ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, VOLUNTEER AWARDS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. How is the role of volunteers in the areas of environment and conservation acknowledged?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:55): I thank the member for Ashford for her very important question. Approximately 6,000 people currently volunteer in activities coordinated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and each year DENR facilitates a volunteer awards program to recognise the valuable work that volunteers do in conjunction with the department.

The government greatly values the role of volunteers and DENR rightly identifies their key role in the volunteer engagement strategy 'Success through partnerships', which is the overarching strategy for supporting volunteer engagement with the department.

Each year, a dedicated group of volunteers donates around 20,000 days of work caring for our parks, gardens and reserves. There are over 140 friends of parks groups aligned with various parks throughout the state. The 2010 DENR annual volunteer awards were presented at the Friends of Parks Forum in August which was held in Woomera, formally recognising individuals and groups for their outstanding contribution to the environment through volunteering.

This year's Outstanding Individual Volunteer Achievement Award was presented to Mr Frank Gordon for his involvement in the Friends of Telowie Gorge Conservation Park in the Southern Flinders Ranges. Mr Gordon has been an active member of the friends group for 11 years and recently took on the role of monitoring the park's flora and fauna, identifying and reporting on population numbers of the yellow-footed rock wallaby, weed infestations and feral animal threats.

Outstanding Group Volunteer Project Achievement Awards were presented to three groups: Campground Hosts, Friends of Belair National Park and Friends of Shorebirds SE. The Campground Hosts program involves volunteers residing at designated campgrounds during peak holiday periods to welcome visitors and to assist visitors to help them find and settle into a campsite including helping them with permits.

The Friends of Belair National Park, one of the largest and oldest friends of parks groups in the state, has been instrumental in working with a range of community groups in the park including the Blackwood scouts, local schools, private companies and park visitors.

The Friends of Shorebirds SE group works together to protect beach-nesting shorebirds from introduced predators. The friends have used innovative techniques for monitoring the impact of introduced predators on shorebirds including monitoring artificial nests to give an indication of predation and monitoring of fledgling numbers to indicate breeding success.

A High Commendation was also awarded to the Hunting and Conservation SA Branch of the Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia for its contribution to the Flinders feral predator program. Other volunteer awards recognising outstanding efforts included the Best Biodiversity Project, awarded to the Hunting and Conservation SA Branch; the Most Supportive Staff Member, awarded to Senior Ranger Jennifer Pitman from the Southern Lofty District; and the Friends Group Achievement of the Year (incorporating the McLaren Shield), awarded to the Friends of Sturt Gorge Recreation Park.

I congratulate not only the winners of these awards but all volunteers for their outstanding work in helping to protect and conserve our extensive network of parks, gardens and reserves to ensure that they can be shared and enjoyed by the entire community now and into the future.