Join us to celebrate the launch of 'Living Next to Nature: Being a good neighbour to Bendigo’s bushland'

Come down to Bendigo's much-loved No7 Park on Saturday, 26 November at 2pm to receive your free copy of Living Next to Nature, share a cuppa with locals, and join Author/Illustrator Trace Balla to sketch what you see.

We'd love you to join us!

Living Next to Nature introduces you to Bendigo’s great natural features and covers some of the key issues that arise from people living next to nature. You'll find handy hints and tips for actions you can take in your own backyard, in local reserves, and in your community that will make a big difference to nature.

Trace Balla is often found sketching in nature, riding her bike, dancing, and growing vegies in her garden in central Victoria. Her background is in illustration, community arts, art therapy, animation, and writing songs and stories, and she enjoys visiting schools and festivals to talk about her work. Her books, Rivertime and Shine, are highly acclaimed; Rivertime won the Readings Children's Book Prize and Wilderness Society's Environment Award for Children's Literature, and was shortlisted for the CBCA Awards.

The Victorian National Parks Association helps shape the agenda for creating and managing national parks, conservation reserves and other natural areas across land and sea in Victoria. Since 1952, we’ve worked with government, the scientific community and local groups to achieve long term, best-practice environmental outcomes. The VNPA is also Victoria’s largest bushwalking club – we provide a range of education, activity and citizen science programs to encourage Victorians to get active for nature. As a not-for-profit, we do all this thanks to the generosity of our supporters and volunteers.