a record number of 146 nominations over 16 categories. We congratulate all nominees and award winners, including our friends at Darebin Creek Management Committee (DCMC) together with Narrap, the natural resource management unit of Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation who we work with regularly. Narrap and DCMC won the First Nations Landcare Collaboration Award in recognition of their knowledge sharing and skills exchange with other community organisations.

Merri Creek Management Committee now goes into the National Landcare Awards, which will be announced in June 2025.