Grant to support community engagement and environmental education

OVENS Landcare Network will use a $17,600 grant to help fund Landcare Sunday Sessions focused on community engagement and education for those within the Alpine and Indigo shires, and Rural City of Wangaratta. The network was among 17 recipients in the North East region to receive a 2024 Victorian Landcare Grant announced in recent weeks. Network facilitator Penny Raleigh said that as an 'umbrella body' above the local Landcare groups in the region, it looks to run events and activities that are of general interest to a lot of people in the community. “We try and run things that are overarching and interest to the general community and reach out to aspects of the Landcare, environmental and agricultural space," she said. “We are always seeking funding to make them happen so it’s great that we have been successful with this grant." Ms Raleigh said the grant will support the facilitation of six educational sessions over the next 12 to 14 months, covering a wide range of topics, with the first being on bees and agriculture. “Specifically, an introductory session on what things will look like if Varroa mite gets established in the area," she said. “Varroa mite is a honeybee parasite and is of concern as bees are our main pollinators of agricultural crops. “There has been a lot of work happening in the agricultural space around the issue but we wanted to explain it to the general community about what could possibly happen and ways to go forward with it. “These sessions are more about engaging with the wider community than people who are already heavily involved in agricultural and environmental spaces. “The sessions will give people a chance to ask questions, and we can head them in the right direction. “We really depend on funding to enable us to run event like these sessions...we use it to pull in expert speakers from different fields and it’s always nice when you go along to these events to have something to eat and a chance to also socialise with the community. “The six sessions are all about completely different things and they will be announced closer to the dates." To keep up to date with Ovens Landcare Network sessions follow them on social media or visit https://ovenslandcarenetwork.org.au/. For more information or to get involved contact Penny Raleigh via email at landcare.penny@gmail.com or call 0427613970.

Grant to support community engagement and environmental education

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