Friends of the Lerderderg Inc
The Lerderderg, yesterday and today
$3,000
This small group wish to publish a guidebook specifically looking at the Lerderderg River in the State’s south west. The Lerderderg is an important environmental asset and is one of two Victorian Heritage Rivers. The guidebook will raise community awareness about the area, encourage bushwalking, and encourage people to have an appreciation of the natural environment in the Moorabool Shire. This project is funded using an RE Ross Trust Grant.
James Cook University
Sea turtle’s battle against global warming
$3,000
Mariana Fuentes’s PhD research is looking at how sea temperature rises will affect the green turtle population in the northern Great Barrier Reef. Funds will help to produce a cartoon book about the sea turtle to distribute to indigenous schools in the Torres Strait. The idea is to educate the community about conservation of the turtle (which is used as a food source), and to reduce current threats to the turtle. The program will be done in conjunction with indigenous employees of the Torres Strait Regional Authority.
Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program
2010 Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program
$1250
The Foundation has been supporting the education component of this program since 2006. Funds will be used to sponsor a Natural Resource Management Day which will focus on environmental issues such as water, soil, flora and fauna, and climate change. The program will offer a range of speakers and a field trip.
Monash University
Assessing and enhancing breeding opportunities for the Turquoise Parrot
$4844
Working with BA, Parks Vic and DSE, Dr Rohan Clarke is collecting baseline data for the nest site preferences of the Turquoise Parrot around the Warby Ranges. The long term objective is a population monitoring program. Funds are to be used to install nest boxes to enhance nest availability. This project has been funded using an RE Ross Trust Grant.
RMIT University
A handbook and key to the shallow marine fauna of the Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary
$5000
The objective of this project is to produce a resource on shallow marine fauna for the community to better understand this marine sanctuary. The project will also include workshops and training and from these events, facilitate community monitoring and surveying, the results of which will be collated by the RMIT researchers. This project has been funded using an RE Ross Trust Grant.
Royal Society of Victoria
Publication of the proceedings from the symposium 'North central Victoria: a golden era, a changed ecosystem forever?'
$2,500
Funds will be used to publish the proceedings from their conference, which was held in Bendigo in early December.
Southern Gulf Catchments Ltd
Community tackling rubber vine on the iconic Gregory River
$9,500
This organisation wants to work on reducing weeds in the Gregory River to improve its health, through community education and awareness raising programs. They will survey the area and set up a program to monitor the rubber vine weed, as well as participating in a canoe race which is a significant tourist and community event. The Foundation will fund the purchase of a canoe. The group also wishes to use the community mapping facilities designed by Spatial Vision for our landscape restoration projects. They will use this for monitoring and increased community engagement.
Southern Otway Landcare Network
Community seed collection days for the Southern Otway Landcare Network seedbank
$2,600
The SOLN seedbank provides free local provenance seedlings for landcare projects. This small grant will enable the group to hold six community seed collection days, capitalising on the community interest that has been built up from Seeding Victoria's courses. They want to make sure there are professional collectors in their area and that they build up their seed stock for restoration projects. This project has been funded using an RE Ross Trust Grant.
Taronga Conservation Society Australia
Bush rats bring biodiversity back: combining restoration ecology and reintroduction biology to preserve bushland
$5,000
The project aims to test the hypothesis that the native species of bush rat can act as a natural pest control for the invasive black rat. To do this, they will reintroduce the native bush rat to an area on the Sydney Harbour foreshore (enclosed and restored native bush) and study the effects. Monitoring will be done via infrared cameras, and the Foundation’s Trustees have expressed an interest in seeing the results live on the internet.
University of Melbourne
Conservation genetics of the threatened Malleefowl
$5,000
PhD Candidate, Taneal Cope, wishes to study the genetic variation in Malleefowl, as well as determining the mating system, population size and level of gene flow, define management areas and estimate risk of extinction. She will also assess whether today's population has low levels of genetic variation relative to historic populations. Her work will assist groups like the Malleefowl Preservation Group and the Malleefowl Recovery Group with conservation efforts.
