Celebrating 30 Years
Conservation Volunteers Australia has grown from small beginnings in 1982. In 2012, we celebrate 30 years of community conservation programs covering all States and Territories of Australia. From urban to remote, coast to desert, city to outback – our volunteer teams have been there, making an enormous contribution to our environment.
Conservation Volunteers Australia’s strength is our ability to mobilise the community through well-managed and effective programs. Our volunteers come from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, and give their time freely to help. Our expertise as an organisation in training and managing community volunteers turns their efforts into a major force for environmental good.
Messages of Support
Our Top 30 at 30
Thousands of projects, involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers have yielded some great stories – in no particular order, here’s our top 30 from the last 30 years. We have:1. Planted more than 25 million trees!
2. Involved 15,000 young people in Green Corps, 6 months of training and work experience helping to protect Australia’s natural environment and cultural heritage
3. Been admitted to the Global 500 Roll of by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in recognition of our environmental achievements
4. Received the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Ulysses Award in 2011
5. Received 78 local and international awards for excellence in business partnerships, conservation, community and tourism, including 6 Banksia Awards, the Prime Minister’s Award and the Corporate Partnership of the Year
6. Launched Conservation Connect, the only online booking system for conservation volunteers in Australia
7. Become a Registered Training Organisation and provided accredited training to thousands of Australians
8. Delivered 200 regional workshops and built the capacity of thousands of community groups in to better recruit and manage volunteers
9. Developed In Safe Hands a comprehensive safety management system for volunteers and community groups
10. Sighted the Central Rock-Rat (Zyzomys pedunculatus) in remote desert for only the sixth time in scientific history
11. Helped save the Little Tern (Sterna Albifrons) from extinction
12. Built enclosures to help reintroduce 2 species into the wild in south central and south west Queensland - the Bilby (macrotis lagotis) and Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii)
13. Located a new population of the endangered Yellow-snouted Gecko (Diplodactylus occultus) in Kakadu National Park, NT
14. Supported the reintroduction of the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus) to South Australia’s Flinders Ranges
15. Taken over management of the Little Desert Nature Lodge and the Little Desert Flora and Fauna Foundation, established to promote an appreciation of the Little Desert, situated in the Wimmera Region of Western Victoria
16. Coordinated thousands of hours of volunteering in response to major disasters helping farmers and communities clear debris , replace fencing and rebuild lives after bushfires and floods
17. Reached across the world, welcoming volunteers from over 25 countries to Australia
18. Coordinated volunteer assistance for 8 of Australia’s World Heritage - the Greater Blue Mountains, Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, Purnululu National Park, Shark Bay, the Tasmanian Wilderness, Uluru Kata-Tjuta and the Wet Tropics
19. Trained 75 Volunteer Interpreters who guide visitors around the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near Canberra
20. Removed 5,000 items of marine debris including 73 deadly ‘ghost nets’, some of them kilometres long, from the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory
21. Helped build the Larapinta Trail, one of Australia's most spectacular bushwalking and trekking experiences, along with many other tracks and trails
22. Coordinated over 4,000 individual volunteer days to the task of removing over 80 hectares of introduced Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) from the most visited areas of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
23. Helped 55 property owners who had set aside land for high conservation value habitat to get back on their feet after the Black Saturday bushfires (February 7, 2009)
24. Delivered over 18,000 conservation projects at over 4,000 different locations
25. Signed a unique lease/management agreement for the Brookfield Conservation Park with the South Australian Government
26. Provided a team of volunteers and staff to assist with visitor services at the Anzac Remembrance Services at Gallipoli in Turkey for 7 years
27. Tracked 17 flatback and green sea turtles from Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, and watched them online across their migratory annual nesting and feeding grounds
28. Removed and recycled 7,000 discarded tyres from Magazine Creek in industrial Adelaide
29. Transformed 260 hectares of degraded farmland in rugged landscape near Melbourne into a flourishing 200,000-tree biodiverse ecosystem – The W.James Whyte Island Reserve.
30. Developed and implemented Green Gym, a program combining physical and mental health benefits with conservation outcomes
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