Capability Statement

Conservation Volunteers Australia is a national, not-for-profit community based organisation that is  dedicated to involving the community in practical conservation natural resource management programs.  Each year CVA will deliver in excess of 800,000 hours of conservation volunteering. 

CVA has 23 offices throughout Australia and employs in excess of 150 full time staff . We also have two offices in New Zealand.

CVA works in partnership with Catchment Management Authorities, Local Councils, community groups, conservation agencies, tourism organsiations and operators, State Governments and Departments, the Federal Government, NGOs and individual land owners. 

CVA is a registered training organization and delivers accredited training and capacity building workshops to hundreds of community groups each year.

Our Safety Department has systems and practices that focus on the management of on ground work with volunteers – these tools are available (via) to the general conservation sector.

 

Conservation Volunteers has many long-standing and very successful relationships with a  range of corporate partners e.g. BHP Billiton, Toyota, Shell, National Bank, Vodafone, Commonwealth Bank, Rio Tinto.  Typically these partnerships include financial and in kind support to enable  CVA to deliver support to conservation  projects and, often, corporate staff involvement.

Conservation Volunteers seeks to develop long-term partnerships that have a strong identity and focus on involving the community in priority environmental issues. For example, Conservation Volunteers and BHP Billiton have developed the Revive our Wetlands program which aims to protect Australia’s significant wetlands. Revive our Wetlands has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships, the Australian Financial Review National Partnership of the Year and in 2007 the Banksia Award.

Conservation Volunteers is a member of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) and  the Federation of Youth Travel Organisations.

Our conservation and volunteer programs have recently been awarded Ecotourism Certification, recognizing our commitment to maintaining high ecological standards in all aspects of our operations.

 

Key Capabilities/Capacities

  1. Community Engagement
  2. Program design, development and delivery
  3. Conservation Program / Project Management
  4. Accredited and non-accredited training as a Registered Training Organisation
  5. Monitoring, Evaluation &  Reporting
  6. Communications
  7. Land & Asset Management
  8. Fundraising through Corporate, Government and Philanthropic sectors
  9. Conservation and Tourism Partnerships
  10. Project Brokerage/Consortium Management

 

Community Engagement

Conservation Volunteers involves approximately 12,500 volunteers per annum in practical activities that benefit the environment.

 2,500 of these volunteers travel to Australia each year to assist CVA to provide support to local conservation projects.

 

All CVA programs achieve this outcome via our standard operating model which is a team of up to 10 volunteers with a CVA employee who is the team manager and supervisor. On the job training is provided to volunteers. All projects are suitable for unskilled participants. Volunteers must be over the age of 18 for overnight projects.

We offer a range of programs that suit our partners needs. For example some projects will focus on remote area assistance such as turtle monitoring programs in remote areas or local heritage programs in urban areas.

Volunteers can participate for a single day or for up to 4 weeks or longer.

We offer packaged volunteering programs to people wishing to participate in  Australia or around the World.

 

Program design, development and delivery

Conservation Volunteers designs, develops and delivers conservation programs which help the community to connect to their environment in a positive way. Some examples of our successful programs:-

Better Earth – is our core business. Providing teams of up to 10 volunteers for projects that require manpower to complete. Projects range from one day to a week. CVA completes in excess of 2000 projects each year. Projects are completed in urban, rural and remote areas.

Green Corps – Young Australians for our Environment, a nationally delivered Government funded program that provides 6 months work experience and accredited training volunteer on specific conservation programs for 17 – 20 year olds. This program has involved over ten thousand young Australians. 

Green Gym – Green Gym is a local program  linking health and well-being benefits through volunteering and the environment.

Action for Climate Change - Action for Climate Change is a new program managed by Conservation Volunteers. It is a range of initiatives to assist business and individuals to reduce their impact on the environment.

Wild Futures - Conservation Volunteers have made an amazing and worthwhile contribution to the health of special places in our landscape. Now, with the launch of the Wild Futures initiative, we are adding a special focus to our conservation work in key locations around Australia and New Zealand, that are crucial for the survival of some of our most threatened wildlife.

 

Conservation Program/Project Management

 

CVA has well developed operational policies and systems for all programs. Each program has a Conservation Volunteers team leader, with qualifications in OH&S, Defensive Driving, First Aid, and other relevant environmental skills/qualifications. We also  provide a vehicle, trailer, hand tools, personal protective equipment and public liability insurance.

