For most Melburnians, the view from a Metro train window rushes past in a blur – an unremarkable stretch of grass, perhaps a small patch of scrub. Few realise that these seemingly ordinary rail corridors are home to some of Victoria’s most threatened grassland species and ecological communities.

Since 2018, MCMC has played a central role in helping Metro Trains protect and restore these vitally important ‘biosites’. When the current Metro franchise began, there were 30 sites identified as having significant ecological values, many of them neglected or poorly documented. Metro engaged specialist contractors to restore and monitor the sites, with MCMC taking responsibility for the majority – particularly the most sensitive or complex grassland reserves.

The results have been striking.

Mid-franchise monitoring showed a 314% increase in the abundance of threatened species across the network, the recovery of three nationally threatened ecological communities, and the presence of 5 threatened species never before recorded in the rail reserve system.

Much of this success can be traced directly to MCMC’s on-the-ground work, which includes ecological burning, careful hand-weeding around threatened plants, surveys and monitoring.

“MCMC manage 20 of the original 30 sites for us, and we really appreciate their expertise, especially when it comes to native grasslands,” says Ben Roberts, Biodiversity Manager for Metro Trains. “As the only ecologist working within Metro, I also rely on Michael Longmore as a sounding board for ideas or concerns that I have.”

Over time, the partnership between the two organisations has grown in both scope and strength. Today, Metro manages more than 50 biosites, with MCMC continuing to deliver the lion’s share. The collaboration has also expanded into new restoration trials. Along the Sunbury Line, MCMC has been working with Metro and the University of Melbourne to test direct seeding techniques for grassland restoration – methods never before attempted in an active rail corridor. Maintenance and monitoring are now taking place, with the trial showing promising early results.

For MCMC, involvement with Metro Trains biosite program represents far more than just fee-for-service income. According to Michael Longmore, MCMC’s Ecological Restoration Program Manager, it has been a powerful driver of organisational strengthening, broadening the skills of the ecological restoration team.

“Through the Metro program, the team have been exposed to techniques they may not have previously used, like direct seeding,” he says. “They’ve also gained opportunities to survey for threatened species like striped legless lizards. We’ve since been able to apply those skills back in the Merri Creek catchment for the benefit of our member councils.”

What seems to commuters like a simple strip of grass is in fact a place where threatened ecosystems are recovering, new restoration methods are tested, and MCMC’s team is gaining expertise that will serve the community for years to come.

This story first appeared in the 2024-2025 Annual Report – click here to view the full report.

As founder of the Friends of Bracken Creek, Melanie del Monaco dreams of creating a bird and wildlife corridor along a stretch of Bracken Creek, a small tributary which flows through parts of Thornbury and Northcote and into the Merri.

“The creek is such a special place – when I walk along it, I’m struck by the meandering water over the rocks, the birdlife, and the quiet moments of connection with nature – it’s a hidden sanctuary in the middle of the city. But it needs our care after many years of neglect.”

One of the skills Melanie and her fellow volunteers needed to achieve the bird and wildlife corridor was plant and weed identification.

“We needed to ensure we only remove weeds, not the indigenous plants we’re trying to support!” says Melanie.

And so, in early November, the group got busy learning how to identify some common local weeds popping up in their patch, thanks to the support of members of MCMC’s Ecological Restoration team.

“We’re feeling much more confident (and weed-wise!) now. We put that new-found knowledge straight into action, rolling up our sleeves to remove a tonne of weeds that had flourished since our recent plantings.”

The group’s plans align with MCMC’s $463,000 project to revegetate a four-kilometre stretch of the Merri in Merri-bek and Darebin councils, by planting 17,000 mid-storey shrubs, grasses and herbs at strategic locations to improve habitat connectivity under the Victorian government’s $10 million Green Links Program. The Program aims to revegetate up to 200 hectares of land along urban waterways over three years, with MCMC delivering 5.2 hectares of this work.

Melanie describes the volunteers that formed the Friends of Bracken Creek in 2023 as “an incredible group of local people, united by a passion for restoring and caring for the creek and its surrounds”.

“As well as planting, rubbish collection and weeding, they also research the creek’s history, run bird surveys and offer expertise in open space planning and water management,” she said.

