(Being
part of the 2010 Annual Report and presented at the AGM/Feral Feast on the
21/03/2010)
[Word version 328KB]
What a privilege it has been to be the Chair of the Southern Otway
Landcare Network! Even though, we are
just a voluntary, locally focussed, community group, we have a lofty aim: to
protect and repair our environment so that we can live, work and enjoy a
healthy, productive, balanced landscape.
Why are we so tenacious in our belief that we have the capacity to
achieve this aim? The answer is the thread that binds this Annual Report
together. Please read it and share in our achievements and frustrations.
I’ve
used the word tenacious because one of SOLN’s strengths is the fact that
we are resolutely engaged with our community and we have the capacity to think
in the long-term. Riparian restoration,
weed management, healthy soils and increased biodiversity are not the kind of
environmental services that can be achieved by short-term thinking. After 13
years, it feels like we’ve only just got started. There’s much to be done.
Looking
back over the last year, the Government’s shrinking level of engagement with
comprehensive Natural Resource Management strategies has been characterised by
massive knowledge loss and an appalling lack of continuity. It’s rare for SOLN
to have relationships with the same Government Agency officers for more than 18
months. Many of the people we had relationships with have been retrenched. By
default, SOLN is evolving into the primary custodian of the healthy environmental values that can
sometimes be taken for granted in the Otways (clean air, clean water, natural
habitat, greenhouse mitigation biodiversity, to name the obvious). These are
values that sustain our existence. They are easily destroyed and require
constant vigilance. There should be no doubt about the importance of the work
that SOLN does. Strong connections and access to a healthy natural environment
are inseparable from the social and economic health of our community.
SOLN is an integral
component of an empowered community in charge of its own destiny. But we often
wish that our State and Federal Governments (they are our Governments)
would recognise the logic and cost effectiveness of supporting our work. If
they did, we could spend fewer hours writing funding applications and more
hours maintaining a healthy environment. Ballooning National debt combined with
top-down policy frameworks, would indicate further funding cuts within a
funding environment that is unlikely to improve. SOLN has responded to the lack
of Government support by developing an innovative 5-year Strategic Plan aimed
at making our operations financially sustainable
The
official briefing in Melbourne for the Federal Government’s Caring for our
Country (CFOC) Business Plan 2010-11 was a pitiful demonstration of policy
failure indicative of the very limited influence and consequent empty rhetoric
of Federal Ministers Garrett and Burke. I wouldn’t waste time criticising it
here, were it not that its most obvious flaw provides an opportunity for
highlighting how misaligned this level of top-down thinking is with our
bottom-up strengths and real achievements.
The
CFOC document itself is hardly a Business Plan because Australia has yet to
develop a business framework that treats the maintenance of core environmental
values as marketable services. Instead, the Federal Government has made a list
of short-term priority ‘outcomes’ for competition. There is an underlying
assumption that competition somehow guarantees these outcomes will be achieved.
With such a meagre bucket of short-term funds for short-term projects, there
are few winners. The biggest loser is our National Capacity to protect our
natural environment. CFOC is now one of the only sources of Federal Government
funding for Landcare. This means that to secure any level of project funding,
SOLN will have to compete against our traditional partners such as Government Agencies
and large regional organisations, such as Catchment Management Authorities.
Even
if we are successful, the funding is short-term and project specific. Apart
from a small project administration fee, the funds cannot be used to pay
co-ordinators or to maintain our delivery infrastructure.
We
can use the Federal Government’s own words to describe the importance of having
a pre-existing capacity with skills and experience in order to complete and
maintain, even short term, projects:
Achieving a healthy, better protected, well managed and resilient
environment requires us to combine our experience, knowledge, skills and
capacity.
CFOC Business Plan
2010-11, page 12
What’s
overlooked is an acknowledgement, or understanding, of where this capacity
might come from and how it might be maintained or nurtured. In short, there is
no Federal funding for maintaining the capacity to deliver any form of
‘outcome’. Consequently, we are now seeing the capacity of regional
organisations and other Landcare Networks wither and die.
The
heart of the problem is the gaping contradiction in the fact that SOLN has
exactly the kind of capacity that our politicians claim they want to build, but
when it has been built, they are not prepared to support, or maintain it.
Without a viable market for our environmental services or even a period of
transition, our options require imagination and stronger, wider partnerships.
