Western Port will be the focus of one of the first Green Army projects in Australia under the Coalition’s Green Army plan.
If a Coalition Government is elected, work will begin next year on the Western Port Green Army Project.
The project will have four main areas of focus:
• Watsons Creek rehabilitation in Baxter and Somerville
• Hastings, Crib Point and Somers – foreshore revegetation and walking track construction
• Bandicoot habitat preservation at Bayles
• Weed removal and revegetation at Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang
The Green Army comprises teams of ten young environmental trainees who will work on local community-based environmental projects across Australia for six-month periods as part of the new Coalition program.
This highly-effective program will offer our young people significant training and practical experience in the vital area of environmental management.
At Somerville, the project aims to assist with the rehabilitation of Watsons Creek, one of Victoria’s most degraded creeks, which flows from its headwaters in Baxter through Somerville into the Yaringa Marine Park in Western Port.
A second focus will be on the Hastings-Crib Point foreshore, with the Green Army working to tackle weeds and help re-establish indigenous vegetation.
At Somers, the team will assist with the creation of a walking track and associated revegetation work.
In Western Port’s north, a primary focus of the project will be the restoration of significant Southern Brown Bandicoot habitats at Bandicoot Corner Reserve in Bayles.
This will include substantial planting and weed eradication, with the aim of creating and preserving this important area of bandicoot habitat.
A further focus will be on environmental rehabilitation work centred on and around the nearby townships of Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang.
The Western Port Green Army Project will be carried out in consultation and conjunction with the Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation, Cardinia Shire Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and local communities around Western Port.
This project will greatly improve Western Port’s natural environment, while giving local youngsters valuable training and a solid work foundation on which to build a future career.
Trainees will gain wide-ranging experience in conservation and land management practices including:
• Coastal stabilisation
• Creek bank regeneration
• The propagation and planting of native seedlings
• Weed control
• Wildlife conservation
We want to help our local young people improve their environment while gaining vital employment experience.
This program will help local youngsters overcome employment barriers and deliver a positive contribution to the community.
It is about jobs and training for ten young people. It is also about creating an environmental benefit that everyone can enjoy.
Local young people taking part in the project will be provided with a training wage for the duration of the project.
Once established across Australia, the Green Army program will provide a rolling workforce of up to 15,000 trainees dedicated to local environmental projects.
Download the related file: 08-21 Western Port Green Army Project.pdf