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Friends of Parks e-News
Issue 11 June 2010
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Friends of Parks e-News
Issue 11 June 2010
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Notes from the President’s Desk – AGM report ... more below Life Membership for Brian DuBois. ... more below Friends of Parks Forum 2010 ... more below News in Brief – items of interest from Friends newsletters ... more below Friends of Parks Inc Gift fund ... more below 2010 Subscriptions to print version ... more below Links - useful website links ... more below 16th
Friends of Parks Inc. Annual General Meeting
As you would be aware, our AGM took place on 10th May 2010 at the Blanchetown Sports and Social Club. Numbers were a significantly up on last year and we were royally entertained by the Friends of Brookfield CP. Over twenty member groups were represented which was particularly gratifying and we were also pleased to welcome Patron and founding member, Barbara Hardy and John Schutz, Trevor Naismith and Kate Bussenschutt from the Regional Conservation Delivery Division of DEH. Following are the introductory paragraphs of my annual report to the meeting (the full text and other papers are being circulated to member groups and are available on the Friends of Parks web-site): - “The year under review has been one of consolidation and steady progress. There has been continued improvement in the relationship between Friends of Parks Inc and the Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) but it still lacks consistency. The Board has continued to address the nature and quality of relationships with member groups but lacks the resources to achieve the required level of improvement. On balance, however, Friends of Parks as a corporate whole continues to maintain high levels of performance and is well placed to achieve more. Member groups have been accessing grants in greater numbers than hitherto and, although this has required greater support from the Visitor Support Unit (VSU) and the Board as the sponsoring body, the success rate has been gratifying. Whilst the Friends of Parks model continues to flourish we need to ensure that we maintain sufficient flexibility to adapt to changing social trends and demographic shifts. Regardless we contribute very significantly to the parks and reserves system. At
the political level, however, despite strong support from Minister Weatherill,
it is disappointing to see the low level of resourcing available to the
environment sector at a time when the protected area reserves are under
unprecedented threat. Heritage assets are similarly neglected.
Without the work done by Friends groups the State’s natural and
heritage assets would suffer seriously and yet direct government financial
support for on-ground works remains low. Notwithstanding, following a
motion from the floor at last year’s AGM, Friends of Parks Inc had some
success in lobbying for rangers and other field personnel to be quarantined from
budget cuts; on the down-side this only increased the impact upon other parts of
the department.”
Officeholders
for 2010
This leaves up to six general member positions vacant that the Board can fill by co-option. In particular members’ attention is drawn to the vacancy of Secretary. Anyone who might be interested, please contact me or any of the Board members. It’s not an unduly arduous position and I’m sure we could package things in a way to suit your circumstances. Just to conclude this section on the AGM I’ll quote the final paragraph of my annual report and draw particular attention to the final two sentences: - “In conclusion, I wish to thank my Board colleagues for their continued support throughout the year. We have tackled some challenging issues and engaged both each other and the Department in some robust discussions. It is with some sadness that I report that Brian DuBois will not be standing for re-election. Brian has served on the Board for the past decade with spells as Vice-President and President, during which time he missed hardly any meetings and made a significant contribution to our deliberations. He, along with wife Noelene, has also made a significant contribution to the organisation of several Forums and we wish them every happiness in their new Flagstaff Hill home and in “retirement”. “On behalf of the Board, thanks too to the officers and volunteers of the VSU for their patience and positive assistance. Kosette Lambert is shortly to leave the public service for the private sector and we wish her well for the future; over the past three years she has been a great innovator in the cause of Friends of Parks and volunteering generally. Above all the Board extends its thanks to all member groups and our magnificent volunteers without whom our parks, cultural assets and the overall environment would be considerably the poorer. Collectively Friends of Parks continue to make a huge difference to the quality of our environment and cultural heritage.” 