It
has taken 13 years for SOLN to build up an efficient support and delivery
infrastructure. Let’s list what this entails because the list goes someway
towards demonstrating what a small, but effective Landcare Network with
experience, knowledge, skills i.e. capacity, actually looks like:
·
One full-time, and 3 part time highly skilled Co-ordinators
who attend to a wide range of daily enquires from members, the public, local
and State Government Agencies, and university research teams;
·
An efficient project management office, effective procedures
and processes, performance measurement rationales, well kept records and a
vehicle for site visits and for carrying tools, equipment, seedlings etc.
around our region;
·
A recognised seed bank of species with accurate local
provenance;
·
A nursery and support centre where we grow and store
seedlings for re-vegetation projects and store equipment such as feral cat
traps, seed cleaning, and propagation;
·
Productive partnerships and liaison with government agencies
as well as business, convening, chairing and participating in Reference and
special interest Groups;
·
Good Governance through an expert and committed Committee of
Management with a rigorous 5-year Strategic Plan aligned with regional
Catchment Management Authority strategies;
·
Educational programs (e.g. Waterwatch, seed identification
and propagation, fern spore harvesting), internships, staff development
programs, participation in university research;
·
Engagement with Indigenous community (e.g. Richard Collopy’s
launch of the Barham River Festival and the Barham River Backwater planting
day)
·
Detailed mapping and GIS of restoration projects, weed,
pests, and soil hotspots;
·
Reference Library, local field guides, local brochures,
local booklets and educational packages;
·
Subscriber website, electronic and printed newsletters,
media releases;
·
Event and Festival organisation;
·
Individual property planning, catchment management planning
and participation in Local Government and regional planning;
·
Submissions about local issues and perspectives to Government
White Papers, Regional and National Strategies;
·
Fund raising through grant applications, submissions and
income generating projects.
In
early April 2009 we had the chance to meet Minister Burke and present the case
for Landcare. We followed up with letters to both Ministers Garrett and Burke.
Not only were our arguments ignored but the weak responses to the critical
issues we raised were met with political spin about the importance of
continuing community engagement in similarly worded form letters.
The
blame for such systemic policy failure must also lie with Landcare itself. The
Victorian Farm Trees and Landcare Association (VFTLA) has a limited capacity to
influence Federal policy and has maintained a ‘business as usual’ approach. The
absence of any form of effective representative body now means that there is
little or no appreciation, by the Ministerial decision makers, of what Landcare
is, does and would like to be. SOLN and its member Groups are now supporting
former SOLN President, Roger Hardley in his attempts to address this level of
ignorance through the recently formed Victorian Landcare Council.
Following
our meeting with Minister Bourke, the Group Presidents met to review and update
our 5 year Strategic Plan. The SOLN 5-year Strategic Plan 2009-2013 has now
been completed. The Plan clearly states our vision, goals, principles and work
plans. I commend this document to you
and congratulate our lateral thinking Group Presidents on its timely development.
In this Annual Report I would draw your attention to a particular element of
the vision (from the Strategic Plan) that arose during a general discussion
about building on SOLN’s strengths (i.e. highly skilled staff, strong
partnerships, relatively
healthy ecosystems, and native habitats).
The idea is to work towards developing an Otway
Sustainability Centre. The concept is supported by the following
principles:
1. A community should invent its own future:
to survive and thrive;
2. It is best to build on the skills and assets that you've got;
3. A sustainable approach will bring long-term viability and benefits to
the region.
The Centre will be a regional hub providing the
supporting infrastructure for community groups and Government Agencies to work
together to:
·
Build
the capacity of the community to support and enhance the local environment and
adapt to global climate change;
·
Deliver
learning and change programs to develop community resilience and boost the
local economy;
·
Maintain
and grow local jobs in the sustainable, natural resource management, river
health, environmental auditing and monitoring, geo-spatial mapping,
biodiversity and renewable energy sectors;
·
Provide
in-the-field ‘green future' skills and job training by offering the practical
components for existing certified training packages;
·
Develop
training programs around best practice environmental management, auditing and
monitoring, geo-spatial mapping, soil health, community gardens and sustainable
technologies;
·
Provide
the community with Regional Resource/Information Centre weed identification,
how to collect and propagate local seeds, where to get indigenous seedlings,
who to talk to about installing solar hot water, audits etc;
·
Test
the commercial viability of sustainable enterprises, small landholdings and
renewable technologies (links with China);
A
large proportion of the 3,250 square kilometers of the Colac Otway Shire is
National Park, including coastline, rainforests and lakes.
The main industries have been Agriculture, forestry
and fishing. All have declined markedly in the last 2 years with the cessation
of clear fell logging in 2008 and the decreasing viability of farming. Tourism,
the next biggest employer, is not necessary a stable industry and is at risk of
shocks from pandemics (SARS and Swine flu etc), climate change (rising sea
levels) as well as residual impacts from the Global Financial Crisis. Rather
than find other jobs or diversify, the majority of workers from these two
industry groups are now unemployed. The unemployment rate has risen since 2007
and sharply since January 09. Colac Otway has a lower average income level than
surrounding Shires and the Victorian average. Similarly, education level is
lower because of the lack of educational institutions and opportunities in the
region.
