AABRAustralian Association NEWSof Bush Regenerators working with natural processes N o.139 January Crowdy Bay Celebration and 2019 Workshop President’s Perspective New Committee AABR Projects for 2019 Saturday 18th May 2019 New Members 2 Exact time and meeting location to be confirmed Accreditation Process AABR joins with mid-north coast branch of NSW National Parks Crowdy Head Anniversary Association (NPA) for their 40th year celebration (see page 3 for a 3 short history about the work). AABR Achievements 2017-18 4 AABR visitors will be able to join in the annual bush regeneration camp (to be held from 13-19 May) at beautiful Kylies Beach. regenTV 5 It is anticipated that the day will include the following activities, starting at around midday: • a workshop on the Recovery Wheel doing a site assessment on the area they are Lessons in rainforest working on this year restoration. • AABR members socialising with the group at the celebratory lunch AABR Journey to the Big • sleep over on 18/5/19 at the ‘fee free’ camp site and enjoy the free evening meal Scrub NSW Lumley Park, Victoria Park • AABR members welcome to do some onground support on Sunday morning - finish by NR, Brockley, Rocky Creek 11:30am. Dam, Booyong Reserve, Other info- Parkes Property 6 • there is a kitchen trailer available for volunteers to use • camping fees will be waived for the event Treating Tree of Heaven in • Sat night BBQ is free remote areas 12 • 10am on 18/5/19 is the ‘official celebration’ • RSVPs required for celebration and BBQ Funding for tick research • volunteers welcome throughout the week 13-19th . 14 More information will be sent in an e-news bulletin or email Suzanne at [email protected] Restoration Challenges Eucalypt poster Peter’s Pivot Block 15 What’s Happening 16 Other AABR events being organised for 2019 • Aug/Sept; Cumberland Land Conservancy: Site visit - Aug/Sept • March/April: DPI workshops: Aquatic Weeds and NSW Biosecurity Act 2015 President’s Perspective Hi all ‘explainer’ of the National Standards can be downloaded from Happy new year to all. the AABR website - (go to http://www.aabr.org.au/learn/what-i- bush-regeneration/national-restoration-standards/) or from the Another busy year approaches, what with multiple field SERA home page (click on the picture). trips, events and initiatives. And our committee activities are becoming even more interesting. Another major focus this year will be raising sponsorship to further support regenTV, which you will know is AABR’s That is, the AABR committee is shaping up to be more educational video platform. Our videographer Virginia Bear’s representative nationally. We now have reps on the committee hard drives are just brimming with new material yet to be from Qld, NSW, VIC and SA – and are finding many issues of edited. Sponsoring a video will be an excellent way for bush national importance. The primary among these is the need to regeneration companies, nurseries, suppliers and other approved assess the status of Vocational Education and Training (VET) sponsors to gain greater visibility across Australia. (Watch this across Australia that serves the bush regeneration and ecological space.) restoration industry. To that end, in February the committee is commencing discussions between the State reps and training In summary, the wider national representation and reach of specialists about issues of course accessibility and delivery AABR promises to inject our work with more energy and activity, standards. increasing our potential to influence improved standards for the management of native ecosystems across the country, We also anticipate reviewing the wording of a couple of the 12 in collaboration with our many colleagues working in other bush regenerator practitioner competencies around genetics organisations. and revegetation to ensure they are consistent with the recently published Version (2.1) of the National Standards for the Practice Tein McDonald of Ecological Restoration, which AABR collaborated on. (A short President AABR AABR’s New Committee At the AABR AGM in November 2018, the committee members Victoria Bakker (Queensland) were elected as below. Spencer Shaw (Queensland) Note that committee members come from a variety of locations Peter Dixon (Sydney) Executive Unelected roles President: Tein McDonald (Far North Coast NSW) Public Officer: Heather Stolle Treasurer: Suzanne Pritchard (Hunter NSW) Admin/Education: Suzanne Pritchard Secretary: Jane Gye (Sydney) Accreditation: Danny Hirschfeld Newsletter and Membership: Louise Brodie Committee members Video/Photo expert: Virginia Bear Matthew Pearson (South Australia) Technology guru: Mitra Gusheh Agata Mitchell (Sydney) Rob Scott (Victoria) View the bios of the comittee members on the website. Deb Holloman (NSW