For over 40 years, the Habitat Conservation and Management Course (HCMC) has been informing, inspiring and connecting Melbourne’s conservation and land management community. HCMC is for everyone, from new conservation volunteers, to experienced land management practitioners looking to refresh and extend their knowledge and networks.

Participants will learn in-person about key ecosystem features including plants, soil, fungi and fire then explore techniques for habitat improvement. 16 Wednesday evening classes from August 6 to November 19 and 9 Saturday field trips with some of Melbourne’s leading ecologists and land managers including Randall Robinson, Gidja Walker, Uncle Dave Wandin and George Paras.

A number of councils have grant opportunities to support volunteer participation in the course including Banyule City Councils Green Training Fund. If you are a conservation volunteer, you may like to check what opportunities there are with your local council.

Unit Number	Topic	Lecturer/s	Location	Date
Unit 1	Unit Number1 Introduction
Classroom	Introduction to Habitat Conservation and Management	Randall Robinson / Danny Reddan	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 6 August
Field Trip 1	Melbourne Bushlands	Robert Pergl	Dandenongs	Saturday 9 August
Unit 2	Bushland – The Ideal
Classroom	Soils and Climate	Jason Horlock	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 13 August
Classroom	Growing Wildlife Habitat	George Paras	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 20 August
Classroom	Invertebrates	James Buxton	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Saturday 27 August
Field Trip 2	Coastal Woodlands	Gidja Walker	Cape Schanck	Saturday 30 August
Classroom	Plant Identification I – Grasses and Forbs	Michael Cincotta	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 3 September
Classroom	Plant Identification II - Trees and Shrubs	Michael Cincotta	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 10 September
Field Trip 3	Nocturnal Wildlife	TBC	Mount Rothwell	Saturday 13 September
Classroom	Fungi	Ema Corro	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday, 17 September
Field Trip 4	Caring for Country	Uncle Dave Wandin/Gidja Walker	Coranderrk	Saturday 20 September
video conference	Fire and Culture	Darren Wandin/Gidja Walker	Home	Wednesday 24 September
Unit 3	Impacts on Bushland
Classroom	Bush Ecology 1	Randall Robinson	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 1 October
Field Trip 5	Lerderderg Gorge/Longforest	Randall Robinson	Lerderderg Gorge/Longforest	Saturday 4 October
Classroom	Bush Ecology 2	Randall Robinson	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 8 October
Unit 4	Techniques for Managing Bushland
Classroom	Introduction	Randall Robinson	NT Wildlife Sanctuary	Wednesday 15 October
Field Trip 6	Plant Identification	Michael Cincotta	NT Wildlife Sanctuary	Saturday 18 October
Video conference	Site Assessment & Planning	Gidja Walker	Home	Wednesday 22 October
Field Trip 7	Restoring degraded riparian zones	George Paras/Danny Reddan	Darebin Creek Bundoora	Saturday 25 October
Classroom	Techniques for Planned Intervention	Robert Pergl	Gleeson Centre, Darebin Parklands	Wednesday 29 October
Field Trip 8	Grasslands	Uncle Dave Wandin / Rob Pergl	Western plains	Saturday 1 November
Classroom	Modelling and monitoring Change	Sacha Jellinek	NT Wildlife Sanctuary	Wednesday 5 November
Classroom	Regeneration and Weed (Strategies & Options)	Graham Peterson	NT Wildlife Sanctuary	Wednesday 12 November
Field Trip 9	Coastal and marine	Gidja Walker	Seaford Foreshore	Saturday 15 November
Classroom	Summing Up	Randall / Gidja Walker	NT Wildlife Sanctuary	Wednesday 19 November