The Otway Sustainability
Centre will seed and nourish a developing green economy in the Colac Otway
Region by providing the necessary training and resources. Benefits to the area will include the direct
contribution from the activities of the Centre: this is the first step towards
a regional transformation where economic benefits will flow from the
development of a centre of excellence with a focus on Sustainability. The
Centre will apply the principles of sustainable design to the community
itself. This initiative will increase
the attractiveness of the area as a destination for eco-tourism and residential
habitation, with consequent increases in revenue for the Shire.
In addition, the project
addresses a serious decline in the training of skilled environmental
consultants. Dr Andrew Campbell, former Executive Director of Land and Water
Australia, has identified the causes of this decline as shrinking university
budgets, falling enrolments, and a breakdown in the technical capability within
many State Agencies due to a 20-year period of restructuring and
rationalisation where little has been spent on staff development.
The long-term approach taken
by the Southern Otway Landcare Network (SOLN) has meant that it has been taking
on the role of trainer for many contracted Government Agency officers. The
Otway Sustainability Centre will formalise this level of training using a
pay-for-service model.
·
Income
stream for SOLN
·
More
resilient community with more (non-tourist) visitors
·
Creation
of new jobs in the sustainable space
·
Development
of new ‘green’ industries (wind, wave, solar, regional auditing etc)
To
date we have made a series of presentations to the DSE, Colac Otway Shire and
(more importantly) a 2-day facilitated workshop with local community leaders
(gratefully funded by RMIT). The group developed a series of scenarios for the
future of the Otways. I’m pleased to say that the concept of the Otway Sustainability Centre
is now gaining traction and is supported by our community leaders. Because it
is a collective concept, we are looking to Colac Otway Shire to take ownership
of the idea and work with us to develop a business plan. In the meantime, SOLN
has funded a Training and Assessment Certificate IV Course for our
Co-ordinators (and Chair) so that we can begin to deliver Certificated
Training.
This is just one example of the manifold ways in which SOLN is acting as
both a facilitator and a catalyst for revitalising our community. Another
demonstration that has had flow-on effects was the success of the inaugural
Barham River Festival held on 28th February 2009.
Richard
Collopy (a
representative of the traditional owners) opened the Festival. More than 400
people attended and celebrated the natural beauty of the Barham River and its
catchment. Many Otway residents and newcomers reported that they understood
more about the fruitful partnerships and complex challenges that all the
Agencies encounter when looking after the health of the river.
Denise
Hooke, President of the Otway Barham Catchment Landcare Group (OBCLG),
is to be congratulated for her efforts in organising the Festival.
Nevertheless, the Festival would not have happened were it not for the
financial support of Barwon Water. After the decision to have another
Festival in 2011, I am pleased to report that Barwon Water has indicated that
it will fund the Festival again.
When Festival participants were asked to comment on their aspirations for the Barham River, there was a strong call for greater access to the river and for a shared bicycle/walking path as well as for a natural linkage corridor between the forest and the estuary to enhance in-stream habitat.
The
rejection of the proposed Great
Ocean Green housing/golf development by planning Minister, Justin
Madden, has meant that the riparian restoration of the lower reaches of the
Barham River could now proceed. The first action was organised by the SOLN team
and involved the fencing and restoration of the lower estuary (backwater) of
the Barham River with the planting of swamp scrub (see Co-ordinators Report).
Acting
on the feedback from the Barham River
Festival, the Otway
Barham Reference Group decided to incorporate a shared walking and bicycle
path into the riparian restoration of the lower reaches of the river. A shared
path will provide better and safer access to the Barham River and more physical
connectivity with the town of Apollo Bay and Marengo. It will also to
facilitate a closer connection to the river’s riparian restoration.
Specific
objectives will include:
o
Design
and construction of a shared walking and bicycle path to connect Apollo Bay, Marengo with the Barham
River;
o
Development
of Community Capacity to sustain and expand restoration through educational
programs;
o
Willow
and weed removal (to begin in March 2010 as determined appropriate by CCMA);
o
Fencing
the areas associated with riparian health (where necessary);
o
Streamside
re-vegetation with indigenous and locally sourced species appropriate to the
ecological values of the river;
o
Maintenance
of re-vegetated areas;
o
Weed
eradication and on-going control;
o
Provision
for off-stream watering points for stock (where necessary);
o
Continuous
monitoring of river health according to the index of stream quality;
The
project will be co-ordinated by SOLN as a member of the Otway Barham
Reference Group. SOLN’s expertise in determining what is environmentally sustainable and
what will, or will not, contribute to the long-term health of the whole river
system comes from the combined expertise of our partners (Colac Otway Shire,
CCMA, Barwon Water) and from the considerable experience of its Co-ordinators
and members.