In 2024–2025 the group also held or supported seven litter cleanup events, with more than 600 kgs of rubbish (and over 10,000 pieces) being collected over two years, to address what they have identified as a growing litter problem in Bracken Creek. More than 100 community members have participated in these clean-up events. The group has also participated in a citizen-science data-collection project to measure the amount of litter removed from the creek.

Julia Cirillo, MCMC’s Coordinator Citizen Science and Waterway Education, says the data collected is being fed into a Source Reduction Plan, working with City of Darebin and Melbourne Water to see an overall reduction in litter streams into the Bracken Creek.

“It’s a huge collaboration,” says Julia. “Together with MCMC, the Friends of Bracken Creek has also worked with Friends of Merri Creek, the Merri Platypus Paddle, Melbourne Water and the City of Darebin to ensure the maximum amount of litter is removed from Bracken Creek (using litter traps) which consquently, won’t enter the Merri Creek.”

Melanie describes the support provided by MCMC in both setting up the group and running the litter cleanup and planting working bees as invaluable. She said the impact of the planting was enhanced by the opportunity for volunteers to learn about the ecology of the creek habitat and instil greater custodianship. 

“We’re incredibly grateful for the support of MCMC – it’s been instrumental in helping our group get established. Julia and Angela have supported us every step of the way – from clean-up days and planting activities to stakeholder engagement and beyond. MCMC’s expertise and commitment have made a huge difference.”

MCMC’s Green Links project also includes the creation of fenced, densely planted refuge areas for urban populations of Swamp Wallabies and small insectivorous woodland birds, on the Merri Creek between Coburg and Northcote.

For Melanie, the reward is bigger than just a cleaner, greener creek.

“The long-term transformation of the Merri has been built by decades of community effort—and we hope the work we’re doing now will become part of that ongoing story. It’s about creating a legacy that future generations can enjoy, learn from, and continue,” says Melanie.

The Connecting up Communities Project is supported by the Victorian Government through the Green Links Program. This work has been supported by funding from the City of Darebin and Melbourne Water.

There was an unusual sight at Newlands Primary School one chilly morning in June: dozens of Grade One and Two students carefully planting seedlings in a narrow strip of land along Murphy Street.

Working with quiet focus despite their excitement, the children moved expertly through the steps they’d learned: checking the plants’ root systems, packing soil, laying mulch, and gently watering the seedlings once they were settled in the earth. The activity was part of a broader project to transform neglected areas of the school grounds into a thriving indigenous habitat corridor and wellbeing garden.

Guided by teacher Nerida Jolley, and with sustained support from Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) environmental educator Dr Angela Foley, the students undertook their planting during Waring – the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung season of cold, wet days, when conditions are just right to take advantage of mid-Waring rain and cool temperatures.

Also coinciding with World Environment Week, the project was the latest example of how MCMC’s long-running Learning Grounds program helps connect young people with local landscapes, environmental action, and to recognise Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country’s seasons, plants and animals.

Nerida is a community inquiry specialist at Newlands Primary, who works to help students engage with the world around them, and she says the support from MCMC was vital.
“To get expert advice for both educational purposes and indigenous landscaping is invaluable,” she said. “In public schools we’re always running on limited budgets and time, and much of what I’ve done with my students over the past 18 months would have been out of reach without Darebin Council’s support of MCMC.”

With Angela’s help, Nerida successfully applied for a $5,000 Landcare grant, which funded the planting of a swale, the creation of an indigenous habitat corridor along Murphy Street, and a nature-connected wellbeing garden. A separate grant from Darebin Council funded an excursion and supported MCMC’s Learning Grounds program on caring for waterways.

Angela, who’s been running school-based indigenous garden projects with MCMC for more than 20 years, said the students’ enthusiasm and care were inspiring.

“They get really involved and proud,” she said. “Even though these are young students in the early grades, they learn how to plant properly, how to treat the seedlings gently, how to mulch and water. They’re so careful and on task. I teach them exactly the same steps I use with Year 12s – and they get it.”

Preparation for the project was extensive, involving site visits, classroom incursions, parent working bees and collaboration with the school’s groundskeeper, Rhenny Kemp. Angela praised Rhenny’s openness and practical contributions, including drilling hundreds of planting holes in a narrow, debris-filled space between buildings and the footpath.

“The area had been left pretty bare after building works – just rocks, rubble and weeds,” said Nerida. “It’s where most families walk past every day, so it felt really meaningful for the students to turn it into something beautiful.”

In line with Wurundjeri seasonal knowledge, the students learned about Waring and the importance of timing their planting to give the seedlings the best chance of survival. Where possible, they also learned the Woi-wurrung names of some plant species.

Eco-literacy, Angela says, is central to the program.

“We’re helping children to recognise Wurundjeri Country and build a language and understanding for the ecosystems they live in, and helping them become future advocates for places like Merri Creek and its catchment.”

Grade Three and Four students also attended an excursion to nearby Edgars Creek, where they observed freshwater animals and explored how stormwater flows from school drains to local waterways. These sessions inspired follow-up activities, including multilingual posters created with the Spanish Club, and discussions about how to reduce litter and protect waterbugs, eels and other wildlife.
With three distinct new garden areas now established in the school, and a student gardening club taking on long-term care, the project is set to leave a lasting legacy.

“Students have loved the hands-on nature of it,” said Nerida. “They’re doing something practical to make a difference – and they’re going home talking to their families about indigenous plants, about the difference between native and indigenous species, and how we can all care for Country. It means a lot to know that we’re giving the plants every success of thriving thanks to the advice and support of MCMC.”

On a crisp June morning, a committed group of community volunteers knelt in the soil along Merri Creek, trowels in hand, planting shrubs that will shape the future of their neighbourhood. Among the 12,000 seedlings funded through the MCMC Green Links project were a handful from Euroa, 150 km to the north – plants that had never felt Melbourne’s chilly winter before yet might hold the key to thriving here as the climate changes.

“The half dozen shrub species we got from Euroa Arboretum are very common species that have been planted by the thousands along Merri Creek over the years, but the idea was to source a small amount from non-local populations,” explains Michael Longmore, Ecological Restoration Program Manager at MCMC. “They’ve been descended from plants adapted to a warmer, drier climate, analogous to the climate that Melbourne will face in future.”

This small-scale trial included around 250 plants – Gold Dust Wattle, Hedge Wattle, Sweet Bursaria, Rock Correa, and Tree Violet – spread across several sites in Northcote. “We aren’t intending to do any specific monitoring this time round,” Michael says. “It’s very much an exploratory step, to start thinking about how climate adaptation might play a role in future plantings.”

According to the Victorian Government’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), by 2030, annual average temperatures in Australia are predicted to rise by 0.6–1.3°C. While changes will vary across the continent, Victoria’s overall climate is expected to get hotter and drier. To help address this, DEECA recommends that up to 20% of plants in revegetation projects be sourced from warmer, drier climates to build resilience.

While this year’s Euroa-sourced plantings constitute a small, preliminary step toward the recommended 20%, another MCMC project is already taking a more climate-adapted approach.

MCMC’s Tree Banksia Orchard in Fawkner was established in 2022 with the support of the Merri Creek Environment Fund, the Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands, and numerous local volunteers. The orchard brings together genetic material from 11 Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) populations across the Victorian Volcanic Plains, along with three populations from areas that resemble Melbourne’s projected future climate.

“The orchard is designed to provide a convenient source of genetically diverse, climate-adapted seed,” Michael explains. “We track each plant, so if one dies, we can replace it with one of the same origin. Over time, this will help us repopulate the volcanic plains around Melbourne with Tree Banksias once again.”

Silver Banksia woodlands were once a keystone of the Merri catchment and broader Victorian Volcanic Plains, providing winter nectar for honeyeaters and migrating birds. While remnant populations in the Merri catchment are now extinct, the orchard combines historical records, ecological research, and careful volunteer planting to bring these forgotten woodlands back.

“Some climatic changes are already evident along the Merri Creek,” Michael notes. “Certain species that would naturally occur in drier areas northwest of Melbourne are now thriving here. Climate adaptation is something we’ll have to think about more and more and incorporate into our work in a thoughtful and considered way.”

By blending local plantings with carefully sourced climate-adapted species, MCMC is taking early, cautious steps to explore how Melbourne’s landscapes might withstand hotter, drier conditions. The Euroa plantings and the Banksia Orchard are just the beginning – modest experiments that will guide bigger decisions in the years to come, as MCMC continues to ask the central question: how can we give native species along Merri Creek the best chance to thrive in a changing climate?

