COMMENTS - PLEASE ENTER PROGRAM NAME IN SUBJECT LINE

Conservation Volunteer Experience (Australia/USA) – An Award Winning Program

by Colin Jackson, Chief Executive, Conservation Volunteers Australia

Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) was founded in 1982 in Ballarat in the State of Victoria in Australia where the Head Office of our organisation remains to this day. From modest beginnings with a handful of interested volunteers who wanted to “do something” for the environment, CVA has become a powerhouse in community-based conservation programs.

Each year, over 10,000 volunteers from across Australia and around the world join our programs. Volunteers enjoy taking part in active, productive and well-managed team-based activities which really do make a difference. With an average of around a million trees planted and over 100,000 volunteer days contributed annually, CVA produces real conservation results, educates and informs the community, and empowers it to provide practical help with the significant environmental problems our planet is facing.

In addition to tree planting, CVA teams help build walking tracks and trails, remove tonnes of introduced weeds each year, restore heritage buildings and gardens, and complete hundreds of flora and fauna surveys each year. All activities are team-based, and CVA’s professional staff provide the on-site training and supervision required to enable unskilled volunteers to complete each project effectively.

Part of our growth involved looking beyond our borders to see what we could learn from organisations overseas. In 1988, we undertook our first exchange program with the California Conservation Corps (CCC). Unlike CVA, the CCC is funded by the State of California and operates only in that part of the USA.

CVA is a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation which is responsible for generating all operating funds each year. We operate across the whole of Australia, and even expanded into New Zealand in 2006. However, there are significant synergies between our two organisations to make an exchange program both successful and highly valued for both organisations.

Like CVA, the CCC started from small beginnings and has grown to its current size with residential and nonresidential bases throughout the state. Modelled after the original federal Civilian Conservation Corps created in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt, today's California program was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on July 7, 1976. Governor Brown envisaged the program as "a combination Jesuit seminary, Israeli kibbutz and Marine Corps boot camp" – a little different from CVA’s more laid-back (read: Australian) philosophy!

Each year the CCC hires 3,300 corpsmembers between the ages of 18 and 25. They earn a minimum wage of US$8/hour. More than 100,000 young men and women have been a part of the CCC since 1976. The CCC is one of California’s premier emergency response forces, providing corpsmembers to help in times of fire, flood and pest infestations.

Conservation Volunteers Australia and the California Conservation Corps have been exchanging teams regularly since that first leap of faith in 1988. The exchanges provide an opportunity for CVA volunteers and CCC members to travel to a different country and experience a different culture while applying their conservation skills. Importantly, they also offer staff of both organisations the chance to benchmark their own skills and knowledge; to expand their personal horizons; and to take pride in representing their country and their organisation overseas.

In 2009, Rotary e-Club One of D5450 (Rotary e-Club One) generously offered to partner CVA on this program over a three year period. The support of Rotary enables CVA to expand its promotion through community youth networks, and assists with delivery of CVA marketing.

During August through to November 2009, CVA and the CCC coordinated an exchange of volunteers and corpsmembers. CVA sent two teams to California, with a total of 11 participants. In return, the CCC sent a team of 10 participants including Crew Leader Ben Herbert to Australia.

CCC members joined teams of local and international volunteers on projects in Melbourne, Geelong and Bendigo in the State of Victoria, and in Adelaide in the State of South Australia. The team assisted on a variety of conservation projects in a diverse range of locations.

In Victoria, the team from California joined CVA’s Bushfire Recovery Program which is helping with restoration projects following the devastating bushfires in February 2009. The opportunity to help with a project like this, and the response from local people to the help provided by these international volunteers, was a highlight. The Californians also enjoyed projects in a range of other locations including the Bellarine Peninsula, Hexam and Redesdale in Victoria, before travelling on to South Australia. Here the team helped with conservation projects along the spectacular west coast, including boardwalk repair, beach clean-up and weed removal from dunes.

The CVA volunteers who travelled to California had an equally exciting program. Their activities included taking part in the Salmon Restoration Project, a long-running CCC activity which is making a real difference to salmon population levels. Typical CCC restoration projects include modifying barriers to fish passage, planting trees in the riparian zones, reducing sediment sources, stabilising stream banks, building livestock exclusion fences, constructing in-stream habitat for pool development and spawning gravel retention, and installing logs and root wads that serve as cover structures in pool and flat water habitats. Restoration work is focused on streams and watersheds that have the greatest ability to increase threatened and endangered salmon populations over the long term.

Other projects included trail work and weed control in some of California’s great National Parks, along with the chance for some sightseeing in locations such as the famous Yosemite National Park.

Perhaps the program, and the benefits it produces, are best summed up by one of CVA’s Australian Team Leaders, Tom Hazell, who accompanied volunteers to California. Tom said, “The CCC is a really amazing organisation. The staff show wonderful leadership and mentoring. The education programs at both centres were a great example of giving Corps members a better chance, and the teaching staff were excellent.”

Tom also said, “The corpsmembers themselves are very interesting and friendly, coming from diverse backgrounds with varied experiences. The way they work as a group was astounding and the leaders among them have great potential. We were very impressed and enjoyed their company immensely. It was a privilege to lead this program and will remain a very special time in my life.”

Programs for 2010 are advertised now on CVA’s website, with departures in August and September once again generously supported by Rotary e-Club One. This program is an ideal opportunity to gain international volunteer experience, especially for anyone aiming for a career in conservation or youth-based programs. At only A$1,000 plus airfare for a fully inclusive 4-week program, this is a fabulous opportunity for some meaningful travel!

If you’re aged 18 – 25 (or know someone in this age group looking for a great opportunity), please visit the Conservation Volunteers Australia website at www.conservationvolunteers.com.au/volunteer/California.htm

or freecall (Australia) 1800 032 501 for an information pack.

This program is generously sponsored by Rotary eClub One as its contribution to the Rotary ‘Preserve Planet Earth’ initiative, and managed by Conservation Volunteers Australia.