This is a proposal that will contribute to the health, not only of the town, but also of the natural ecologies that depend on the efficient operation of the whole river system. It is possible because SOLN has the vision, knowledge and skill to develop strong and effective partnerships. Ambitious as this project is, it is a component of the longer-term vision of the Otway Barham Catchment Landcare Group to restore the whole Barham River so that it forms an unbroken habitat corridor from source to sea.
Here you can see an example of how the ‘capacity’ to put on a Festival can lead to the capacity to identify and act on the community aspirations that arose from the conduct of the Festival. We can do this because we are engaged with our community. The facilitating role that SOLN has taken with bushfire preparation is a further example.
Almost exactly a year ago Victoria
experienced catastrophic fires. The Otways have recently been identified as an
area at high risk. According
to fire experts at Melbourne University, the catastrophic fires such as Black Friday, in 1939, Ash Wednesday, in 1983, and Black Saturday,
in 2009, have all
occurred after a lengthy period of very low rainfall, extreme temperatures, a fierce north wind, followed by a south westerly change.
Most of the people living
outside the town of Apollo Bay and those that live in the small settlements
such as Wye River, live in steep, deeply forested river valleys, or on ridges,
with only one narrow road in, or out. According to CFA Fire Chief, Colin
Coleman, the residents cannot expect the CFA to go down these roads when a fire
is approaching.
SOLN is the network
that actually connects the landholders in the Otways. SOLN has facilitated a
series Community Fire Guard workshops led by our members and co-ordinated by
Aurel Dessewffy (CFA). Overall, we have been exasperated by the lack of
co-ordination between Colac Otway Shire, the CFA and the State Government. It
would appear that each of these Agencies is acting independently to protect
itself from litigation rather than acting to save lives. Consequently the
public are receiving contradictory messages and don’t know who to trust.
The
State Government has developed a fire rating system that makes no sense to our
members because there are no real or practical points of distinction between
the actions required for Code Red, Extreme, Severe and Very High. The State
Government has also instigated a mobile phone warning system. However, the
Southern Otway region has very poor mobile phone coverage and many of our members
have city billing addresses and will not be sent the warnings.
SOLN has been proactive in
facilitating research by a team led by Dr
Yoko Akama, who leads a design team from RMIT. The team has been working with
the Otway Community to develop effective communication and planning strategies in
the event of the inevitable catastrophic bushfire. So far this led to several
bushfire awareness days in January 2010 and to the development and testing of
what are referred to as ‘Design Scaffolds’ or methods such as postcards with
written scenarios for prompting discussion and unlocking local knowledge.
Festivals, fire preparation,
river restoration, connections between people and the natural environment,
communication and deep learning - all come from SOLNs capacity to imagine a
better future and to work out ways of making it happen. SOLN has been fortunate
in being able to attract highly skilled staff. Without our paid co-ordinators,
our ability to maintain our level of service will be severely constrained.
Without
the impeccable work of Dianne Inglis in managing our Support Centre and
nursery, we would not have seen the centre develop into the showcase that it is
today and we would not have the fabulous relationship with our volunteer
‘Townies’ group who work away tirelessly in any weather. Without our Pest
Plants and Animals Co-ordinator (Renaissance man), Luke Hynes, we would
not have such a comprehensive Strategic Plan and we would not have seen the
Agencies sitting around the same table and working from the same maps. We would
not have the GIS data for roadsides and we would not have had the Group
meetings or information exchanges that fed into the Strategic Plan. Nor would
we have had a band at the Chrstmas party. Luke’s, calm, even personality has
won over farmers, counter-culturalists, entrenched Government Agency men and
women.
Sadly,
we are losing our Team Leader, Anna O’Brien first, to adventures in
South America and then to a new life, perhaps in the city. For 3 years SOLN has
been richly rewarded by Anna’s humour and her calm and professional efficiency.
She has developed procedures that strengthen SOLN and lessen the risks to
shocks of staff turnover. Anna has charmed all who have encountered her and she
has been a wonderful ambassador for promoting SOLN’s work and achievements.
From my own perspective, she has made the job of Chairing SOLN, an effortless
pleasure. Anna has that uncanny ability to anticipate what and when something
is required and then provide the gentlest reminders of what’s been forgotten or
overlooked. She has put in many unpaid
hours and has worked above and beyond our expectations. Thank you Anna, you
have left your mark. SOLN wishes you every success and happiness wherever you
find yourself and we hope that from time to time you will pass through and
admire some of the many projects you have helped facilitate.
Nevertheless, we are also
fortunate to have a Community Education Co-ordinator, Kristen Lees to
step into the role of Team Leader. Kristen is one of those people who gets on
with the job in hand and ensures that it is done professionally and with
excellence. Kristen was been largely responsible for nurturing SOLN’s closer
ties with the Indigenous community. In 2009 she developed interpretative signage for the Barham Backwaters and
Wild Dog Estuary and worked with Music festival to become carbon neutral
through contracts with Landcare’s Carbon Smart using a local carbon offset
planting in Wongarra. Kristen has developed our Seed Bank and the Waterwatch Program to
enviable standards. She can take credit for the success of the Barham Backwaters planting days by cleverly aligning
it with School’s Tree Day and National Tree Day activities. 150 students came
on the Friday with rotating NRM education activities and 40 volunteers on
Saturday with more than 8000 trees planted in total. She also helped facilitate
the ‘Seeds to
Success’ training program held over 4 months in 2009. We are confident that
Kristen will make a fine Team Leader in 2010.
The SOLN Committee of Management has met monthly over the last year. Group representatives have contributed a total of 1438.5 unpaid, voluntary hours to the process of ensuring thorough and rigorous Governance for SOLN (see table). The hours recorded do not include driving from Hordern Vale or Wye River and back again and the countless other inconveniences that go with putting the needs of a community before your own.
If both the Federal and State Governments were to match the value of these hours with funding contributions for maintaining our paid staff, then SOLN would be in a far better position to maintain the level of capacity I have outlined.
I would like to thank Sherryl Smith (President of the Wye to Wongarra Landcare Group) and Ken Forrester (Apollo Bay Landcare Group) for representing SOLN at short notice. Peter Gardiner for his work as Treasurer as well as Denise Hooke for her thorough and most timely work with the HR Committee. Somehow Denise found the time to organise the Barham River Festival on top of her numerous other Community activities. Ken Forester and Peter Gardiner have consistently worked the Project Committee and this has been the engine room of SOLN.
Sincere thanks to the other enthusiastic COM members, Carole Webley, Fiona Nelson, Bruce Costin, Doug Watson, John Marriner, David Churchill and more recently, Ros Jamieson, without whom we would not have been able to make such well informed or balanced decisions.
Key: √ = Attended, A = Apology, L = Leave, X
= No Show
|
2008 total |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Volunteer Hours (since 1
Jan 09) |
Otway Barham Landcare
group |
|||||||||||||
Simon
Pockley |
134 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
532 |
Denise
Hooke |
122 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
A |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
208 |
David
Churchill |
42.5 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
69 |
Apollo Bay Landcare group |
|||||||||||||
Ken
Forrester |
181.5 |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
183 |
Fiona
Nelson |
74 |
√ |
A |
A |
A |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
39.5 |
Carole
Webley |
95 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
170 |
Ros
Jamieson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
√ |
4 |
Hordern Vale – Glenaire
Landcare group |
|||||||||||||
Bruce
Costin |
21.5 |
A |
√ |
A |
√ |
A |
√ |
A |
X |
A |
A |
X |
26 |
Doug
Watson |
16 |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
A |
A |
A |
X |
√ |
√ |
A |
35 |
John
Marriner |
1 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
A |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
45 |
Debra
Moore |
0 |
A |
A |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
0 |
Wongarra to Wye Landcare
group |
|||||||||||||
Peter
Gardiner |
80.5 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
43 |
Sherryl
Smith |
26 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
A |
√ |
√ |
√ |
85 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,439.5 |
I have alluded to the many partnerships that are critical to SOLN’s capacity to act. Here I would single out for thanks and congratulations: Barwon Water, Colac Otway Shire (COS), Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA), and Parks Victoria for their support and participation in Reference Groups such as the Otway Barham Reference Group, where the Catchment Management Framework has emerged as a model for other Networks working to improve and maintain whole river systems.
Last, but not least, I would like to
thank our volunteers and you, the members of Landcare. We would not exist
without you. Your ideas and enthusiasm drives us. You have been out there
working in wind and rain when others would stay at home. When positions are
declared vacant we hope you step forward and take a turn at the helm of this
wonderful organisation.
Simon
Pockley PhD
Chair: Southern Otway Landcare Network (SOLN) http://soln.org
[email] simonpockley@gmail.com
[mobile] 0418 575 525