Sit back, grab a tea or co
ffee!
The reading room is a source of useful information hand picked by our team to help your group. Click on the topics below to be taken to the part of the page with information on that topic. Please let us know if you find any broken links or if you have a resource that you think should be added to this room.
On Grants
On Coasts
On Farms
On Schools
On Volunteering
On Fire
On Landcare
Grants $$$
Below are some useful tools and information to assist you in applying for grant funding.
Applying for Grant Funding: The Fundamentals (from Regional Development Australia – Tas)
Grant Writing Workshop Presentation (from Department of Premier and Cabinet)
The Little Book of Grants – produced by Clubs Queensland, for community clubs.
Project Planning Tool – produced by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR)
On the Coast
On farms
Soils Alive – Understanding and Managing Soil Biology on Tasmanian Farms – By Declan McDonald & Denis Rodgers, DPIPWE Includes soil ecosystems, soil management practices, build soil ecosystem health, tuning your soils, carbon farming
Native Vegetation on Farm Land – a new report from ABARES (Aust Bureau of Ag & Resource Economics & Sciences). The report found (amongst other things) that 85% of farmers were gaining on-farm production and/or environmental benefits. Read it here.
Shelterbelt Design NW Shelterbelt Booklet Read it here
Innovations for Regenerative Landscape Management – a report released by Soils for Life, which outlines techniques and practices that can help reverse landscape degradation and enable productive, profitable and sustainable farming. Read a summary. The full report is available on the Soils for Life website.
Managing Tasmanian Native Pastures – A Technical Guide for Graziers. Published by DPIPWE (2006). Split into 5 sections for easier downloading: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Key pasture species in Tasmania, native pasture planning, management of grazing, fertiliser and weeds in native pasture, managing fire, native pastures for conservation, tree and shrub regeneration,riparian and wetland grasslands, during drought and change.
Ecologically Sustainable Grazing – the effect of grazing on biodiversity and how to minimise impacts on native vegetation. From WetlandCare Australia.
Managing Browsing Wildlife Toolkit – produced by DPIPWE, Planning Guide, Work Book, Information Book
Managing Rivers And Streams In Tasmania: A woolgrowers guide – published by Land and Water Australia , understanding, managing and rehabilitating riparian areas, What makes up river systems? How healthy is my river? Managing rivers — how can we do it? Bringing it all together — rivercare planning 125 pages
Worm Boss website - a resource with lots of information and tools for the management of worms in sheep – from the Sheep CRC.
Carbon Farming Initiative
Carbon Farming Initiative – an overview of CFI methodologies (from Clean Energy Future – Dept of Climate Change & Energy Efficiency)
An Overview of the Carbon Farming Initiative – for landowners interested in earning and selling carbon credits. Published by the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, 2012. Opportunities in carbon farming, markets for carbon credits, eligible activities, abatement activities
CFI Methodology: Environmental Plantings of Native Species – from the Dept of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, fact sheet, monitoring, reporting, eligibility, who could benefit
Considerations for Tree Growers Before Selling Carbon – questions to address before selling carbon from farm trees. From the Victorian Dept. of Primary Industries (March 2012), emerging markets, rights and responsibilities, carbon farming initiative
Soil Carbon Stories – Stories from six Tasmanian graziers experimenting with pasture management techniques. These stories were collected during the soil carbon project: “Working with farmers to increase soil carbon storage in extensive grazing systems”.
On Schools
Here we have some handy resources to help develop the knowledge, skills, values needed to help people contribute to a more sustainable environment.
These are great –have a look!
“How to” guides and resources to support Junior Landcare in schools.
These resources were produced and designed to support the Australian Curriculum.
make a frog pond, a worm farm and food garden in no particular order!
Marine Debris Fact Sheets (Tangaroa Blue) - very interesting fact sheets on plastics and other marine debris, clean-up safety and waste-free lifestyles.
microplastic infographic, how long till it’s gone, what is marine debris
Activity sheets for educational activities in Tasmania’s National Parks
Activity notes Living Treasures, Discover our Parks, Looking after National Parks
Web links
Ideas for School Excursions, games and puzzles:
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=2016
The Derwent Estuary Program has developed a range of classroom and outdoor activities focused on key estuary habitats.
http://www.derwentestuary.org.au/educational-resources/
The Green Lane Diary: A free, national curriculum-linked education program for grades 3 to 7, designed by Green Cross Australia and environmental educators.
http://www.greenlanediary.org/
Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools (SMiS) is a national program managed by CSIRO. It provides skilled volunteers the opportunity to have a positive impact and make a difference to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education in primary and secondary Australian schools.
http://www.scientistsinschools.edu.au/
Cool Australia produces curriculum resources on a wide range of topics, for grades up to year 12.
http://www.coolaustralia.org/curriculum-materials/
Volunteering
Volunteering - good for you, good for us and good for the environment! read about the positive effects,
The national definition of volunteering, revised in July 2015, says:
“Volunteering is time willingly given for the common good without financial gain.”
