Earthcare has been protecting and enhancing the environment of Port Phillip Bay for over 30 years. Here are some of our key achievements.
April 2024 – 700 kgs of NPS removed from Seaford beach in 2 hrs
March 2024 – Letter sent to the state Environment Minister requesting the endorsement for the continuation of St Kilda penguin protection, when the pier reopens
March 2024 – Partnership formed with Deakin University and Agriculture Victoria to provide distribution and abundance data on NPS in Port Phillip Bay
Winter 2023 – 147 volunteers and almost 6,000 plants planted in the local area
2023 – Earthcare and Monash University trial a citizen science penguin monitoring project. This project is still underway
2023 – 1.3 tonnes of NPS removed from St Kilda Harbour
July 2020 – Earthcare secures a $42,000 grant from the Port Phillip Bay Fund to develop a penguin monitoring program that is non-invasive for penguins, involves the community, and can detect long-population changes in the population
February 2022 – Earthcare’s year 3 education program with St Michaels Primary School begins.
2020 – Earthcare provided pivotal input into the new St Kilda Pier design to be safer for penguins and more enjoyable for visitors
March 2020 – Penguin guiding ceased due to COVID-19 lockdowns
February 2019 – Earthcare wrote a letter to the Hon Lily D’Ambrosio (State Minister for Energy,
Environment and Climate Change) and Hon Martin Foley (State Member for Albert Park) expressing concern regarding the impact on the St Kilda Little Penguin colony caused by the uncontrolled and dramatic increase in visitor numbers to the colony to view the Little Penguins.
Winter 2018 – 3,000 native plants planted by community members
2018 – Earthcare gets its own office space, generously donated by the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
2018 – Earthcare acquires an independent ethics permit to research St Kilda penguins
November 2017 – Earthcare was invited to present its views of pier redevelopment concepts to the City of Port Phillip
2017 – The number of Local Tourism Operators visiting the St Kilda penguin colony increased noticeably. On some nights as many as 5 busloads of visitors came onto the breakwater over a short period. The use of flash photography and white lights is rife. Crowding penguins was also a major problem. This was reported to Parks Victoria as an area that required urgent attention.
2016 – Earthcare volunteer penguin guides witnessed two penguin attacks. The attacks were reported to the land managers (Parks Victoria) and the State Minister who gave $250,000 to improve infrastructure for penguin safety including CCTV, fencing, and signage.
March 1992 – the first St Kilda Breakwater Wildlife Management Co-operative Area management plan was agreed upon. The agreement involved Earthcare St Kilda, City of Port Phillip, Parks Victoria, Port Phillip Ecocentre, State Environment Department, and Phillip Island Nature Park.
1986 – Mike Cullen and Neil Blake started recording data on the St Kilda penguins in 1986. This would form the foundation for Earthcare St Kilda.
