Corporate Environmental Volunteer Case Study

Corporate Environmental Volunteer Case Study
Landcare Australia’s Corporate Volunteer Challenge Day
Middle Head Rescue 22nd May 2014
Who: 100 corporate volunteers from 10 Landcare Australia support companies provided over 600+
volunteer hours of intensive bush regeneration.
What: The day aimed to get people excited about corporate volunteering, help tackle invasive weed issues
at Middle Head and actively engage people to help protect & repair our precious environment. The
activities also educated employees about the variety of work Landcare Groups undertake across Australia
and the importance of creating a volunteering culture at work.
Where:
Middle Head Sydney Harbour Park, Mosman
Who:
100 corporate volunteers from 10 of Landcare Australia’s partner companies provided over
600 volunteer hours of intensive bush regeneration.
What:
The day aimed to get people excited about corporate volunteering, help tackle invasive
weed issues at Middle Head and actively engage people to help protect & repair our
precious environment. The guest speakers and activities helped the employees learn about
the variety of work Landcare groups undertake across Australia and the importance of
creating a volunteering culture.
Where:
Middle Head Sydney Harbour National Park, Mosman
Event Sponsors:
Konica Minolta and Telstra
Event Supporters:
Taylors’ Wines
Community Partners:
Landcare Australia, Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife and NSW
National Parks and Wildlife Service - The CEV activities were lead by Parks
Rangers, Field officers and local volunteers - people that volunteer on a
regular basis to help protect and repair “their backyard”.
Watch the 2013 video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoSRNITGKrY
Event Supporters:
Landcare Australia’s corporate partners and their employees really do understand that together we can
make a positive difference to improving our natural environment.
On the 22nd May 2014, over 100 people gathered at Middle Head National Park for Landcare Australia’s
fifth Corporate Challenge Event. The event, sponsored by Konica Minolta and Telstra, was a fantastic
opportunity for corporate teams to get involved in environmental volunteering, have fun, network, and
make a difference to a local bushland site.
Sydney Harbour National Park is a national park comprising parts of Sydney Harbour, its foreshores and
various islands. The park lies within the Sydney metropolitan area and was created in piecemeal fashion
during the 20th century. Much of the Harbour’s foreshores are affected by urbanisation; what remained
was preserved partly because of the presence of military bases, and partly because of the work of
environmental volunteer groups.
Teams from Konica Minolta (led by Managing Director, David Cooke), Telstra, Westpac, Arxxus, Salesforce,
Fujitsu, PwC Australia, Jemena, BNP Paribas and Staples were joined by Landcare Australia staff, National
Parks and Wildlife Service Rangers and volunteers, and a team from the Foundation for National Parks and
Wildlife.
Middle Head National Park is home to a number of forts and tunnels, which were previously inaccessible to
the public for over 50 years. After 5 years of restoration work undertaken by NPWS and volunteers –
including many corporate volunteering days – the forts were almost ready to present to the community to
visit and learn about Australia’s military history.
Many hands made the job easier as volunteers teamed up to help restore this unique bushland park and
prepare the forts for Open Day. Pathways were cleared of weeds, as volunteers tackled huge areas of
asparagus fern. Other teams focused on presentation of the forts, including rubbing back rust on the iron
trimmings, and polishing and coating in oil to prevent further rust. Over 200 seedlings were planted in 20
minutes! Volunteers worked hard to earn their lunch, sweating up a storm as they dug deep and put all
their energy into their work, and getting the site into perfect condition for the open day.
A delicious spread of food was enjoyed as everyone stretched their muscles and enjoyed a break over
lunch. A round of Environmental Trivia was played before moving into afternoon activities, which included
a wildlife display, Indigenous games and a guided tour of the forts. Everyone gathered later for networking
drinks and certificate presentation to thank everyone for their amazing efforts.
It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces again this year that had attended previous challenge events,
and lovely to introduce new volunteers to corporate environmental volunteering. Many volunteers
expressed interest in bringing their families back on the weekend to attend the open day – and to show
their children their hard work. Overall it was another incredibly successful Landcare Challenge event, with
people asking “when is the next one?”
Event Supporters:
Middle Head Rescue Fast Facts:

2 ha of land rehabilitated by removing noxious weeds allowing the natural bushland to regenerate

10 Corporate Teams signed up with over 100 volunteers joining us on the day

20 native animals, just some of our most precious wildlife were personally introduced to the corporate
volunteers

200 native seedlings including provenance grass, shrubs and trees planted in just 20 minutes

Companies contributed 100 volunteer days in just one day- undertaking important bush regen work

Historical restoration work was undertaken with the forts buffed and polished for the Official Forts
Open Day, attended by NSW Minister for the Environment, Rob Stokes.
Landcare Australia would like to thank all corporate volunteers and event
supporters Konica Minolta, Telstra and of course Taylors’ Wines for providing inkind support, to help make the day a great success.
Landcare Australia’s Corporate Environmental Volunteer (CEV) Program
Landcare Australia’s popular corporate environmental volunteering program has been running for over
twenty years. Corporate volunteer teams across Australia have partnered with Landcare Australia to plant
over 35,000 trees, assisting in eradicating noxious weeds and helping to restore and reinvigorate numerous
sites across Australia.
Landcare Australia’s Workplace Giving Program (WPG)
Generous donations to Landcare Australia from workplace givers all around the country are pooled to
maximize on ground environmental projects and support Landcare volunteer’s efforts. Employee
contributions from some of Australia’s largest companies are enabling these groups to purchase local
provenance native seedlings, trees, shrubs and groundcovers, construct fences to protect habitats and
increase biodiversity as well as involve the wider community in local Landcare activities.
If you would like more information about how your company can get involved with Landcare Australia
please contact Odessa O’Brien
Event Supporters:

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