“I like to think when I’m gone I will have left this a better place” – a comprehensive Scottish report on environmental volunteering: the motivations, barriers and benefits. 125 pages
Web links
Placing a value on volunteering – find out how much your personal volunteering is worth, or how much value volunteers bring to your organisation and the community. A handy value of volunteering calculator
http://www.volunteeringtas.org.au/for-organisations/value-of-volunteering-calculator/
Volunteering Tasmania is the peak body for volunteering of all sorts in Tasmania:
http://www.volunteeringtas.org.au (includes manuals, reports, fact sheets, etc)
Monitoring
Photo monitoring guidelines are important to keep track of change over time.
Fire
Here is a lot of information relating to fires, including information about understanding the affects of fires (planned and unplanned) on various landscapes and biodiversity, but also how to effectively respond after unplanned fires.
Fire-attributes categories, fire sensitivity, and flammability of Tasmanian vegetation communities - Tasforests Vol 16, Dec 2005
Fire in Forests - Fire and the Tasmanian forest environment.
Fire, Flora and Fauna - from the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service.
Eucalypts and Fire - looks at the adaptations that allow eucalypts to survive fire.
Quantifying the Impact of Fire on Tree Water Use - from the Bushfire CRC.
Fire and Biodiversity- a chapter from Practical Conservation Biology, looking at the impact of fire on biodiversity.
Fire and Biodiversity - from the book Conservation Biology for All (chapter 9)
How Fires Affect Biodiversity - from the Australian National Botanical Gardens.
Burning for biodiversity or burning the biodiversity? - a study of ecological changes in response to different burning regimes.
Fire in Bushland Conservation - the role of fire in the landscape and how we can manage it for biodiversity conservation. Although this uses Qld examples, a lot of the information is of general interest.
Prescribed Burns: the nuts and bolts - a presentation given at the Conservation Landholders Tasmania field day Kempton & Chauncy Vale - 19th August 2012, by Stephen Bresnehan (Bushland Fire Officer, Hobart City Council).
Post-fire Weeds Triage Manual - from the Victorian Dept of Sustainability & Environment. Provides information on weed responses to fire, and aims to assist with prioritising weed management after fire. Includes many species found in Tasmania.
Restoring our Landscape - a basic revegetation guide for fire-affected areas of Tasmania.
Some reports from the Victorian Natural Values 2009 Fire Recovery Program:
Community finding fauna – naturalist groups contributing to research on the response of fauna to fire.
How snow-gum forests and sub-alpine peatlands recover after fire.
Response of Orchids to Bushfire.
Web links
Fire Ecology (Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service)
The Conversation - some interesting reading in a huge selection of bushfire-related articles
On Landcare
A report on the Landcare movement Australian Framework for Landcare
- Landcare achievements
- Landcare in the future
- Community call for action
- The decade 2010 to 2020
Community Call for Action is a practical guide for the Landcare movement and existing and prospective stakeholders and partners on how they can contribute to developing and improving the Landcare approach Community Call for Action
Involvement in Landcare activities provides a way of being in nature with others and is good for your mental health and wellbeing. This report explains,
Beyond Blue to Green: The benefits of contact with nature for mental health and well-being – a report by Mardie Townsend and Rona Weerasuriya for Beyond Blue Ltd (2010)
CRC Weed Management Guide - Gorse 2003
Landcare History
An historic speech announcing the year of landcare 1990 and decade of Landcare 1990 to 2000 - Bob Hawke’s 1989 Landcare speech
A ten year plan for Landcare in Tasmania produced by the Department of Primary industries in consultation with a range of other government and non –government organisations and individuals- Tasmanian Decade of Landcare Plan (1992)
A history of Landcare programs in Australia- Evolution of Landcare in Australia – Coral Love (from the DAFF website)
