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Protecting our natural heritage

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Sometimes, the good things happening in our region have the smallest of beginnings. In this case, it was a letter that Maldon resident Lee Mead sent to her local State Member Maree Edwards. 

“It started during the first year of the pandemic when I did a lot more walking around the Maldon Historic Reserve,” Lee said.

“I became really frustrated at the lack of maintenance on the walking tracks, and the fact that the weeds were out of control. I felt that the Reserve was undervalued and underused.”

Lee sat down and wrote a letter to Ms Edwards expressing her concerns. Before sending it, she emailed a group of like-minded locals to see if they wanted to co-sign her letter.

“Within 24 hours, I had about 30 people who were happy to co-author the letter,” she said.  

The letter brought swift results. Ms Edwards contacted the Environment Minister, who then got in touch with the Parks Victoria Castlemaine office.

The end result? An informal group of local residents, calling themselves the Friends of Maldon Historic Reserve, have been meeting on a regular basis with Parks Victoria officers. At those meetings, the Friends update Parks Victoria regarding matters that may be raising red flags at the Reserve and discuss practical solutions.  

The Friends have become Parks Victoria’s eyes on the ground, with the Friends’ members identifying areas in the Reserve that need attention. “It has been collaboration and cooperation all the way,” Lee said. “We have built up a fantastic partnership with Parks Victoria.”

Over the past two years, Parks Victoria has done much work restoring selected walking tracks, replacing signage and getting stuck into weed control. Boneseed, according to Lee, is a highly invasive weed that has become a huge local problem in a short space of time. “While the wet weather has been wonderful for the native flora, it has also meant that the weeds are proliferating,” Lee said.

The Friends’ members have also been contributing to improving the condition and value of the Reserve. They’ve created a brochure for locals and tourists to encourage people to discover the gold mining heritage on Maldon’s doorstep.

It outlines three walking loops within the township and describes the historic artefacts that can be seen along the way. “Maldon isn’t just about the historic streetscapes in the Maldon CBD, it’s also about the bush surrounding our town,” Lee said.

The Friends pulled together to produce the brochure, which is available at the Maldon Visitor Information Centre. “Jase at Cartography Community Mapping designed the map for us, and the Visitor Information Centre has printed the brochure free of charge,” Lee said.

“Maldon Museum provided the historic photos and facts and Maldon Inc. is now collaborating with us to publish a more professional version. It’s been a wonderful townwide collaboration. We’ve conducted some community walks on these tracks this year, and they’ve been a great success.”

The Friends are currently mapping the Maldon Historic Reserve in some detail, using an online system also used by Parks Victoria. Local residents, including David Elliott and Judy and Phil Hopley, have been pinpointing the precise locations of various orchids and other rare native plants.

The mapping system also comes in handy to notify Parks Victoria about dumped rubbish sites and weedy areas that need attention, which officers have then attended to.

The to-do list for Friends of Maldon Historic Reserve doesn’t stop there! Local historian Robyn Ballinger is researching the history of the Reserve. Hidden out in the bush is a wealth of 19th-century artefacts: quartz ovens, mines, abandoned huts, puddling machine sites, Chinese camps and more, which members are currently mapping to include in the document.

“And the Maldon Historic Reserve is huge, stretching from the west of Mt. Tarrengower, all of the Nuggetty Ranges and out past Smith’s Reef, towards Castlemaine” said Lee.

The Friends of Maldon Historic Reserve have achieved a great deal in a short space of time, while resisting the urge to become yet another incorporated group in the town. “Our aim is not to apply for grants and funding but to do on-ground work,” Lee said. “We’re all very heavily involved in other volunteer groups.

Our group’s aim is to protect, preserve and promote the natural and cultural heritage of our Reserve and to communicate and collaborate well with our local Parks Victoria staff.”

Tarrangower Times 28 October 2022

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 28 October 2022.

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