Honorary Life Membership for Brian DuBoisHonorary Life Membership has been awarded to Brian DuBois following a recommendation by the Friends of Belair National Park and subsequent endorsement and approval by the Friends of Parks Board. Brian has served both organisations with distinction both as member and president over a considerable period of time. Joining Friends of Belair in 1995 he served two terms as President, was a regular participant in working bees and presided over the group’s 20th anniversary celebrations. For the past decade Brian has been a member of the Friends of Parks Board and the longest serving since its inception in 1993. He has served terms as President and Vice President, rarely missed a meeting and provided sound leadership through challenging times. More recently he has made significant contributions to the annual Friends Forums, including Echunga 2006, Sunnybrae 2009 (which he chaired) and currently is assisting (with wife Noelene) with Woomera 2010. Brian DuBois has lead Friends of Parks both at a group and State level with distinction and has thoroughly earned the award of Life Membership.  Photographs by Barry Palmer Brian was presented with his Award at the Blanchetown AGM and he and Noelene both received Gold entry cards to parks and reserves courtesy of the Executive Director, Regional Conservation Delivery, John Schutz.
Did Board Member Charles Connelly arrive
at the AGM by riverboat??  Photograph by Michael Cerchez  David Mitchell President ANNUAL
FRIENDS OF PARKS FORUM 2010
 26th Friends of Parks Forum – Stony Deserts – Woomera, Friday 20th August – Monday 23rd August 2010 For information about the Forum please visit the Friends of Parks website http://www.communitywebs.org/FriendsofParks/ and click on Friends Forums. FORUM UPDATE NO. 4
NO DISPLAYS
Please remember that there is no room for your normal displays. If you wish to advertise your group, please bring a bring a poster no larger than an A2 size. These will be pinned to boards that we can use. COACH FROM ADELAIDE There are still vacant seats on the coach, so if you have decided you don’t want to drive, give me a ring or email. The bus will leave the Central Bus Station at 8.30am on Friday 20th August with stops at Pt Wakefield and Pt Augusta. Arrival time in Woomera will be 4.45pm. It will return on Tuesday 24th leaving Woomera at 9am, unless we wish to make it earlier. REGISTRATION The registration forms for meals and tours have gone out, and are coming back quite fast. Hopefully you have all received them. If not please ring me or email me - see below TOURS All tours will be on a first-in first-on seats basis. Once full, you will be put on your second or third preference. The tour of Mound Springs will only be by buses as there were too people many to do a tag-a-long tour. I must stress that tour forms must be back by 17th July, so ELDO has time to work out how many more staff they need. NUMBERS Any registrations from now will now go on the ‘reserve list’ as we have reached our limit. I will contact those on the reserve list. If you have any queries, please contact me, not the Volunteer Support Unit. Contact details - ring me on 8520 3794 (afternoons or evenings are best) Email fos@twpo.com.au . Lesley Hunkin - Chair- Woomera Forum Steering Committee Few
members of Friends of Parks would have the opportunity to see newsletters apart
from that of their own group (unless they exchange newsletters with other
groups). Volunteer Support Unit regularly receives newsletters from many
groups – they range from simple news sheets to quite elaborate
publications of 20 pages! They cover a large range of topics, some dealing with
day-to-day group matters to discussion of global environmental issues. The
dedication of those who prepare these newsletters is to be applauded and, I
think, it says a great deal about our membership and their dedication to our
natural and built environment. Editor.
Here
are some items of interest from recent Friends groups’
newsletters.
A number of groups have
lamented that the growing conditions during the past year have resulted in
prolific weed growth, in some instances where the group felt it had the
situation in hand. Friends of Newland
Head Conservation Park spent 450 hours containing African Marigold
(Ursinia anthemoides) and additional
time was spent removing Skeleton Weed, Salvation Jane, Monadenia, Onion Weed,
Salvia and Scabiosa. On perhaps a positive note, the AMLR NRM Board has
now recognised African Marigold as a significant weed issue and is to fund a
three-year program to attempt to eradicate the species from the
park.
