Hanna Swamp, a remnant wetland of the upper Merri, is ripe for restoration. It is vital that imminent planning decisions don't preclude this option. Hanna Swamp lies about 50km north of Melbourne on the eastern side of Herne Swamp near Wallan. The future of Hanna Swamp is the subject of a recent blog and a hard-hitting discussion paper from the Nature Glenelg Trust.

Despite agricultural drainage, Hanna Swamp's morphology persists across the bulk of its original footprint and it still temporarily inundates on a semi-regular basis. Natural wetlands are very forgiving ecosystems, capable of supporting plants that are especially adept at bouncing back after decent rainfall. Sustained recovery of Hanna Swamp is potentially only a single season away, as long as water is retained instead of drained away.

Photo: Spectacular habitat recovery at Scale Swamp, near Dunkeld, SW Victoria in 2017, 3 years after restoration. Prior to restoration, this site was largely devoid of native vegetation and has a broadly similar agricultural drainage history to Hanna Swamp. © NGT

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Missed one of our webinars?  Recordings and related material are available on our Digital Resources page.

We have reprinted our popular full colour book, Creek Life: Flora & Fauna of the Merri Creek Valley. This is the story of a Sacred Kingfisher's journey to find a home, traversing 13 flora and fauna communities along Merri Creek. It features beautiful illustrations by former MCMC staffer, Brian Bainbridge, along with evocative descriptions of the communities. 

It's available for $20 at the MCMC office, 2 Lee St Brunswick East (cash, cheque or direct deposit) or from our neighbours at CERES Nursery. If you'd like the book posted, email us at  and add $3 for postage.  For direct deposit details see further.

Are you curious about what Merri Creek looked like 30 or more years ago? Or maybe you'd like to have a trip down memory lane?  You can do this by taking our web-based tour of Merri Creek sites in Brunswick East and Northcote from the 1980s. Just follow this link. Even better, visit Merri Creek with your web-enabled device.  Then you'll be able to view photos from decades ago and simultaneously appreciate the amazing ecological transformation that can be seen today.   

In January some of our field staff were lucky enough to hear several Endangered Growling Grass Frogs (Litoria raniformis) calling from Merri Creek, at two different locations in Fawkner’s Moomba Park Reserve. This is the first time these frogs have been recorded in the lower sections of the Merri for many decades, most likely due to pollution and the loss of their habitat, We don't know how long the frogs might remain in this section of the creek, as they need still or slow moving water to breed in, and heavy rains can make the creek flow ferociously.

Photo above: Herne Swamp after heavy rain, Mt Fraser in background. Sept 2016.

Herne Swamp is a hidden gem on the upper Merri Creek awaiting the opportunity to be brought 'back to life'.  Lying to the south and east of the town of Wallan it has 'all the ingredients required for a spectacular restoration project'. This is the central point made in an inspiring discussion paper from the Nature Glenelg Trust -  Restoration Vision for the Wallan Wallan wetlands, including Herne Swamp, as the centrepiece of the Wallan Wallan Regional Park. The Nature Glenelg Trust are experts in wetland restoration and were invited by local community members to inspect Herne Swamp in 2018. 

Sunday 31 March, 10am-1pm
Join the Merri Creek Management Committee's Waterwatch Coordinator on the upper Merri Creek in Donnybrook to collect data on waterbug diversity for Melbourne Water project priorities. The session will cover sampling and collecting of live macroinvertebrates, and identifying live macroinvertebrates to family level in order to determine the water quality of the Merri Creek. Lunch is provided (please provide dietary requirements). Some previous experience with macroinvertebrate identification is preferred. Bookings essential below. This event is proudly funded by Melbourne Water.

This event is fully booked. To be alerted for future events please subscribe here: http://www.mcmc.org.au/get-involved/subscribe

Our latest Fauna & Flora report summarises 53 sightings from our fauna book between October 2017 and September 2018, including Platypus and Eastern Rosellas, which are rare in the lower Merri. Significant flora include the Fireweed Groundsel, Senecio linearifolius, which is only known to occur naturally in the catchment at Galada Tamboore, and our experimental plantings of White Elderberry, Sambucus gaudichaudiana, the endangered Tough Scurf-Pea, Cullen tenax, as well as the rare Western Golden-tip, Goodia medicaginea (photo left).

A wildlife garden puts us in touch with the natural seasons of our land.  "True Spring" in  the Six Seasons Calendar (the last several weeks of "winter") is marked by the opening of many kinds of wildflowers and arrivals of migratory birds. This forms an extended spring-like season that precedes the burst of flowering, insect activity and birdsong in September and October.  All this occurs in MCMC's own front garden in East Brunswick - see the pdf article (a modified version of which first appeared in the Friends of Merri Creek newsletter, Merri Growler, November 2017).

Join Us for a fun family event celebrating our local creeks and the life they support.

The whole family can take part in the following interactive activities:

Making bush toys, Walk-in butterfly enclosure; Building Blue-banded Bee hotels, Skin art painting, Making trash puppets and a Frog Activity

Bring along a Picnic and enjoy a coffee from Mr Jitters van

Saturday 22nd October, 11am - 1pm

Outside Fawkner Library, 77 Jukes Road Fawkner

For any queries call 9380 8199.