Hear from some volunteers

  • Bruce – 60 year old Bruce has volunteered on more than 40 projects
  • Cassandra – lives in Melbourne and volunteers on the weekend
  • Dale – Volunteers a day a week from her home in Perth
  • Yolanda – Is a university student undertaking practical experience

 

Bruce - He is one person you can say "he is a great Australian" without cringing.

Over the past four years, Bruce Sharp, 60, has volunteered more than 40 weeks with Conservation Volunteers.

Living a couple of blocks from famous surf spot at Collaroy Beach in Sydney’s north, he chooses to go on projects in Australia’s interior.

Roaming around the country has allowed Bruce to see some spectacular sights and be involved in important conservation work. He has undertaken fauna surveys 350 km north west of Alice Springs tracking desert mice, camels and feral cats.

Plus monitor populations of Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies in northern South Australia. “We were trapping them, taking measurements and tagging them with microchips. ”

But the volunteering is only one reward. In S.A. he managed to witness the eclipse of the moon and sun from “the best place in the world” for the viewing and was passing through Alice in time to see to the renowned Henley-on-Todd Regatta. “We cracked ‘em both. ” enthuses Bruce.

“Conservation Volunteers has become a big part of my life. I love the company of the people, from the staff right through to the visiting volunteers. I love being outdoors and physical work is my forté. Plus we get the opportunity to go where others don’t. We go behind those ‘No Entry’ signs in all the national parks.”

Bruce has helped on projects that have planted over 10,000 trees. He has installed fences to keep wildlife in and stock out in the NSW outback, removed exotic weed species from around penguin nesting burrows on an island in Jervis Bay, and protected the internationally recognised Macquarie Marshes.

Whatever the project, Bruce has found that his age is no barrier, even with the younger volunteers. “No dramas, no bagging out, the teams mix in really well.” For his dedication Conservation Volunteers has twice bestowed Bruce with awards to acknowledge his considerable contribution.

To guide his endeavours he has a developed his own credo “Basically, in a nutshell, I’m trying to help preserve, protect and maintain our natural and historical heritage.” As the marketing manager for CVA put it, when referring to Bruce “He is one person you can say “he is a great Australian” without cringing.”


Cassandra - What can I do to help the environment?

Cassandra Francais, 30, of South Richmond, Victoria, was asking the question -

“After recycling plus energy and water saving - what more can I do to help the environment? ”

Looking for an answer to that question has lead her to spending 11 weekends over the past year, on projects with Conservation Volunteers.

“For my first project I got lucky - we went to Phillip Island, made penguin habitat boxes and installed them. It was such a great experience. ”

Since then Cassandra has been off tree planting, weeding, arresting valley erosion and even assisting farmers in bushfire ravaged alpine country.

“The fires were so hot they even burnt off the seed pods - it will be many, many years before some of those plants ever flourish again. ”

Such insight comes from exposure to partner agencies who Conservation Volunteers work with. “You get to speak with National Park Rangers and land managers and they are so passionate about their ‘thing’, whatever it might be. They pass on lots of details and suddenly you realise — you’re now an insider, in the know.”

So what makes an IT Program Tester with the Department of Veteran Affairs leave behind her motorbike and scuba gear for the gentle delights of seed collecting?

“Well, Conservation Volunteers run a very tight operation. You just need to show up really. You get taken to the project, there is a wide variety to choose from and complete the tasks. ”

“Its not hard work” she emphasises again, “but it is good exercise”. You know you’ve made a difference, but it ’s up to you to volunteer when you are free.

But if Cassandra had to put down one reason for her enthusiasm for Conservation Volunteers projects it would be:

“Its mostly about learning things, gaining a stronger insight into our environment. ”


Dale - I Love Being Outside

For Dale Hobcroft, 51, volunteering with Conservation Volunteers Australia is different.

“I’d never done anything like it before. I thoroughly enjoy it. I found I love being outside and we are constantly learning. ”

Dale’s education has been wide and varied. She has planted trees, dug up weeds, controlled erosion by securing in ‘eco-logs’ of jute and coconut, worked on a tree ‘die-back’ control program drilling trees and injecting with herbicide. She has collected acacia and spinifex seeds for later propagation, maintained walking tracks and participated in the nation-wide marine debris survey. A behind-the-scenes working tour of the prestigious Kings Park Gardens, Perth also rates highly in her recollections.

“I really look forward to it each week. It’s relaxing ... not as in being slack, but being out in the open. I get a real kick out of it. I feel personally satisfied — knowing I’ve done a good days work.”

Catching a train from her home in Kenwick, WA, Dale joins the Conservation Volunteers teams a couple of days week at a central meeting point. “

“There is a regular group of volunteers, ranging in age from 40 to 60+ and often some young international travellers. We all mix well, each keen to learn of each other countries. ”

All Conservation Volunteers projects are lead by a team leader who is considerate and conscious of volunteer needs, particularly encouraging us to drink plenty of water, when working outdoors. “They’ll also put on tea and coffee for a cuppa. ”

“It a joy to go out with the team leaders and the teams. Health and safety are always covered and the leaders run through what to look out for. Then we get on with the variety of tasks, mostly physical, which I enjoy. ”

“I feel good about it, and feel that I've done my little bit at the end of the day. ”


Yolanda - Willing to work and get your hand dirty

It was a case of serendipity. Yolande Jones, was on her way to university to register her summer work experience component, as part of her Bachelor in Environmental Biology. “I was just thinking, what am I going to do? And then I noticed the web address on a Conservation Volunteers vehicle.

Before returning to her final year at Uni, Yolande was able to spend five weeks getting first hand knowledge of the industry she was studying. She carried out projects on weeds, which recent government reports suggest cost Australia conservatively $4 billion each year. Yolande also participated in weed mapping and identification programs, to record their spread.

Walking tracks were another of the projects she found herself on. “We worked on this track that is 10 years old but had received no maintenance. We excavated steps to allow for the laying of new limestone flagging.” And then there was the delightfully named marine debris survey. Researchers like Yolande were part of a nation-wide campaign identified and weighed the rubbish that washes up on our coastlines.

Yolande has no confusion however about the career path she is embarked on. Or how her time volunteering with Conservation Volunteers has helped her gain an edge in this direction. “We had done lots of research on the tree disease; Phytophthora root-rot (also know as ‘dieback’). The text books explained it all, but it’s different when you are there, doing it yourself. We were actually injecting trees with a control agent and working alongside well known ‘dieback’ researchers.”

Another aspect of the Natural Resources industry that had not been exposed through her academic studies was the involvement of the local community. “I was great to work with these community organisations, you met people who still cared. That’s so important. And their impact is very significant. They could show us different methods they’d tried and those that had proven successful.” Further expounding the match between the academic and the practical, Yolande said, “We read about minimising erosion, for example, but on project you ’re doing it and the theory all just clicks in.”

Conservation volunteering was seen as strong way to show an interest in the field, “that you were willing to work and get your hands dirty. ”

Yolande is hoping that this hands-on experience will stand her in good stead when she enters the job market, after graduating this July. If the offers don’t come rolling in immediately, she expects she’ll be back volunteering again, to build up her body of knowledge and chances of employment.

It’s easy to get involved simply: