What Shell Coastal Volunteers Say!

• “The work was physically exacting, but so stimulating! It was wonderful to be out in the fresh air in such beautiful natural surrounds.” Dele Riley, volunteer.
• “I had an amazing time in Darwin while doing something of benefit to the environment. We started the week as a group of people who knew little or nothing about each other. By the end of the week we were a true team, working well together and enjoying each other’s company. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in ages.” Rachael Wilson, volunteer.

These two brief testimonials capture the intent and the spirit of the Shell Coastal Volunteers program which has for the past three years successfully linked enthusiastic volunteers with coastal projects in need of extra assistance. This has been made possible through an innovative partnership between the corporate and not for profit sectors.

What type of projects are undertaken by the Shell Coastal Volunteers?

The Shell Coastal Volunteers program has undertaken projects in all states and territories in support of coastal land managers or custodial groups who have identified important projects that would benefit from an injection of labor that is not otherwise available. Tasks undertaken by volunteers include weed eradication, tree planting, flora and fauna surveying, habitat protection, litter surveying and removal, fencing and track construction and maintenance.

• Nilgen Nature Reserve near Lancelin in Western Australia is registered as part of the National Estate for its diversity of heath land flora, but its proximity to Perth has made it vulnerable to the dual impacts of four wheel drive vehicles and invasive weeds. For three years, Shell Coastal Volunteers have returned to the reserve to close and rehabilitate unauthorized 4WD tracks and to manually remove weeds. “Perhaps one of the most remarkable achievements of the SCV work has been the control of Paterson’s Curse within the reserve. Tonnes of weed have been removed. We couldn’t have done it without the ongoing assistance of the Shell Coastal Volunteers.” Andy Darbyshire, CALM.
• The amount of work achieved in one weekend at the Middle Island penguin colony near Warrnambool, Victoria, would have taken the local group another six or seven weekends to achieve, meaning also another six or seven disruptions to the penguin colony.
• At Bicheno in Tasmania, Shell Coastal Volunteers have also assisted a threatened penguin colony by gathering data about penguin movements, meticulously and laboriously removing weeds from within the rookery and supervising local school children in the construction of artificial nesting burrows. The Shell Coastal Volunteers have assisted the Bicheno Community Development Association in its endeavors to rehabilitate the foreshore and expand its penguin carrying capacity and improve the area’s ability to act as a coastal wildlife corridor. Local ranger, Justin Febey, said that the SCV contribution had “greatly boosted community enthusiasm” by completing tasks that “would otherwise be delayed or impossible to achieve.”
• At Cox Peninsula near Darwin, the Shell Coastal Volunteers joined the local aboriginal community in the construction of a vehicular sand ladder to minimize dune erosion resulting from movement to and from the boat ramp. The volunteers worked steadily despite the trying Top End conditions and by lunchtime on Thursday the task was completed and the sand ladder successfully tested.

What did Shell Coastal Volunteers achieve in its six years?

Monitoring the quantifiable outputs of the program has been relatively easy, and the table below shows an impressive record of achievement. Of course it is the longer term outcomes of the work of SCV at individual projects that is most critical – but these outcomes are more difficult to monitor by the nature of the timelines involved – CVA remains reliant upon local project partners to ensure the SCV work is maintained so the long term project objectives are achieved. Much more difficult to quantify, but possibly of even greater community benefit, are the changes the program has made to the people involved. Local friends group members have been energized by the injection of assistance that has given their group new momentum. Every Shell Coastal Volunteers group that has helped the sustainability of a local group has made an invaluable, long term contribution to coastal conservation.

In addition to the above, SCV projects also installed turtle nesting boxes, erected interpretive signs, mapped weed infestations, constructed board walks and sand ladders, spread mulch and dune matting, and carried out maintenance on heritage buildings.

Who are the volunteers and what do they get out of Shell Coastal Volunteers?

The men and women whose voluntary labor is the essence of Shell Coastal Volunteers are you and me; ordinary people who simply want to make a contribution to conserving our environment. Some have come from the other side of the world, some from just down the road. Some have technical or scientific skills to offer, others offer nothing more than their enthusiasm and willingness to get their hands dirty. As the opening volunteer testimonials indicate, in many ways the volunteers are the biggest winners because they have experiences that will last a life time; from the initial overwhelming sense of impossibility when first confronting the task, to the fatigued, deep sense of satisfaction when reflecting on what was achieved. People met, lessons learned, skills developed and vistas enjoyed are among the rewards for the front line volunteers.

“Thursday afternoon we celebrated the completion of the sand ladder by attending a BBQ and corroboree held by the aboriginal men in our honor. During the BBQ the guys painted our faces with ochre (a different pattern for the men and the women) and taught us some basic dance steps (again the men dance different steps to the women). The whole experience widened my appreciation of the aboriginal community and enabled me to understand how different their culture is to my own.” Rachael Wilson. A few small blisters and aching muscles was a small price to pay!

Shell Coastal Volunteers, including four Shell employees, work with local primary school children on the construction of artificial penguin nesting burrows. (Bicheno, Tasmania)

What does Shell Australia contribute?

Shell Australia has injected almost $2,000,000 into the program, but the contribution has involved much more than arm’s length funding. Shell employees have been encouraged to participate in projects in their local area, but an internal fellowship program has provided staff with the encouragement and support to participate in projects in other parts of the country and to then share their experiences with other Shell staff. An internal leadership program for young managers has also embraced the program, and now includes participation in a Shell Coastal Volunteer project as a team building exercise. In 2003, that project was at Middle Island where the engineering skills of the Shell group enabled the penguin rookery to be accurately mapped in a single day, thereby eliminating the need for further disruptions to the colony.

It is important to point out that Shell Australia does not input into the selection of projects. Instead, Shell leaves it to CVA to liaise with coastal land managers and members of the Coastcare network to identify the projects to be undertaken.

Beyond the actual projects, Shell has been able to share its expertise in other areas, such as occupational health and safety, that have been of benefit to Conservation Volunteers Australia and therefore of benefit to the thousands of volunteers. For example, in the interests of safety, all volunteers in the Shell Coastal Volunteer program are provided with a hat, sunscreen and a water bottle.

What of the future for Shell Coastal Volunteers?

Shell Coastal Volunteers will continue to support coastal communities and coastal land managers during 2007

Conservation Volunteers Australia is keenly interested in identifying priority projects where SCV can make a sustained contribution, in effect as a local partnership with relevant stakeholders. CVA is actively seeking to identify projects and any group with a coastal conservation project in need of assistance may lodge an expression of interest for consideration.

Additionally, CVA and Shell will be aiming to increase the direct participation of Shell employees without reducing the opportunities for community volunteer participation.

Conclusion

The Shell Coastal Volunteer program has proven to be an effective and sustainable model for creating an effective and harmonious link between the corporate and community sectors in a conservation context.

SCV has demonstrated the significant difference between a sponsorship and a true partnership.

SCV has demonstrated the benefits of a national organisation such as Conservation Volunteers Australia coordinating a program of assistance to hundreds of local projects Australia wide.