As we enter warin season, MCMC begins our Autumn burns season. We share our story of the growth of our burning program originally published in our recent 2022–2024 Biennial Report. Read the full report here.

In the remnant plains grasslands of the Merri Creek valley, the delicate, star-shaped flowers of the Matted Flax-Lily add a vibrant splash of violet to the landscape. The grasslands are slowly healing, responding to an ecological burn program spanning 30 years. In 2023, this included clearing of invasive weeds and grassy biomass, creating the conditions for native wildflowers to flourish.

For more than 30 years, MCMC has been at the forefront of ecological restoration, pioneering prescribed burning programs in Merri-bek City Council’s grasslands. This long-term commitment has not only transformed the landscapes but also fostered community support and understanding of fire’s critical role in maintaining biodiversity.

A cornerstone of this effort is bababi djinanang grassland, in Fawkner. This four-hectare site represents one of MCMC’s most enduring success stories. Annually burned for three decades, bababi djinanang demonstrates how consistent, scientifically guided management can restore and protect native ecosystems.

The grassland supports more than 60 indigenous plant species, including the largest known population of the Matted Flax-lily. The area also provides critical habitat for reptiles such as the endangered Tussock Skink, and birds like the Black-Shouldered Kite whose presence reflects the grassland’s ecological health.

Building on this success, MCMC has broadened its prescribed burning to new sites across Merri-bek, and since 2022 has reintroduced regular fire to five grassland sites in Fawkner which had either not been burned at all in living memory or had only been burned very infrequently.

MCMC has also been trialling burns at different times of year – a shift that reflects the organisation’s commitment to adaptive management and continuous improvement.

“We normally burn in autumn or early winter,” says Sophie Lavence, from MCMC. “But in 2024 we tried a spring burn. That’s because there are a lot of summer-growing grassy weeds, soit would give us the opportunity to do some detailed weed control over the warmer months while they’re still actively growing.”

One of the most remarkable outcomes of MCMC’s work is the strong community support it has cultivated. In urban settings, prescribed burns often face public opposition. However, in Merri-bek, decades of regular burning have fostered community trust.

“MCMC have a long history of leading burns – they’re a very skilled, capable crew that we can trust to deliver good outcomes,” says Vince Andreana, Natural Resource Management Officer with Merri-bek City Council.

“The combination of that strong track record, along with the communication work we do in the community, means we very rarely have concerns from residents.”

The longstanding collaboration between MCMC, Merri-bek City Council, and local residents illustrates how conservation initiatives can thrive when they are deeply rooted in community, transparency and shared responsibility.

By maintaining and expanding its prescribed burning program, MCMC continues to create healthier, more resilient ecosystems, setting an inspiring precedent for urban conservation efforts across Australia.

As Merri Creek Management Committee completes its 35th year of protecting and restoring the Merri Creek, we enter a new organisational chapter, with the departure of former Manager and hugely influential Merri Creek advocate and devotee, Luisa Macmillan. While Luisa completed her Manager role in August 2023, we have continued to benefit from her expertise and experience through a part-time role as Manager, Special Projects, which concluded in October.

The MCMC team came together to enjoy Luisa’s last day in the way that Luisa has always loved to spend her time most – outdoors, enriching our shared understanding of the creek and catchment, enjoying views of Herne Swamp and the Upper Merri catchment from Green Hill, and identifying wildflowers at Dolomite Rise, Hidden Valley. It was a time to consider what has changed in the Merri Creek catchment during Luisa’s tenure – and what has stayed the same: a community’s enduring commitment to the protection and restoration of the Merri Creek.

President Ann McGregor reflects on the place that the Merri Creek holds in people’s lives in 2024 and the challenges and achievements during Luisa’s time as Manager.

A much-loved creek

“The Merri corridor is now one of northern Melbourne’s most popular and valued environmental assets, for people and for wildlife. The revitalisation of the Merri is an inspiration for other degraded urban waterways in Melbourne.”

Luisa has steered MCMC through much of that revitalisation, and has “always been a staunch advocate for the interests of Merri Creek and its parkland corridor,” according to Ann.

