Our Club History
St Arnaud Field Naturalist Club was formed in 1984 to promote the conservation of biodiversity in the area, enhance awareness and appreciation of our natural heritage and add to and disseminate knowledge of our local environment and its ecosystems.
Over the past 3 decades Club members have been active in survey and field work to document species and ecosystems and have been instrumental in the proclamation of many conservation reserves including the new Kara Kara National Park, the biggest and most intact Box-Ironbark forest remaining in Victoria.
The Club works closely with both the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Parks Victoria, to achieve the best result for biodiversity protection and conservation in our area of interest, which covers a 40km radius around St Arnaud.
Club members provide consulting and support services for other groups involved in environmental work such as Landcare groups and provide volunteer labour for threatened species work, initially with DELWP (or DSE as it then was) and now with private contractors.The Club has been a long-term contributor to BirdLife Australia’s ongoing Bird Atlas as well as taking part in BLA’s Swift Parrot Counts for over 15 years.
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Over the last decade, the Club,recognising the impact that browsing and grazing animals were having on our Parks and Reserves has initiated fencing projects to protect vulnerable areas with notable results.Maintenance and monitoring of our fenced plots are an important part of the Club’s ongoing work.
With changes to the structure of our bush areas due to long-running drought and increasingly erratic weather patterns, the Club is proactive in its projects to protect our sensitive bush areas in the face of an uncertain future.
