The Environmental Volunteer Program has been running for over 25 years. Early records show that the former Gosford (Bushcare) and Wyong (Landcare) programs both started in the late 1990’s. We have groups, and even volunteers, who have been working since before there were official environmental volunteer programs in place on the Coast!

With such a long running program there have inevitably been changes along the way. We have seen this over the years with the amalgamation of the former Councils, with volunteers and staff joining and leaving our program, and similarly with groups coming and going. Looking ahead, all we can truly know is that there will be more changes in the future.

Today our program supports approximately 650 active volunteers, and countless others who come along for one off activities like our National Tree Day planting events. It’s so rewarding to see people working with Council to care for our natural areas, reserves and public spaces through the Environmental Volunteer Program. 

It's incredible seeing the diversity of people who now participate in our program. From pre-school children planting what may well be their first trees for National Tree Day, high school students helping control weeds in our dune systems, through to our regular volunteers, mostly retirees, who contribute by far the greatest amount of time working on their sites throughout the year.

You can find an environmental volunteer session happening somewhere on the Central Coast on almost every day of the year, on some days as many as 10 happening simultaneously. I think that’s something that we can all collectively feel very proud of!

As the years roll on we have new people joining our program, and inevitably some who also leave. Each and every one of our staff and volunteers has their own history with their groups and within the program. Whenever anyone leaves, they are always missed. 

Towards the end of last year we celebrated the career of Penny and wished her the best as she retired from our team. We also celebrated the arrival of new Officers to join us in delivering our program for the year/s ahead. Having worked with Penny since Central Coast Council came into existence, her retirement had me reflecting on the program more generally. I reflected that all of us, our volunteers and staff, have our roles to play. I also reflected that all we do now comes on the shoulders of those who came before us and that we are merely doing our part to keep delivering and improving the program in whatever ways we can for those who will follow. It seems to me that there will never come a day when we can sit back and say that our work is finished, there will always be more areas to help protect and conserve, always more weeds to remove, more plants to plant, more lessons to learn ourselves and to pass on through our educational campaigns and initiatives, more people to say farewell to and more people to welcome to our wonderful program.

Whilst I miss Penny and all that she brought to our team/program, I see a bright future for the years ahead with the dedicated and talented team who we now have delivering our environmental volunteering and environmental education programs. 

It really is a privilege to be part of a program that has such a history, and also a huge responsibility to do our best to see the program continue to grow and evolve so that it’s embedded into the Central Coast culture well into the future. Much like the work of our volunteers, we find that there is always more to do. Our work is never done! 

2025 looks to be another busy year for us. Our calendar is quickly filling up as we again look to deliver activities and events associated with National Volunteer Week, National Tree Day, National Landcare Week and our volunteer Christmas Party. We have recently supported Clean Up Australia Day events, a growing area within our program, and are busy organising a school holiday-based event for Earth Day. We are also looking at a number of other opportunities across the program, lots of things that we will cover in future editions of our eNews. For now, though I hope you’ll enjoy the articles below. 

The first article, ‘Why we care for our dunes?’, was drafted by Penny. This was the final article she was working on as an Environmental Volunteer Officer, with thanks to Nick Carson for helping to finish it off. Maybe we’ll see another article from Penny some time, from a different perspective, as one of our community environmental advocates?

The next two articles in this edition are from Nick Carson 'Birds of Avoca' and Robyn Urquhart 'Gum Leaf Skeletoniser', writing about topics from the wonderful worlds of birds and insects that they are both so passionate about. Please read these very interesting and informative articles.

The ‘Environmental Education – hatching new projects!’ article gives you an idea of the diverse nature of our Environmental Education program. Whether for yourself or someone you know, this article details the kind of educational activities and events on offer, where to find further information, make reservations/bookings, etc. 

Finally, we have ‘Col’s bush poetry’ article is a contribution from (as the title suggests) Col, one of our active volunteers. Col volunteers with us in the Avoca Beach area and also comes to Erina most weeks to work with our Monday Nursery Volunteer group. It was at one of the nursery sessions that Col introduced the group to some of his bush poetry. I hope you’ll enjoy Col’s bush poetry as much as the nursery volunteers did.    

As always, happy and safe volunteering.

Michael