The Mallee Looper is a native caterpillar that is eating its way through thousands of hectares of Mallee Woodlands in Victoria and South Australia. Here is what we learnt this year.

Raakajilm will never be the same after a fire on 9th January 2026, but two months later we are seeing signs of recovery. We’ve had some very welcome rainfall and the support of many friends.

On the 9th January 2026 a bushfire burnt 160 hectares of the Raakajilm conservation property, plus hundreds of hectares in Hattah Kulkyne National Park.

In September 2025, we hosted a field day on Raakajilm searching for the Silky Swainson-pea (Swainsona sericea). What a day it was - fully booked and wait-listed. Who knew there were so many plant nerds in the Mallee! And we solved the rhizobium mystery!

The Swainson-peas are beautiful plants, difficult to propagate and mostly threatened in Victoria. In the Mallee we have several species, including: Small-leaf Swainson-pea (Swainsona microphylla); Silky Swainson-pea (Swainsona sericea); Dwarf Swainson Pea (Swainsona phacoides); and Hairy Darling-pea (Swainsona greyana).

We are excited to announce … there’s a wetland on Raakajilm!

This beautiful one hectare area will be seasonally wet, with a smaller permanent pool forming a drought refuge for wildlife. A wetland like this offers many opportunities to establish insurance populations of rare plants and a completely different bird-watching experience.

It’s that time of year when Gazanias start flowering and we notice them creeping their way into bushland areas. These plants may be colourful but they are a real menace. It frustrates me that they are not listed as a weed in Victoria so they can still be sold in nurseries. Luckily, I’m not the only one concerned.

The wonderful folk at Meridian Maps have just released the third edition of the Hattah-Kulkyne Map Guide. And we’re in it!

We were happy to help with some of the content, including adding in the Raakajilm conservation property and Jesse’s Track.

In May 2025, we asked our friends at MYCOmmunity and Fungi4Land to show us how to do fungal restoration properly

When you are working with Year 8 students, there is so much mileage that comes with using that phrase. The expression on their faces is priceless when you whip out a pair of giant, white cotton bloomers and wave them about 😊. But there’s a serious message.

Some of our soils are not healthy. We are missing the decomposers.

In May 2025, w set up camp on the Raakajilm conservation property in the Mallee of north-west Victoria: Latji Latji Country. Camping, yoga, drawing with nature, restoring a wetland, delicious food … we had a great time.

We have invited a few emus to live on Raakajlim. Job description: “Eat, walk and poo”. And now we have giant Quandong-filled poo all over the place!

Gazania are evil weeds with wind-dispersed seeds. It would be really helpful if nurseries stopped selling this weed!

We had a wonderful experience with Rhae from Regenerative Communities, exploring Embodied Landscape drawing.

Here is a bird list for Raakajlim, as well as lists of birds you can expect to see in the Victorian Mallee.

White-winged Fairywrens in the garden.

Is this not the coolest snake? A Bandy Bandy on Raakajilm!

The root systems of plants in the Mallee include underground storage organs. The cultural and ecological importance of these is extraordinary.

Way back in October 2022, the Murray River flood started to lap at the bottom of our fence. It took four months, and some clever trickery, but we are now back in business with our electric fence!

A World Wetland Day shout out to all the Wetland Ecologists out there. Thank you!