Central Coast) http://www.aabr.org.au/about-aabr/aabr-committee-members/ Scott Meier (Mid North Coast NSW ) Welcome to new AABR Members Business Sue Baker Projects for 2019 The World As I Am Pty Ltd Andrew Coghill (prioritised according to human and financial resources) Naturelinks Landscape • AABR Draft Strategic Plan (including question of state Juliette Deane Management Pty Ltd groups and succession planning to involve next generation) Roger Lodsman Enviroculture Maintenance • Business planning to raise sponsorship for ‘regenTV’ post Edouard Loisance Services Pty Ltd NSW Environmental Trust grant Julie Marlow Organisations • Reviewing and promoting AABR accreditation and ongoing Greater Sydney Landcare Callie McDonald professional development Network • Transparent process for RTO ‘recognition’ for AABR Joyce Meyer Agribusiness SkillsPoint accreditation Beth Michie TAFE NSW Griffith • Potential to assist Revision of Bush Regeneration Contracting Carla Pearce Wingecarribee Shire Council Guidelines Yann Riou • CLM customisation and encouragement of skills sets for Congratulations on bush regeneration and ecological restoration Maurizio Rossetto Accreditation • Planning and hosting an Industry Forum. Rob Scott Paul Price • Ongoing editing of new videos for regenTV (including Albert Jessica Strong Paul Thistlethwaite Morris Documentary). 2 Australian Association of Bush Regenerators Newsletter 139 January 2019 Are you wanting to be an AABR Accredited Bush Regenerator? Behind the scenes of the Accreditation process AABR accreditation as a bush regeneration practitioner is If, for a variety of reasons, the knowledge obtained through prior recognition of a person’s competency to practice in the industry learning and in the qualifications needs to be explored, or the and is sought after by practitioners and employers alike. Few skills gained through field experience need confirming, a non- are aware however, of the diligent approach that underlies the standard assessment is undertaken involving either one or two accreditation process. assessors preferably in the field. Assessing an applicant for AABR accreditation is a comprehensive Determining an applicant’s merit is not just up to one individual process performed by highly experienced volunteer assessors. assessor. Not only are there usually two but AABR’s Accreditation The assessors are bush regenerators who have extensive industry Sub-committee, currently of 6 members, consider the Assessors’ expertise along with a commitment to maintaining the standards report and its recommendations. The Accreditation Sub- of the bush regeneration industry to ensure the best possible committee then puts forward a recommendation to the AABR restoration outcomes for the environment. committee, currently at 11 members, the majority of whom are Assessors are AABR accredited practitioners who have accredited practitioners themselves. themselves been through an application process to become an As you can see it is quite a rigorous process and, because of Assessor. this, AABR Accreditation is highly regarded within the bush When an application for accreditation is received, a regional regeneration community and by contractors and land managers. assessor will review the documentation and determine if the If you would like your competency as a bush regenerator qualifications and field experience are adequate for a standard acknowledged, applying for accreditation involves completing assessment. The qualification required is CLMIII delivered in a a form outlining your qualifications and experience. The bush regeneration industry context. The minimum experience application form and competencies which are expected of an is 500 hours over at least two years under an AABR recognised accredited practitioner are on the website http://www.aabr.org. supervisor. If these criteria are satisfied, the application is au/about-aabr/accreditation/. automatically approved. Crowdy Bay 40th Anniversary negative perception by some in the community of the NPA Celebration branch’s strong involvement in the campaign to save the AABR will be joining with the mid-north coast branch north coast rainforests from of NSW National Parks Association (NPA) for their 40th logging, they take on a positive year celebration . on-ground project, namely to eradicate bitou bush from On May 18th 2019 Mid North Coast Branch of NPA will celebrate Diamond Head. a milestone — forty years of bush regeneration in Crowdy Bay National Park. The celebration will be held during the annual bush Forty years later and the project regeneration camp from 13-19 May at beautiful Kylies Beach. has spread north, south and west of the headland involving Originally the area was sand mined and when operations numerous government grants, finished, sown