“Luisa has sound judgement and provides considered, wise advice on policy, strategy and tactics,” says Ann. “She has an excellent cross-disciplinary understanding of the many complex issues and requirements for waterway management, land use impacts and ecological restoration.”

Recently retired MCMC Vice President Rob Eldridge first began working alongside Luisa in 2008 and remembers the passion and ambition of the early 2009 Merri Creek strategy, reflecting that as the organisation matured, it became “more targeted. We’ve become a lot more realistic and a lot more targeted, especially politically”.

A love of landscapes

Rob credits Luisa’s big-picture thinking for guiding the organisation through two decades of change. “Some people love their animals and other people love their flowers. But Luisa saw the landscape – she loved the landscape. She saw the big picture.”

Luisa’s vast network of relationships stewarded MCMC through more than 20 years of community-building. Both Ann and Rob reference her ability to put people at ease while keeping her goals front-of-mind.

“Luisa includes everybody, and she collaborates beautifully,” says Rob. “She puts people at ease – politicians, whoever they are – and she’s always present with who she’s talking to.”

“Luisa has terrific contacts across the agencies and is very highly thought-of. When Luisa talked, people listened.”

New leadership for a new phase

In August 2024, we welcomed the arrival of our new CEO Bernadette Thomas, who has since guided MCMC through its first year of new leadership, with significant tasks ahead of her, including a new strategic plan for MCMC as well as a new Merri Creek and Environs Strategy, the overarching strategy that unites the many organisations working along more than 60km of the Merri Creek to protect and restore our much-loved waterway.

Bernadette has witnessed Luisa’s deep connection with the creek and its community.

“Luisa cares deeply about the Merri Creek and catchment as well as the people who call the creek home. Her networks spread far and wide, and she has had an enormous impact on how urban waterways are cared for and protected. She has left a lasting legacy that will continue to inform waterway protections for many years to come.”

Bernadette also values the organisational culture that Luisa left in her hands.

“Luisa is a people-centred leader, supporting the MCMC team’s professional needs alongside an empathic approach to each person who comes through the front door. Over the 20+ years as the MCMC Manager, she developed a caring and supportive team culture that continues today and will continue well into the future.”

From everyone at MCMC and on behalf of the many organisations who support our vision, we thank Luisa for an extraordinary contribution to the Merri and for guiding the organisation to such significant achievements.

We know the Merri will continue to feature strongly in Luisa’s life and hope she continues to notice and enjoy the fruits of her contribution – perhaps, as she walks along the Merri and observes one of her most cherished bird species, the Spotted Pardalote (“active, tiny gems of birds,” according to Ann McGregor) foraging in the Eucalypt canopy.

“Luisa is well aware that their presence is a testament to successful habitat creation through revegetation by MCMC and others along the Merri,” says Ann.

As Harry White spent the day walking along a long stretch of the Merri Creek lined with big, old red gums and listening to the trickle of water over rocks, he reflected on the joys of working on Wurundjeri Country.

“We were searching for weeds like Chilean Needle Grass, but as we walked, we spotted some Growling Grass Frogs – which hadn’t been seen in that part of the creek for several years – and a Sacred Kingfisher. It was really special.”

At the time, Harry was a Melbourne University student, fulfilling the work placement requirements of his Masters of Ecosystem Management and Conservation at Melbourne University, under the guidance of MCMC’s Ecological Restoration Program Coordinator Chris Geary.

“We asked Harry if he’d consider taking on a project to map ecological vegetation classes (EVCs) at some of the grasslands we care for along the Merri,” says Chris. “The project had a focus on high-value remnants – basically the urban grasslands and escarpments where we lacked detailed maps.”

Vegetation mapping is a useful monitoring tool, because it helps Chris’s team to understand how a particular landscape responds to activities like weed management. It also helps us to plan what management tools should be used in future.

Harry spent almost 200 hours mapping the areas selected by Chris and recording details of the vegetation at each location. He was surprised to realise that even in areas with a large amount of native vegetation, weed coverage could still be as high as seventy-five per cent.

However, on other sites, Harry was able to see the positive impacts of MCMC’s ecological restoration efforts firsthand.

 

 

 

Inspired by progress

“There was one overcast day, when I was working in a gorge,” Harry recalls. “The area was still pretty degraded, with a lot of weeds on either side – but you could clearly see the progress that’s been made – lots of African Boxthorn and Blackberry has been removed. As I walked, I could picture the landscape before colonisation – it was great to imagine what it could look like again in the future with ongoing work.”