 

Accredited and non-accredited training as a Registered Training Organisation

 

Conservation Volunteers is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) with a national training team providing both non accredited and accredited training to individuals and community groups including:

  • Certificate 1 in Active Volunteering
  • Conservation Volunteer Management Course
  • In Safe Hands – training and toolkit (safety management systems)
  • Risk Assessment
  • Change Management in Community Groups
  • Motivated Volunteers
  • Team Development for Community Groups
  • Project Management in Community Groups

 

Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting

 

Conservation Volunteers is active in developing methodologies for involving the community in the economical monitoring and evaluation of Natural Resource Management projects. We have partnered with University Technology Sydney to develop a documented plan to implement robust environmental assessments for resource conditions that can be implemented by volunteers under team leader supervision.

 

Additionally we are trialing the coordination of volunteer teams to map Weeds of National Significance and subsequently provide data that will assist effective decision making in regards to future control programs.  We believe that Conservation Volunteers has the unique ability to engage the general community in environmental Monitoring and Evaluation leading to stewardship, education and capacity building outcomes.

 

Communications

CVA has a high visitation website that offers information about all conservation programs that CVA has been requested to assist. CVA promotes programs via TV Community Service Announcements, and press releases.

Government ministers and corporate partners have commented on Conservation Volunteers’ ability to generate positive media involving volunteers and good stories which can be told. The Conservation Volunteers website receives on average 10,000 unique hits per month. For example our website is a great place to share our stories from our programs such as Green Schools Connect in partnership with Vodafone or our Revive our Wetlands in partnership with BHP Billiton.

 

Land & Asset Management

 

CVA  is involved in land management programs on a long term basis. CVA owns land and in some case manages property under: agreement in the form of an MOU or formal lease.  Examples include:-

  • Chakola, NSW - Voluntary Conservation Agreement (VCA) property and Wildlife Refuge in Kangaroo Valley NSW (80 acres), providing community facilities, meeting areas and accommodation for 40 people.
  • W James Whyte Island Reserve, VIC – 204ha property owned by CVA , backing onto Werribee State Gorge Park in Victoria which houses our first Action for Climate Change habitat forest.
  • Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, ACT – In partnership with the ACT Government Conservation Volunteers designed and now manages the Volunteer Interpreter Program (VIP) at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. The VIP sees trained volunteers act as interpreters and guides in the Nature Reserve to enhance visitor experiences.
  • Brookfield Conservation Reserve, SA - Managed by CVA under lease agreement with the Department of Environment and Heritage.

 

Fundraising/income generation through partnerships with Corporate, Government and Philanthropic sectors

 

Conservation Volunteers is not government funded and generates its income on a continuing basis through a variety of means including;

  • Project partner contributions
  • The design, development and delivery of programs which attract government support to help them deliver on their policy objectives
  • Corporate partnerships ranging from entry level to multi million dollar themed program support
  • Training design and delivery,
  • Grants from government and philanthropic organisations
  • Membership and tax deductable donations

 

Conservation and Tourism Partnerships

 

Conservation Volunteers has a department of experienced staff dedicated to the delivery of volunteer and ecotourism programs. We offer extensive experience in developing, managing and operating tourism and conservation partnerships including;

  • Over 25 years experience in packaging, marketing, selling and operating conservation holiday programs around Australia
  • Established on line booking systems and free call number for booking inquiries
  • A web site  receiving 10,000 unique visitors per month to site
  • Well recognized safety standards
  • A network of over 25 worldwide booking agents
  • Product development and operation
  • Experienced guides where necessary
  • Staff expertise in volunteer and tourism management
  • A large network of corporate clients and funding
  • Comprehensive domestic and international marketing

The quality of our programs has been recognised through the receipt of numerous tourism awards and Ecotourism Certification. Click here to view our awards. 

 

Project Brokerage/Consortium Management

 

Conservation Volunteers preferred approach is to work in partnership. More often than not we broker relationships across the corporate, government and community sectors with the aim of leveraging our shared resources to ensure greater conservation outcomes.

Conservation Volunteers has significant experience in consortium management.  The Great Barrier Reef Wetlands Protection Programme is one example where Conservation Volunteers worked in partnership with stakeholders, including WetlandCare Australia (WCA), Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research (ACTFR) and CSIRO, to highlight the importance of conserving and managing healthy coastal wetlands to a wider Queensland audience.

 

For further information contact:

Corporate & Government Affairs Manager