YAN's Climate Ready Revegetation Project is helping to build climate-resilience in Yass Valley ecological communities. This is achieved through carefully selecting local species that are likely to survive more extreme climatic conditions, and through increasing the genetic diversity of these species by sourcing seed from a range of provenances. These seeds are then sown in YAN's four native nurseries and the tubestock are distributed to landholders throughout the Yass Valley. 

In late September, YAN President Kath McGuirk, Gill Hall from Murrumbateman Landcare Group, and YAN Coordinator Sonya Duus, got together to sort this year's climate-ready seed and bottle it up for the nurseries. It was a full day's work for three people, and much careful attention went into every aspect of handling the seed and recording the relevant information.

Readers may recall a letter in YAN's July e-newsletter by Ted Deveson of the FX-FJ Car Club of Canberra. Ted explained that the club was keen to find a property to do some tree planting on one of their Sunday outings. Bimbi Turner of Silverdale responded straight away, and a couple of months later, vintage Holdens carrying trees and volunteers were on their way to Bimbi and Kim's place. Below are Ted and Bimbi's accounts of the day. 

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On Sunday 4 September members of the FX-FJ Car Club of Canberra planted gum tree seedlings at ‘Silverdale’ near Bowning in collaboration with the YAN Landcare group. The planting was part of club drive through towns nearby and was followed by a Fathers’ Day lunch at the Bowning Hotel.

Bimbi and Kim Turner offered to host our planned event, providing a fenced site for the trees and they treated us to morning tea before we got to work on the shovels. We planted a mix of eucalypt species including red stringybark, scribbly gum, brittle gum and yellow box, and Kim and Bimbi brought up straw and water to help finish the job. Forty-five trees were planted, mulched and watered in an hour and the 20 mm of rain that fell four days later will help to settle them into their new ground. Hopefully, the trees will now grow strongly and will be seen from the Lachlan Valley Way when any of us drive that way in the future - Ted Deveson, FX-FJ Car Club of Canberra

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A happy morning on the 4th Sept. was spent at our property Silverdale when the FJ Holden car club drove their beautiful clean vehicles to our home for morning tea in the sunny garden. Then up to a fenced tree line to plant 45 trees generously donated by Ted. The job was done in no time planted watered and mulched within two hours. Since then the good Lord has regularly watered them and all looking good. We chose a sight adjacent to our boundary on the Lachlan Valley Way so members of the car club will note there progress if driving by. Kim and I are very grate full for the happy tree planting - Bimbi Turner, Silverdale

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YAN President Kath McGuirk attended a Grasslands mini-forum at Charles Sturt University in late September which arose from a working relationship between ACT Friends of Grasslands and Charles Sturt Sustainability lecturers and grounds staff. The forum was designed to provide an environment for practitioners, researchers and community advocates to come together to exchange knowledge and experience which will lead to improved management of grassland ecosystems across the ACT, Riverina and beyond. The forum was a mix of information sessions on the latest research in Grassland management, and Box Gum site visits in Wagga and on the Charles Sturt University campus. The photos below show the biodiversity of these site visits.