“Harry’s project will help us understand if previous EVC classifications are still appropriate,” says Chris. “– Or whether changes in hydrology due to urban development might have caused an ecological community to transition to a different assemblage of species. That in turn will inform our revegetation efforts.”

Six months later and Harry is now a full-time employee working in Chris’s team, a reflection of the value that Harry brought to the team.

According to Chris, some students who undertake work placements with organisations like MCMC have a purely academic understanding of ecology and need a lot of training in on-ground skills. However, thanks to Harry’s previous experience as a project firefighter, he adapted quickly. After a quick induction on how to use the GPS receiver, and a couple of test plots alongside Chris, he was ready to start tackling the work himself.

“I’ve always liked mapping, so I was really keen on the project,” says Harry. “There was a lot of walking – and some of it was a bit tough, because you’re bush bashing and walking in spots where people wouldn’t normally go. But it allowed me to develop a good appreciation of the different places that MCMC works.”

“I like the way information is shared here, for example around native and non-native flora… there’s no judgment about what you don’t know. That makes for a good learning environment.”

Partnering with universities

Harry may be one of the more recent students to take on a role at MCMC, but he certainly isn’t the first. The relationship between University of Melbourne and MCMC goes back at least eight years, and according to Dr Antanas Spokevicius, a Senior Lecturer in Forest Ecosystem Science who also helps co-ordinate work placements for students, it has been an enormously positive partnership.

“We’ve had students doing placements with MCMC for five of the last eight years, and they’re a great, supportive organisation to work with,” says Dr Spokevicius. “The partnership benefits everyone, because there are some wonderful students coming through who are very motivated and talented, so when they move into an internship role, they blow people away. At the same time, having good mentors within industry is key to helping the students grow and develop.”

Now a full-time member of MCMC’s Ecological Restoration team, Harry’s role encompasses a much broader range of activities than just vegetation mapping. But the work he did during his placement remains an important contribution to the significant collection of ecological data held by the organisation.

“EVC mapping, when combined with other spatial data, is crucial for creating effective management plans and ensuring site-specific knowledge isn’t lost when staff move on,” says Chris Geary. “It helps maintain a detailed, accessible record so that site leaders have the information they need to manage areas confidently. It’s about having a body of knowledge that the team can draw upon – now and into the future.”

Matt Tudor stands surrounded by grasses in the Amberfield Grasslands Reserve, Craigieburn, in Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung country. In his hands he holds a wand attached to what looks like a jerry can – the apparatus is known as a “fire bug” and its design is informed by the firestick, a traditional tool used by Indigenous Australians.

Matt has visited these grasslands tens of times in the eighteen months he’s been contributing to its management as a team leader in Merri Creek Management’s ecological restoration team. He’s seen the place change through seasons and years – and he’s seen how the grasslands respond to the program of annual ecological burning, which we deliver on behalf of Hume City Council.

“That’s the part I love,” says Matt. “You can stand in one spot and look at how the land has responded to the burn you did last year, and then turn your head and see the part we burned the year before that, and the year before that. You see three examples of what fire can do over time, right in front of you.”

After months preparing permits, consulting with neighbours, preparing fire breaks, monitoring the biomass (or “fuel”) of the vegetation, liaising with Council and watching the weather, Matt’s supervisor Chris Geary gives the go-ahead. Two of Matt’s crew are stationed in a tanker to the north and two more with a hose to the west.

You might imagine the moment as tense, but according to Matt, copious preparation results in a calm feeling among the team, who have done this plenty of times before (aside from new team members, who “might be a little nervous”, he says).

Matt and Chris’s team are smack-bang in the middle of burn season: the elusive time of year when it’s just cool enough and just still enough between the dry of summer and the wet of winter, to use fire to return balance to the landscape and to ensure it can operate effectively as habitat for the creatures that call it home, including the vulnerable Golden Sun Moth.

“Fire is a reset button that can take Country from being weed-infested back to a blank canvas – where everything begins to shoot again,” says Matt. “I love going back to the land a week or so after a burn – everything’s so fresh. It might still be black and charred, but a fraction green. All those seeds that are present might have been there for a really long time just waiting for a fire.”

While Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people have been using fire to manage country for tens of thousands of years, Merri Creek Management Committee began doing ecological burns 30 years ago. Ecological restoration Program Manager Michael Longmore says that while ecological burning was being practiced by conservationists in more remote settings, carrying out ecological burns in urban settings like the grasslands along the Merri Creek, was new.

“At the time, the Western academic world was just starting to recognise grasslands –­ like those that persist along and around the Merri Creek ­– as ecosystems, as well as the ecological requirements of those grasslands. We were starting to understand that burning had been a part of how grasslands have persisted for tens of thousands of years.”

 

The function of the Amberfield Grasslands as habitat for the Golden Sun Moth, among other creatures, is at the forefront of the team’s minds as they watch the flame gather momentum. The moth, named for the golden shimmer on the underneath of females’ hindwings, was recorded here in 2005, when urban sprawl saw the surrounding landscape marked for development. Habitat for the Golden Sun Moth has suffered ongoing destruction and fragmentation and the Amberfield Grasslands were set aside in 2008 as an offset reserve.

Golden Sun Moths have a fascinating life cycle, the adults living for only two days and having no mouths. With no ability to feed and such a tiny lifespan, finding suitable breeding grounds is both imperative and urgent.

“Golden Sun Moths like grasslands where the soil is exposed,” says Matt. “The males are flying around looking for mates and the females stay close to the ground, walking more than flying, looking for somewhere to lay their eggs,” says Matt.

Females lay their eggs at the base of tussocks and the larvae develop underground, so having access to exposed tussocks is critical to the survival of these moths.

“When we burn, we’re removing all the accumulated dead foliage and bringing the soil back. Light can get in and water can get into those inter-tussock spaces where all the interesting little wildflowers grow.”

At the end of the day’s work, Matt Tudor and his team leave the burn knowing that the next time they visit, the scene will be entirely different. The smoke will have cleared and new life will be finding its way. Perhaps a newly emerged Golden Sun Moth will be making its way from its earthy depths into the space between the tussocks, where the sun now reaches.

 Merri Creek Management Committee has completed 14 ecological burns in the 2024 season, contributing to increased health of habitat not just for the Golden Sun Moth, but for the many creatures that call these places home, including the Growling Grass Frog.

Long awaited Woi-wurrung names for two Merri Creek grasslands managed by Parks Victoria were formally gazetted on 22 December 2022. This is 16 years after Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder, Aunty Doreen Garvey-Wandin, provided a series of innovative names for Merri Creek grasslands, based on body parts of the mother kangaroo, at the request of the Friends of Merri Creek.

The newly gazetted names are: galgi ngarrk (backbone) for the Craigieburn Grassland Nature Conservation Reserve and bababi marning (mother’s hand) for Cooper St Grassland NCR. The name marram baba (body of the mother kangaroo) has also been adopted for the proposed parklands that extend along Merri Creek from the Ring Rd to Beveridge. The use of lower case for the first letter in the names is a Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung preference and has been accepted by Geographic Names Victoria.

Other names in the original series, submitted many years ago, were approved using conventional capitalisation: Bababi Djinanang (mother’s foot) for Jukes Rd Grassland in Fawkner; and Ngarri-djarrang (thigh) for Central Creek Grassland in Reservoir.

Merri Creek Management Committee’s (MCMC) ecological restoration work was recognised in an award presented by Melbourne Water in March 2019. The Exceptional Contribution Award was for MCMC’s efforts to improve riparian condition through Melbourne Water’s River Health Incentives Program.

Ryan van den Hove, a Waterway and Land Officer with Melbourne Water, said it was a pleasure to present MCMC with this award that acknowledges Melbourne Water’s appreciation for the successful, high quality projects delivered by MCMC during the group’s long history participating in the program.

Ryan cited three recent projects in the City of Hume, all in Craigieburn – Aitken Creek’s Living Pathways, Merri Models at Rushwood Drive Reserve on Merri Creek and Loving Laffan on Merri Creek just south of Kalkallo.

In 2018 Melbourne Water began an annual award program to recognise the hard work and exceptional contributions being made by Stakeholders, Community and Landholders, with support through Melbourne Water’s River Health Incentives Program. This Program provides river health grants to community groups and landholders.