Parks Victoria Annual Report 2000-01

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3 Working with the Community and Our PartnersIn this the International Year of Volunteers, Parks Victoriacommends the help and dedication of the many passionatevolunteers who offer thousands of days of labour to helppreserve and enhance our precious parklands. The assistance,dedication and expertise of the individuals and more than700 groups who contributed to the broad range of projectscarried out in parks has been integral to our success.Friends GroupsParks Victoria greatly values and appreciates the contributionsmade by the many Friends and community groups that workwith us. Although there are more than 700 groups who assistin conservation works across the State, approximately 380have a direct relationship with parks and reserves managedby Parks Victoria. Some of the year’s highlights were:• Friends of Wyperfeld published a book, titled Wyperfeld –Australia’s First Mallee National Park.• Friends of Cathedral Range State Park played an integralrole in completing a nature trail near Cooks Mill in theCathedral Range State Park. The trail features informationpanels about the Manna Gum forest found in the area.•Friends of Lerderderg State Park used a Centenary ofFederation Community Grant to build three informationshelters in the park.• The Friends of Herring Island obtained a grant from ParksVictoria to fund a sculpture by John Gollings called FallingFence. The project included a small access trail to thelanding at the north end of the island.• New Friends group was formed at Kooyoora State Park.A full list of volunteer groups is available on the Parks Victoriawebsite at www.parkweb.vic.gov.auOther Volunteer ProgramsParks Victoria continues to develop varied and targetedprograms that are compatible with the skills and abilitiesof volunteers across a range of ages, socio-economicbackgrounds and ethnic groups. Volunteers contributed morethan 17,500 days of assistance in a diverse range of projectsacross the State. They included the following:•A near record number of volunteers participated in CleanUp Australia Day activities in parks across the State in 2001.•A record crowd of more than 10,000 people acrossMelbourne took part in Greening Australia’s Spring PlantingFestival. More than 230,000 indigenous plants wereplanted at 23 sites.• The marvellous work of Friends groups, students and othervolunteers has resulted in great improvements at HerringIsland, Westgate Park and Pipemakers Park. Albert Park’sCorroboree Tree Project has also received enthusiasticvolunteer backing.•Volunteers contributed more than 750 hours to a successfulwillow control program in Baw Baw National Park. Otheragencies including NRE and Baw Baw Alpine Resorts arenow also supporting the ongoing project.• Seawinds Nursery volunteers propagated more than 22,000indigenous plants for revegetation projects within theMornington Westernport District parks.Camp HostThe Camp Host Program, launched in 2000-2001, operatedsuccessfully at 19 sites statewide and involved more than 50volunteers. Camp Hosts play a valuable role in providingvisitor orientation and park information at campgrounds andacting as contact points for visitors and rangers. In turn,Camp Hosts have the opportunity to gain practical experiencein park and visitor management.Parks involved in the program include Hattah-KulkyneNational Park, Cape Liptrap Coastal Park, Buchan CavesReserve, The Lakes National Park, Gippsland Lakes CoastalPark, Vaughan Springs Reserve and Grampians National Park.Left to right: The Camp Host Program at Lake Mournpall, Hattah-KulkyneNational Park; Friends of Mitta Mitta; Volunteers and community groups enjoyplanting trees in many parks across Victoria.20
Work Experience VolunteersThe Green Corps program continued to make significantcontributions to parks and reserves across the State.Green Corps participants undergo a structured six-monthtraining program and on-the-job experience in parkmanagement projects.Altogether more than 70 trainees participated in theHelmeted Honeyeater habitat rehabilitation at Yellingbo, theMount Eccles Koala relocation program, Ramsar Wetlandsrestoration works, the Yarra District and Dandenong ValleyBiolinks project and works in the Wimmera Reserves.Parks Victoria Grants Program 2000-2001During the year, Parks Victoria’s Grants Program awardedover $4.2 million in grants to a variety of projects thatreached new levels of excellence and innovation. We haveestablished firm partnerships with many grant recipients,whose hard work and enthusiasm have produced someoutstanding projects.Parks Victoria awards Agency Grants to local governmentsand public land managers in Metropolitan Melbourne, whileCommunity Grants are awarded to community groups acrossVictoria. We also awarded $6,500 in Start-Up Grants to13 new groups to encourage them to look after parksand open spaces.Staff members from across Parks Victoria are trained to assessgrant applications and projects. The Grants Advisory Council,with help from the grants team, prioritises the applicationsand makes recommendations to the Minister.The Parks Victoria Grants Program is an ISO 9002 QualityAssurance Certified Program. Following a comprehensiveexternal audit in November 1999, the program receivedcertification for a further three years.This year’s highlights included:• Extension of Melbourne’s trail network, including significantadditions to the Bay Trail at Frankston, Mornington,Hobsons Bay and within the city of Bayside. Further traillinks were also established at Melton and Maribyrnong.• Five multicultural agency grants were awarded for the firsttime to a number of migrant resource centres and theCambodian Association of Victoria. The grants will be usedfor programs to introduce migrant groups to the diversityof recreational opportunities available in open spaces.•Grants funded the restoration of indigenous vegetation onLong Islands at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne,at Albion grasslands on the St Albans campus of VictoriaUniversity, on the Merri Creek escarpments and at manyother sites across the State.• Numerous community groups received grants for heritageworks on schools, gardens, halls, cemeteries and housingsettlements.Number of ProjectsTotal fundingStart-up Grants 13 6,500.00Volunteer Group Grants 143 736,570.00Community GrantsEnvironment 40 150,731.00Heritage 11 28,164.00Recreation 28 139,623.00Community Awareness 21 176,176.00Increasing Multicultural Diversity 4 13,808.00104 508,502.00Agency GrantsEnvironment and Heritage 19 1,002,960.50Multicultural 5 193,156.00Recreation 11 807,695.00Trails 10 983,550.0045 2,987,361.50TOTAL 305 4,238,933.5021
Page 1: P ARKS VICTORIA ANNUAL REPORT 2000-
Page 4 and 5: International Year of VolunteersVol
Page 6 and 7: Key AchievementsClockwise from left
Page 8 and 9: Clockwise from left: There is a gre
Page 10 and 11: 1 Chief Executive’s MessageIn thi
Page 12 and 13: Corporate GovernanceBoard of Member
Page 14 and 15: The BoardPeter BuzzardFCA, FAICD(Ch
Page 16 and 17: The ExecutiveLeft to right:Mark Sto
Page 18 and 19: 2 Protecting and Conserving Our Her
Page 20 and 21: Left: Elders from Rumbalara Aborigi
Page 24 and 25: Partnerships at WorkParks Victoria
Page 26 and 27: 4 Enhancing the Visitor ExperienceP
Page 28 and 29: School PartnershipsThe Victorian Yo
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Page 32 and 33: Nature enthusiasts can explore plen
Page 34 and 35: 5 Wildfire ManagementIn its managem
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Page 39 and 40: Compliance with Building Act 1993Pa
Page 41 and 42: Table 1: 2000-2001 Corporate Perfor
Page 43 and 44: Financial Review of Operations and
Page 45 and 46: Statement of Financial Position at
Page 47 and 48: Notes to the Financial StatementsTh
Page 49 and 50: Notes to the Financial Statements20
Page 53 and 54: Notes to the Financial StatementsAr
Page 59 and 60: Designed by Scimitar and printed by

Parks Victoria Annual Report 2000-01

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