Our History
The Mitta to Murray Blackberry Action Group was formed in 2012 working with the Victorian Blackberry Task Force to help control Blackberries on private land. A management steering committee was formed consisting of representatives from 7 Landcare groups, Towong Shire, North East Catchment Management Authority, Parks Victoria, State Forests and two forestry groups , Hancocks Victorian Plantations and Agri Wealth. The primary focus of this whole of community driven action group was working with local landowners in priority areas in helping to control blackberries.
In 2012 we engaged our first project officer to visit interested landowners and engage with them to develop three year management plans for blackberry management on their properties. 15 landowners signed on to work plans covering 3.832 hectares of land. This early success demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach, and in our second year we extended the work area to the whole of the Mitta 2 Murray Landcare network. We now have 220 Landowner Work Plans covering 50,000 ha in place. We have also responded to feedback from members and stakeholders by updating our Work Plan format to allow information about other weeds, pest animals and proposed Landcare projects to be captured.
Our program includes citizen science, community support and education activities through participation in field days and local events. Our work supports scientific research through the distribution of biological controls for invasive weeds, in partnership with our Landcare network, local and state agencies and other stakeholders. Biological control of weeds is now a major feature and we are working closely with Agriculture Victoria and have just completed 4 new videos in this area.