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How can I get help for grasslands?

There are lots of resources available to help you do what you want to do.  Try the links below for more internet resources to help with science, legal aspects, growing your own grassland and managing grasslands.  But you may find what you really need is to talk to someone.  One of the easiest ways to meet people with interest, sometimes passionate interest, in grasslands is to join one of FoG's activities.  Non members are always welcome.  If you have a specific problem that you can't fix yourself Contact Us and we'll see what we can do to help.  We are nearly always interested in visiting grasslands we haven't seen before and can bring a range of expertise to your place if you think you might have something valuable and want to find out more about what you have got.  Let us know.

A good field guide, written for the NSW southern tablelands but useful elsewhere too, is Grasslands Flora.  It covers both Australian and introduced species.

Friends of Grasslands has three brochures:

If you need help with the science of grasslands or identifying species or ecological communities, try these links.

If you need help with legal aspects, have a look at these.

If you want to grow your own.

For help with grassland management.

  • The Australian Network for Plant Conservation runs courses and workshops related to grassland management.
  • There are several Conservation Management Networks (CMNs) which provide advice on grasslands. The Grassy Box Woodlands (GBW) CMN on the western slopes of NSW has shown that CMNs offer an effective long-term conservation mechanism for ecological communities that are difficult to conserve by other means. Established in 1998, the GBW CMN is still growing in membership numbers and support.  A CMN is a network of remnants and their owners or managers, and other interested individuals. They aim to provide support and stimulate partnerships between local communities, government, educational institutions, scientists and conservation practitioners to protect and manage important remnants. The CMN provides an overarching framework to coordinate protection of sites and implement adaptive management. An ecological focus allows a CMN to provide highly targeted advice and support.  Others in NSW include the Monaro Grasslands CMN, the Far South Coast CMN and the Southern Tablelands Grassy Ecosystem CMN; others may emerge.  There are (at last count) 13 CMNs in Victoria, including:

    • Northern Plains
    • Wedderburn
    • Broken-Boosey
    • Gippsland Plains
    • East Gippsland Rainforests.
  • The Victorian Department of Primary Industries has produced a brochure Native Pasture Management (900kB pdf).
  • CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems has published Biodiversity in the Paddock, a 30 page practical field guide to help graziers and land managers achieve biodiversity outcomes from native pastures.
  • Burning is often an important part of grassland management in Australia.  In NSW, workshops are run by Hotspots.
  • See the Weeding to Restore and Protect Your Patch brochure.
  • Fireweed Best Practice Management Guide (August 2012) and related research papers.
  • K2C has published a flyer for farmers on Grassland Earless Dragons (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla).
  • The Weeds Network has info on invasive plants.