Current news
National Tree Day 2019
We had an amazing turn-out of volunteers on National Tree Day, Sunday 28 July. More than 300 people
turned up to plant 4,000+ indigenous plants along the northern bank of the creek near Abbey Walk in
Vermont. This is by far the largest and most successful National Tree Day event in the history of FFDC.
A huge thank you to the following:
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The FFDC committee members for organising the event and their efforts on the day.
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The Maroondah Bushland Management team for preparing the site and their efforts on the day.
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Living Links for the funding of the plants.
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Chris and Lisa Macfarlane for organising the BBQ.
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The Maroondah Photographic Society.
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The Box Hill Buddhist Society, FFDC members and all other volunteers, thank you!
We look forward to another great event together on National Tree Day, 2020.
World Environment Day 2019
FFDC’s World Environment Day 2019 brought together over 150 volunteers from all walks of life to Bayswater (opposite HE Parker Reserve).
The event began with a traditional Welcome to Country and Smoking ceremony from a Wurundjeri representative, and, through the incredible work of all our volunteers, helped return over 3,500 indigenous plants to the area. A special thanks to the guys at The Basin Free Range & Grass Fed Meats who kindly donated all of the meat for our BBQ. Our good friends from the Bayswater CFA helped water in the plants. Once again we'd love to thank our friends at the Box Hill Buddhist Society, who, for the past 10 years, have been coming to our planting events. With thanks also to the Bushland team at Knox for helping to fund and organise the event.
FFDC 20th Year Celebration - 5/5/2019
Who would have thought 20 years ago, when the group was formed way back in May 1999, that FFDC would
still be going strong today?
This year we celebrated our 20th anniversary on Sunday 5th May with a planting event in Manson’s Reserve in Wantirna attended by around 80 volunteers. Sponsored by Living Links and supported by Knox and Maroondah Council Bushland teams, the celebration opened with a Welcome to Country and indigenous Smoking Ceremony by representatives of the traditional owners, the Wurundjeri people. 1000 grasses, shrubs and trees were planted to provide food and habitat for local birds and animals - a number of our local politicians getting their hands dirty too. The planting was followed by a BBQ thanks to Chris and Lisa Macfarlane and entertainment from the New Melbourne Jazz Band.
Thanks to the FFDC committee members for organising a very successful and enjoyable event and
the FFDC members and volunteers including our long-standing supporters, the Box Hill Buddhist
Society.
And a final acknowledgment, it was great to see FFDC founding and life members Barry Robinson and Frank
Sullivan attend the event - great work Barry and Frank!
National Tree Day 2018, The Greenway, Heathmont
We had an amazing turn out of volunteers on National Tree Day Sunday 29 July. 150 plus people turned up to plant 4,000+ indigenous plants at the end of The Greenway in Heathmont. This is by far the largest and most successful National Tree Day event in the history of FFDC. When the plants mature they will provide important habitat for the survival of animals, birds and other critters in the area.
A huge thank you to the following:
The FFDC committee for organising the event and their efforts on the day.
The Maroondah Bushland Management team for preparing the site and their leadership on the day.
Chris and Lisa MacFarlane for organising the BBQ.
The Maroondah Photographic Society.
The Box Hill Buddhist Group.
The 4th Ringwood Scout Group.
Rotary clubs of Croydon, Southbank, North Melbourne and Essendon North.
FFDC members and all the other volunteers.
Cr. Marijke Graham and Cr. Paul Macdonald
We look forward to organising another big event on National Tree Day in 2019.
World Environment Day 2018, Mint Street Wetlands, Wantirna
We had a hugely successful planting event on World Environment Day on Saturday 2nd June at the recently created Mint Street Wetlands in Wantirna.
Over 300 volunteers turned out on a cold but sunny morning to dig holes and plant over 3,000 indigenous shrubs and trees. The event included a BBQ cooked once again by the MacFarlane family.
The event was organised and supported by the Knox Council Biodiversity team.
Knox mayor John Mortimore welcomed and thanked all the volunteers and spoke about the importance of the wetlands for the local environment and community.
Great to see local politicians Heidi Victoria, Nick Wakeling, Samantha Dunn, Alan Tudge and Knox councillors John Mortimore, Jackson Taylor and Peter Lockwood roll up their sleeves and get involved.
A huge thanks to the following:
James Rose, Nadine Gaskell and the Knox Biodiversity team;
The Box Hill Buddhist Group who provided over 50 volunteers;
The Bayswater CFA;
The FFDC committee and members including Anthony and Sam Bigelow and family, Matt and Jacqui Hansen, Bill and Neroli Jones, John Cull, Anita Infanti and the McFarlane family;
Students and lectures from Swinburne;
Knox Council and counsellors for funding and supporting the event;
All the volunteers.
Major Pollution Event Strikes
From Charlie Miller and Anthony Bigelow (President and Vice President for First Friends of Dandenong Creek):
Following the major pollution events on Sat/Sun 19/20 May we wish to thank and acknowledge the support from the community. It has been so heart warming to see that we aren’t alone in this battle.
On Sunday afternoon we were interviewed by The Age, ABC news, ABC television news, Channel 7 and 9 news. On Monday morning we were interviewed on ABC Radio Sunrise program. The story appeared on Channel 7 Sunrise program. We even had coverage of the event in the UK Mail.
All this hopefully adds to pressure on the authorities to act and follow through. In particular we need the EPA to detect the repeat offenders, prosecute and fine them heavily to send a clear message our local community no longer tolerates this environmental vandalism. We call on our State politicians to support the EPA in this endeavour and act for the sake of the community, the animals and the overall health of Dandenong Creek.