Reports

Friends of Grasslands and its members conduct irregular on-line and other presentations and commission or contribute to reports and investigations. Some materials relating to those are collected here. See also the publications page for materials published or distributed by FoG, and the resources page for references to other materials.

•  ‘Conserving grasslands of the South Eastern Highlands of NSW’ workshop, 31st May 2024. The workshop sought to collate information on conservation programs; identify gaps and lessons; and determine priorities and opportunities for collaboration for conservation of natural temperate grassland in the South Eastern Highlands. A key question it sought to address was, “What enhanced cross-tenure conservation initiatives are needed to better conserve adequate areas of natural temperate grasslands in the SEH, and to sustain populations of and habitat for threatened grassland species?” The focus was on proactive conservation initiatives and not research or regulatory measures.   Summary (pdf, 0.5MB)   Full report (pdf, 71pp, 15MB).

• Weeding grasslands for beginners (11MB pdf). Friends of Grasslands members, John Fitz Gerald and Margaret Ning gave an online session on weeding grasslands for beginners on 29 July 2021. A wide range of topics discussed included: weed identification, species life cycles, weed management strategies, treatment methods and when to use them, avoiding collateral damage, and avoiding weed successions. It includes many practical tips and examples from their own weeding experience, including the importance of having a vision or longer-term objective in mind when organising a weeding session with volunteers. For example, very practically, Margaret suggested that you decide what weeds you won’t walk past, carrying a tape (to mark), secateurs, chipper and dauber, and picking off seed heads as you go - useful tips. A video of a 25 August repeat of the presentation is available from Michael Robinson (mrob3@mac.com).
• Sustainable water management in south-east Australia and links to grasslands, Professor Jamie Pittock.  Online forum, 7 September 2021. Recording of full zoom session (mp4, 320MB). Accompanying slides (pdf, 8.4MB). Jamie Pittock is one of Australia’s leading researchers and policy advisors on Australia’s water policies and their implementation. He regularly appears in the media talking on water policy. In this online forum Jamie speaks on water management in south-east Australia, the implications of climate change and links to grasslands conservation. Jamie is an environmental scientist at the Australian National University, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and a Member of the World Commission on Protected Areas. He is also President of Friends of Grasslands. The recording is one hour and 21 minutes duration, 56 minutes of presentations and the remainder a question and answer session.
• Grass half full or grass half empty? Proceedings of the 2014 FoG forum.
• Community Monitoring of Golden Sun Moths in the Australian Capital Territory Region, 2008-2009. Final report (pdf, 1.2 MB).
• Grassland beyond reserves. Cooma, 2000.
• Development and native grasslands: resolving conflicts 1998 FoG workshop (6MB pdf, 99 pages).  About the workshop (160kB, pdf).
• Living Grasslands of Canberra and the southeast region 9 - 10 November 1996 FoG conference.