Call to extend Green Army programme

Graduates in the Barossa’s Green Army initiative say the programme needs to be offered for 12 months to assist them in completing certificate II in conservation land management.

Tiffany Nicolai, Jade Koek, Sami Makin, Tom Fahey, Dale Holliday, William Harris-Martin and Kealan Ranford celebrated their achievements last week and reflected on the work they had undertaken at Brookfield Conservation Park, near Blanchetown.

In reflecting on the success of the programme, they said they enjoyed the opportunity to be part of a close knit team and felt the six month programme needed to be 12 to enable them to undertake more work and develop their skills further.

The opportunity has encouraged Sami Makin of Tanunda to continue to study in the field.

She said it was great to be able to get out there and improve the environment for native animals but echoed the need to extend the programme further.

“It is too short a programme and we would be better off with a full certificate,” said Sami.

“But I will go on and complete it.”

The Federal Government initiative is designed to give people aged 17 to 24 training and experience in environmental and heritage conservation fields while exploring careers in conservation management as they participate in projects to benefit the environment.

While at Brookfield, participants undertook a lot of weed mapping and trialled different weeding methods. They also baited for foxes, surveyed native animals and researched wombat warrens in the area.

Supervisor, Mr Darren Kennedy said the group did an amazing job, particularly working through summer, and went beyond the targets.

“Within a week they all came together as a team and had numerous laughs and a lot of work was done for the environment,” said Darren.

He credited the work ethic, enthusiasm and commitment of the group to achieving some great results during the programme.

Tiffany Nicolai, of Tanunda was among the group participants and has been appointed Green Army supervisor of the Brookfield Conservation Park for the next 18 months.

With a degree in environmental science, Tiffany said the opportunity to be part of Green Army provided good practical skills and a realisation of how much work is needed to make a difference.

For the full story see this week’s edition of The Leader.