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Nature Stewards 2024

Want to make a positive impact for yourself, your community, and the environment in 2024? Become a Nature Steward this year!

Merri-bek City Council is offering a 10 week environmental education course, to residents starting in April 2023. You can discover your local environment, meet people in your community and learn how to act for nature. Participants will join experts for engaging and practical talks, tours and field trips.

You'll also hear from traditional owners and learn about Caring for Country together. Discover the volcanoes under our suburbs, understand how water and trees help us prepare for climate change, and find out more about your local creek and wildlife.

Places are limited so find out more and apply now via the Nature Stewards page on the Victorian National Parks Association website.

Get active and make a difference

Are you ready to get your hands dirty and have a positive impact on your local environment? Merri-bek is fortunate to have many wonderful community groups working towards the shared vision of a healthy and vibrant ecosystem where we can live, work and play in harmony with nature.

From community planting days to bird surveys, there are many opportunities to get outdoors, connect with your neighbours and learn more about our unique native plants and animals.

Brunswick Communities for Nature  volunteers can help you convert your nature strip to a low-maintenance indigenous garden, by providing advice on site preparation and access to low-cost seedlings. 

Brunswick Sparkle is a group of residents who meet up to pick up rubbish and make Brunswick Sparkle! Join their mailing list to her about upcoming meet-ups.

Creating Gardens for Wildlife in Merri-bek is a network of people with the shared vision of providing habitat for native wildlife in our backyards.

Ecological Justice Hub (Jesuit Social Services) is a permaculture garden dedicated to both social and environmental justice, restoring our relationship with nature and each other.

Friends of Coburg Lake and Surrounds are active volunteers holding regular working bees contributing to revegetation, habitat restoration, and planting in Coburg Lake Reserve and along the Merri Creek. 

Friends of Merri Creek  have been actively working to restore and protect the Merri Creek since 1988. The parklands we know and love would not exist without the tireless efforts of countless volunteers over many years. You can get involved with native planting, weeding, litter clean-ups, water testing, bird surveys, community education through talks and guided walks, as well as planning and advocacy. 

Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek are active volunteers contributing to revegetation, tree planting, habitat restoration,  plant management and litter collection along the Moonee Ponds creek. 

Friends of Edgars Creek formed in 2007 with the aim of restoring and protecting the Edgars Creek, between Edwardes Lake and the Merri Creek. They run regular working bees and are always happy to see new faces. 

Merri Murnong Group volunteers work with Wurundjeri to  learn how to respectfully care for the local Murnong Lily and other indigenous food, fibre and medicine plants. The group has celebrated with an annual Murnong Gathering festival along the banks of Merri Creek for over a decade. 

Merri Creek Management Committee  works to ensure the preservation of natural and cultural heritage, and the ecologically sensitive restoration, development and maintenance of the Merri Creek and tributaries, their corridors and associated ecological communities. If you're looking to volunteer along the creek, this a great place to start - check out the Merri Events calendar on their website. 

Neighbours United for Climate Action's vision is to be a vibrant, diverse, and empowered network of neighbourhood-based action groups, sharing resources, supporting each other’s campaigns, connecting socially and creating change.

Upfield Urban Forest  volunteers have worked for decades to improve habitat and provide shade along the Upfield Railway line. In recent years they have linked up a dozen separate and active groups working along the railway line, and have done a fantastic job of mobilising the community to plant, mulch, weed and maintain many sites. 

History of community greening projects in Merri-bek

We are very fortunate to have a long history of active community groups undertaking greening activities in Merri-bek. In the 1970s, Friends of Merri Creek and (then) Pascoe Vale Naturalists Group were early pioneers in planting trees and restoring waterway landscapes in Melbourne. Thanks to four decades of hard work by our community, the Merri Creek and surrounds has undergone an amazing transformation to become the beautiful parklands we all now cherish.

Over the years, new community groups have emerged, each with their own focus. There are now twenty-four highly active groups working towards a healthy environment in Merri-bek, and many are directly supported by Council. The types of activities these groups undertake range from revegetation along habitat corridors, supporting home gardeners to establish wildlife friendly spaces, establishing local productive community gardens and ecoart initiatives.

The contribution of these groups and their many volunteers to the local environment and social cohesion cannot be overstated. Community groups foster custodianship and care for the local environment, and countless volunteer hours, and we are very grateful for their ongoing contribution to our community and environment. 

Who can I contact if my group is not listed?

If you represent a local environment group that is not listed here, please email nature@merri-bek.vic.gov.au and let us know.