Quiet but for the thrum of traffic from the highway that runs through it, Barkers Creek has a population of under 500, a general store and an auto wrecker.

While the local landcare group’s numbers only run to about 30 adults, the Mount Alexander Shire claims the highest concentration of landcare groups in the world.

This thriving network of groups is supported by the not-for-profit, Connecting Country and is also guided by Djaara Traditional Owners through strategies such as Turning Wrong Way Climate Right Way. The thriving community and culture of nature conservation in Mount Alexander shire makes it possible for small groups to dream big.

"We call it upside-down country," local Djaara Elder Uncle Rick Nelson said, describing how gold mining upturned the forests, grasslands and topsoil, leaving behind bald slag heaps pocked with clay pits.

"There is lots of healing to do here."

Much of the regenerated forest and bushland of Barkers Creek is in stasis; alive but losing biodiversity and struggling to set seed. This is a predicament that motivates many members.

“With landcare, it’s definitely the shared goal around nurturing the land and trying to undo some of the damage that’s been done since colonial settlement,” member Lois Denham said.

Dreaming large

The Barkers Creek Landcare and Wildlife Group is a small group with a big vision – to work alongside the local community to restore ecological function and health to the natural sites of Barkers Creek.

“I think we are trying to achieve habitat for wildlife and people – so we can get back into those patches of nature that still exist, and those patches of nature where we can get together,” group president, Cath Jolly said.

The Barkers Creek Landcare and Wildlife group has developed an ambitious project to restore 37 hectares of degraded bushland reserve in Barkers Creek.

With support from a Victorian Landcare Grant, the group created a roadmap with local ecologist Paul Foreman and the Biolinks Alliance. The plan draws on cutting edge techniques to restore the landscape from the ground-up.

The group launched its plan, the Harcourt Bushland Reserve – Landscape Restoration Options, at a local theatre in August 2025.

The launch event, dubbed Taking Root and Branching Out was an evening event which brought the shire community together to talk about improving the health of natural landscapes from the soil-up.

The group has also produced an audio documentary, Taking Root in Barkers Creek.

Compiled by group member Kyla Brettle, the narrative podcast details the almost 30-year story of the town’s landcare and wildlife group and the long game to restore ecological health to our natural environments.

To find out more about the group’s bushland reserve restoration project or listen to the podcast, go to www.barkerscreeklandcare.org.au.