We have converted some unused space in our backyard at 2 Lee St Brunswick East into a Seed Production Area (SPA). Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Cooperative (VINC) kindly provided the plants which were installed into rows of drip-watered beds in mid-July 2019. The SPA will help ensure a steady supply of Merri-provenance seed is available for propagation by VINC, and for direct sowing by Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) into the Merri Creek grasslands.

Our Ecological Restoration Program has developed particular expertise in managing precious native grassland remnants found in in the Merri Creek environs. This report describes the results of targeted vegetation management on interface of an urban Grassland Reserve: Ngarri-djarrang in Reservoir (3.5MB PDF file).

Read about our key Ecological Restoration projects in 2013-14 here (1.5MB PDF file)

Follow this link for our 2014-15 Fauna summary report here (128KB PDF file)

There were 53 sightings in MCMC's fauna book between October 2017 and September 2018.  An online workbook now enables staff to record sightings in the field. Some fauna sightings are strong indicators of ecological health with implications for current and future conservation priorities.
Platypus sightings continued in 2017-18 with one seen in the Merri Creek at Coburg in June and one observed from the Blyth Street Bridge in July. Community members submitted these reports directly to MCMC and via the Friends of Merri Creek Facebook page.
Eastern Rosellas are rare in the lower Merri, but common at Darebin Parklands. Multiple reports of a pair of Eastern Rosellas in East Brunswick in 2017 and continuing to 2018 indicate that they may be able to recolonise the Merri. 
The most actively visited flowers during a community survey of plant pollinators in November 2017, were those of a planted Fireweed Groundsel, Senecio linearifolius at Moomba Park Fawkner. This is a relatively common native daisy in Victoria, but is known from just a single location on the Merri. As a result of this survey, renewed efforts were made to propagate and plant this species in MCMC sites including Aitken Creek in Craigieburn during 2018.
A Melbourne Water-funded conservation project for White Elderberry Sambucus gaudichaudiana, began with taking cuttings from ten remnant plants on the Merri in 2017. In June 2018, nineteen resulting plants were planted at Northcote and Craigieburn and appeared to be thriving at the time of writing. Project partner, Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Cooperative, also reported raising 200 seedlings from the plant’s berries. These successes will contribute to building a conservation program for this locally rare plant.

The endangered Tough Scurf-Pea, Cullen tenax was observed flowering at Laffan Reserve in December 2017, nearly a decade after it was last seen at the site. This is an example of a group of short-lived plants that persist as soil-stored seedbanks, sometimes re-appearing after years of apparent absence from the landscape. In January, volunteers from VINC and CERES were on hand at Galada Tamboore East (Thomastown) when MCMC staff identified dozens of recently emerged shrubs of the rare Western Golden-tip, Goodia medicaginea, a species not been seen at this location for over ten years. Friends of Merri Creek subsequently received a grant to conduct restoration at this species-rich site over the next three years.

Saltmarsh is most often associated with coastlines, but the Merri Creek in Campbellfield and Thomastown supports some unusual vegetation dominated by salt-tolerant indigenous species. At Galada Tamboore the Merri Creek gorge has exposed ancient sediments, buried when volcanoes erupted along the Merri several million years ago. Where the lava flows and the more ancient sediments meet, naturally saline spring-water wells from the escarpment and saltmarsh plants have gained a foothold. 

In order to conserve these special ecosystems, Friends of Merri Creek has secured a $20,000 Melbourne Water Community Grant. Working with Wurundjeri Land Council and community, the project will map, protect and enhance this rare vegetation, and restore endangered shrublands along the adjoining escarpments. The Friends have contracted MCMC to deliver the project, which will run until June 2020.

Photo above: Fireweed Groundsel, Senecio linearifolius, in a vertical saltmarsh at Galada Tamboore.