Speaking of pests, Tim Fraser, Resource Protection Officer, DEH, speaking at the AGM of Friends of Simpson Desert Parks said that it is estimated that there are over 2 million wild or feral horses and donkeys in Australia. There are over 1.2 million camels, 200,000 deer and a staggering 20 million pigs! Tim did not dare to estimate the number of feral goats or rabbits. A major problem with controlling most species is the lack of any commercial market for the animals. Ground based and aerial shooting is effective in controlling the larger species and the control program in the Simpson Desert parks is proving successful in reducing numbers. Foxes continue to pose a significant risk to wildlife in our reserves. A number of near-Adelaide parks have reported high fox activity over the past year. Ferguson Conservation Park at Stonyfell has two active dens and fresh ‘kills’ are regularly found. Friends of Shepherds Hill Recreation Park also have a problem with foxes. DEH consider that baiting in the park is not feasible because of the local dog and cat populations (why are they in the park??). More attention needs to be given to how best to control foxes as the damage they do largely goes unseen. One of our newer members is Minton Farm Animal Rescue Centre located at Cherry Gardens. The Centre rescued 493 native animals last year. FOP members can get involved by becoming an Animal Sponsor – annual sponsorship is just $30. Contact the Centre on telephone 8270 1169 or 0422 938 439. An ideal way to make a contribution if you are unable to assist in our parks in other ways. The long-running Collaborative Schools Landcare Project – Friends of Black Hill and Morialta – will continue this year under the direction of Graham Churchett with three schools taking part, namely East Marden, Paradise and Pembroke. The issue of prescribed burns in our reserves has been raised by a number of groups, viz. Mount George, Black Hill and Morialta and Aldinga Scrub. Friends of Onkaparinga Park lament the death of some very old grasstrees at Hardy’s Scrub after a recent burn. The group has worked long and hard in the park since 1991 to control Boneseed (‘the original Boneseed were tree size’) and are fearful of what regrowth might occur as a result of the burn. We still do not know enough about the fire response of some of our most invasive weeds, let alone our native plants. Friends of Telowie Gorge Conservation Park report a busy year, once again, during 2009 with some of the highlights of the year being the increase in Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby sightings and a marked decease in Bridal Creeper. A major project for Friends of Gawler Ranges National Park has been the restoration of Pondana homestead. Members of the group, Friends of Kimba Parks, DEH and the community put in an amazing 5000 hours of volunteer labour and travelled an estimated 49,500 km during the work! Still thinking volunteer input, Friends of Old Government House report that members put in a total of 1403 hours last year – general roster 802 hrs, garden roster 183 hrs and wedding roster 418 hrs. Well done, and this does not include attendance at meetings or work done at home! Friends of Glenthorne Inc. have been pleased by the level of community support and interest in the group, prompted by the question ‘what is happening with Glenthorne?’ the group has formed a working relationship with the Friends of the Lower Field River. Members have started to propagate native plants from seed collected in nearby remnants, such as Happy Valley Reservoir. These will be planted this season. The Victorian Environment Friends Network’s newsletter FriendsNET has a column entitled Group Grapevine. Member groups can submit short items of news regarding their group’s activities and events. If your group has something they would like to share with other Friends of Parks groups please send an item to The Editor (details are at the end of the newsletter). We learn from what others are doing so let’s build an useful grapevine! Friends of Parks Inc operates a Gift Fund which is on the Australian Government’s Register of Environmental Organisations which means that donations are tax deductible. Receipts can be provided for tax purposes. There are many reasons for people wanting to give a donation, e.g. after experiencing a wonderful time in the park, people may wish to donate towards that park. Some $64,500 has been donated so far this calendar year. It should be noted that although a donation cannot be specified for a particular park or project, donors may indicate to the Gift Fund Committee that they would like to support a particular project. To donate please forward your donations to: Treasurer Friends of Parks Inc Gift Fund c/- Mr John P Fuller Lot 183 Pimpala Road Cockatoo Valley SA 5351 Subscriptions
for 2010 to Friends of Parks
e-News
Renewals or new subscriptions should be forwarded to Friends of Parks Inc. at the address given below. The Editor e-News, PO Box 194, Uraidla, SA 5142. Annual subscription is $10.00 payable to Friends of Parks Inc. If you would like to be contacted by email when a new issue of Friends of Parks e-News goes online, please send your email address to enewsadmin@iprimus.com.au
LINKS
For further news about Friends of Parks visit our website www.communitywebs.org/FriendsofParks/ For DEH volunteer news visit The Link at www.environment.sa.gov.au/deh/volunteers/volunteer.html
Click here to see note on printing background colour
Editor: Dr Geoffrey Bishop, Design: Hugh Lambert
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