Green Corps has started working in the Bunyip State Park and will soon move into the bushfire-affected areas.By Bridget Cook
A GROUP of young conservation volunteers has moved into the Bunyip State Park to undertake projects and help rehabilitate burnt areas from the February fires.
The Green Corps consists of nine members, many from the Cardinia Shire, aged between 17 and 20 who have been a team for more than five weeks.
They recently began working alongside Parks Victoria’s Gembrook Office, under the supervision of Andy Musgrove and Greg Young, to assist with a range of projects in the reserve, before moving into burnt areas by the end of this month.
Some of the projects they have been involved in include clearing tracks, the commencement of a new bridal horse-riding track, feeding helmeted honey eaters, cleaning parts of Labertouche creek and assisting Parks Victoria’s Olinda office in a working bee to assist with removing ivy.
In the coming weeks the group will work their way into the bushfire-affected areas to help build new tracks and control erosion and weeds.
Green Corps Team Leader Victoria Hemming said she had been impressed with how well the team had developed since coming together just over five weeks ago.
“They have picked up so many skills and are keen to learn more and more,” she said.
The team, who call themselves the Bunyip Bushfire Recovery Group, are one of three Green Corps teams that have started work in bushfire-affected areas, with one in Kinglake and one at Wilson’s Promontory.
Ms Hemming said all the youth involved had a range of goals they hoped to achieve over the next five months with the Green Corps.
“One of them hopes to make it into the seasonal firefighter team employed by the DSE, another hopes to join the council, another hopes to continue education to get them into the environmental sector, while another is passionate about permaculture,” she said.
“Some aren’t exactly sure what they want to do, but are giving it a shot to see if the program might give them some ideas.”
They will be working alongside members from the Cardinia Environmental Coalition, Kurth Kiln, Trust for Nature, Conservation Volunteers and the Parks Victoria Staff to do their bit for the environment.
“When they finish they will not only have fantastic skills and have made some industry contacts but they will also have a Certificate I in Conservation and Land Management,” Ms Hemming said.
