In November, an invitation was received for Tony as the Environment Officer of the Mitsubishi 4WD Club to attend, with five other members, a function to be held in the Roe Function Room of the Matilda Bay Restaurant. This was held on Friday December 4^th to recognize the 4,000 people who volunteer with the Department of Environment and Conservation each year.

 The Awards were presented by the Minister for the Environment and Conservation Ms Donna Faragher.  After an introduction from Mr. Jim Sharp, Deputy Director General for Parks and Conservation Services, Mr. Richard Wilkes gave a Welcome to Country speech. Both men expressed their appreciation for the  volunteers working together with the Department and indigenous people to conserve and maintain the health of the rich variety of unique flora and fauna that this State has to offer. There is recognition by all parties that it is important to conserve habitat for the birds and animals.

 Mr. Wilkes told us of the bird and animal totems for which he is responsible. He is involved in two current projects, one dealing with the return from the UK of the head of his ancestor Yagan, who was decapitated in 1832. The body was buried in the Middle Swan area and head taken to the UK from where it has now been returned for burial in WA.  The second project relates to the preservation of a sacred site located in an area scheduled for housing development in the Darling Range. He also provided the original names for Matilda Bay and several other nearby areas.

The Minister gave  glowing  praise for volunteers. She provided statistics that 4,000 volunteers gave 426,000 hours of valued invaluable service last year. The strong commitment of these volunteers to this biodiverse State is  very  appreciated.   She summed up with “I wish to acknowledge the fantastic work of all volunteers and say THANK YOU”.

ELEVEN individuals or groups were cited for an Award with the merit of each one being listed by the proposer. Volunteers were awarded for work at the State Herbarium, the training of DEC Guides in Yanchep National Park, Weekend Wildlife Helpline, establishing a Mandurah Herbarium, preservation of threatened mammals of the South Coast, chiefly the Gilbert’s potoroo.  Shoalwater Islands Marine Parks and Penguin Island work in particular, Bibbulman Track preservation, the European cultural Heritage of the Collie Basin and the final presentation was to THE MITSUBISHI 4WD CLUB for the work done over the years at Leschenault Conservation Park – MCLEG.

We were introduced individually to the Minister and the Award was presented to Tony who then made a brief (true!) speech of thanks. He took the opportunity to make a suggestion for a Park Watch scheme to be introduced similar to Rural Watch and Neighborhood Watch. This was received with interest by the Minister and the audience murmured their agreement.  He will be having further contact with the Minister about this idea.

The profile of responsible 4WD owner’s has been raised and in particular 4WD Club membership has been given a higher status. Our Club has set a new standard against which other Clubs will be measured.

We should all be very proud.

Tony would like to express his deep appreciation to all who have supported the critically important work the Club does for DEC.

PS1: A large and very enjoyable morning tea was quietly served during the proceedings – early lunch!

ps2 – Tony is a descendant of John Septimus Roe, the first Surveyor General of WA and for whom the function room is named.  And we had our wedding reception there about 100 years ago. 

Keep Australia Beautiful Council

(part of Dept of Environment & Conservation)

Another note of recent recognition has been from Keep Australia Beautiful . The Club is now listed on their website www.kabc.wa.gov.au  on the Adopt-a-Spot list of volunteers in recognition of the work done at Leschenault Conservation Park and Wungong Regional Park. Only one other Club has so far been listed.  The Club has been provided with pairs of gloves, sharps container and tongs for individual safety when picking up rubbish. There are more rubbish bags and signs to put up to inform the public..

The close working relationship that has developed over the past years with CALM  known now as DEC benefits the Club enormously. Firstly, we are permitted to use tracks that are off limits to the general off road driver for training and recreation and when doing the scheduled clean up tasks, gloves, hats and other necessary tools for the job are provided. Club membership cards shown at DEC shops entitle members to discount on maps, books and other merchandise sold at the Crawley or South Perth offices. Three members hold a number of Park Passes which will give members a free entry to any National Park in the State where a fee is usually paid.

The dates for 2010 work at Wungong Regional Park and Leschenault Conservation Park have been set. If each member could schedule at least one of these into the diary for 2010 it will be greatly appreciated. For every 50 on-site  hours, 1 pass is allocated for the following year. We have 15 passes available to members for 2010.Those who have contributed to earning the passes receive priority request.

Stella and Tony