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ReefClean in Butchulla country
In early December last year, Butchulla Land and Sea rangers participated in a training day with ReefClean partners Conservation Volunteers Australia. A marine debris clean and audit was completed at Eli Creek, a popular local fishing spot and unfortunately a dumping ground for residential waste.
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Round Island Weeding Update
Round Island is managed by Fraser Coast Regional Council. Because of the island’s close proximity to the mainland, it is frequently visited by both locals and tourists.
Two trips (26 July & 23 September 2016) have been made to Round Island this year, the first by two council officers, twelve Lower Mary River Landcare (LMRL) members and community volunteers and a group of twelve from Conservation Volunteers Australia. The second trip included council officers and volunteers with chemical spray certificates (AC/DC) as the trip targeted weeds that required chemical treatment.
These one-day weeding efforts, conducted over the last 4 years, have resulted in a highly significant benefit to this very small, coral sand island of dunal system environment. With the assistance of Juliet Musgrave, her skills and knowledge, the identification of some of the native plants (e.g. Octopus Bush) on Round Island demonstrates that this area is the overlap of vegetation zones on the coast between sub-tropical and tropical. To date, more than 30 native plants have been identified and registered, and the list grows each visit the group makes. (more…)
Green Army Battles for K’Gari’s Natural Integrity
Work is underway in Fraser Island World Heritage area by the first 9-person Green Army team, which includes three young Butchulla men. Despite encountering hold-ups in gaining approval for overnight residence on the island, as well as delays in beginning training, the Green Army team is being kept busy with the important tasks of removing rubbish, lantana, groundsel and other weeds from the main entry road near the Wanggoolba ferry landing, and lantana control in Dundubara creek.
As they return each week as part of their six-month program, every member of the team is gaining a greater familiarity with Fraser Island (K’gari) and personally benefitting from the training and experience they are receiving. As part of their work, the Green Army team has received training in safe chemical use, as well as fencing construction and deconstruction. They have been using these new skills to contribute to K’gari’s natural integrity.
It is hoped that as the program progresses, the productivity of future teams will benefit from overcoming the challenges that any new partnership arrangement must face (especially for an area as significant as the Fraser Island World Heritage Area). In this way, we hope that the CVA Green Army teams will be an ongoing presence on Fraser Island and will be able to make an even greater contribution to weed and erosion control in some very critical areas of K’Gari.
Situation Vacant: Green Army Participants Wanted for Dream Job in Paradise!
Conservation Volunteers Australia is currently seeking six Green Army participants for their project, Restoring the balance in weed and erosion management on Fraser Island (Phase 1), commencing in late February for 20 weeks.
Participants will stay 4 days per week on Fraser Island (K’Gari) and will also be provided with all the tools, personal protection equipment and training required for each project.
If you know someone (or are) aged between 17 and 24, who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident that would like to be a part of a team that will make a real difference to the environment in our local community, please encourage them to apply.
Participants are paid an allowance while gaining skills, training and experience that can help them enter the workforce, improve their career opportunities or further their education and training.
The Green Army is an Australian Government initiative open to young people, including Indigenous Australians, school leavers, gap year students, graduates and job seekers, who are looking for employment to develop skills, undertake training and gain experience in the delivery of conservation. Local transport to the project site is also provided.
For more information or to apply, please check out CVA’s website: http://conservationvolunteers.com.au/green-army/queensland/
Submitted by Conservation Volunteers Australia
Fraser Island to Benefit from Commonwealth Funding for Green Army Projects
The Fraser Island Defenders Organization has been provided with funding as Project Host as a result of Green Army funding for two projects from the Department of Environment and Heritage. The service provider for these projects will be Conservation Volunteers Australia.
The project, Restoring the balance in weed and erosion management on Fraser Island, will commence in late February and again in mid-August and run for 20 weeks. The six participants will range from 17 to 24 years old, and will be provided with training, including Occupational Health and Safety, First Aid, chemical use and the management of small motors. They will gain hands on skills in weed management, erosion control and will be fortunate to have advice and information from the QPWS rangers who will direct the work plan.
The participants will have their training at Hervey Bay and spend four days a week on Fraser Island working on different parts of the island. Other potential work may include:
- Easter Cassia management around Happy Valley and south to Yidney scrub
- Jamella – egg raft collection (and wasp release if training were provided), monitoring and leaf stripping
- Giant Rat’s Tail Grass control
- Eurong nursery – plant propagation and re-potting, including of Pandanus
- Great Walk track maintenance
- Track building
- Site stabilisation through erosion control and weed management on Indian Head (Takky Wooroo).
The project provides a unique opportunity to have work carried out on Fraser Island over the period of a year that would possibly take many years otherwise.
The team will work with a number of different groups on the island, including the Butchulla people, to learn about the culture and management of the island.
Libby Gardiner, Regional Manager Southern Queensland, CVA
Managing the Great Sandy’s links to Fraser Island
Lower Mary River Land & Catchment Care Group (LMRL&CCG) undertakes a number of projects that help manage threats to Fraser Island via the islands and adjacent mainland of the Great Sandy Strait (Round Island, Big Woody Island – Middle Bluff Lighthouse and Jeffrey’s Beach, Little Woody Island, Picnic Island, Duck Island), Fay Smith Wetlands and Hervey Bay foreshore. Since the November FINIA meeting, the team has been very busy.
Fraser Island Friends of Parks
Four experienced and well-respected organisations have signed-on with QPWS to deliver an expanded volunteer program in about 50 parks and forests across Queensland until June 2015.
Under new Friends of Parks contracts, more than 20 part-time co-ordinators will be employed to recruit, train and manage volunteers for an estimated 68,000 hours of exciting new volunteer and voluntourism projects that assist front-line management of parks. (more…)
CVA Naturewise & QPWS Scat Collection Continues
Early in July a new group of enthusiastic Conservation Volunteers Australia volunteers arrived on Fraser Island to assist QPWS with the dingo scat collection program. As part of the Naturewise program, the volunteers pay for the privilege of picking up poo— what a great way to spend your holidays! (more…)
CVA on Fraser Island
Conservation Volunteers Australia has been working on Fraser Island with different work programs in the last month. (more…)
2014 Conservation Calendar Competition
CVA are very excited to be kicking off a brand new photo competition this month. Over the next month we will be asking you to get out around Australia and take photos that celebrate and represent “Conservation in Australia”, to be in the running.
FINIA 