A call is going out for expressions of interest for future rounds of the popular On Your Guard initiative.
The ‘On Your Guard’ program is part of the Linking Landscapes project and gives eligible landholders three free paddock tree guards to protect new seedlings growing in their paddocks.
The guards are purpose-built mesh guards, designed to protect vulnerable saplings from stock and wildlife browsing.
Goulburn Broken CMA's Janice Mentiplay-Smith said more than 312 guards had been distributed since the beginning of the year.
"An often overlooked yet vitally important component of our landscape are paddock trees that dot our paddocks and provide important shade and shelter for stock, and stepping stones for wildlife to move through the landscape, safe from predators," Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
"Many of our paddock trees are dead or dying and have no ‘follow up generations’. This program encourages landholders to protect newly planted trees as well as the emerging self-sown seedlings that often appear around the parent tree."
Earlier this month the last of the current supply of guards were collected from WB Hunters in Euroa.
"The take-up has been terrific and many thanks to Tony Roger from WB Hunters for allowing the Linking Landscapes project to distribute the guards directly from his yard.
"This is a fantastic outcome for ‘clusters’ of paddock tree guards to be distributed that will ultimately protect clusters of trees in the future.”
The Linking Landscapes project intends to keep ‘On Your Guard’ going, so landholders are encouraged to contact janicem@gbcma.vic.gov.au to express interest in receiving guards in the future.
The Linking Landscapes project is supported by the Goulburn Broken CMA through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.