Community Support Officers
The Northern Rivers CMA provides funding to local landcare networks each year to provide support for local communities in delivering natural resource management activities and projects. Community Support Officers play an important role in raising community awareness about natural resource management issues and building capacity within communities to meet local natural resource management opportunities. There are 20 Community Support Officer positions across the region available to provide infomation and advice to local landholders and residents:
Richmond Catchment Community Support
Richmond Landcare Inc., (RLI), incorporated in 1998, serves as the Landcare network for the Richmond Catchment. The RLI Community Support Officer position is shared between 4 part time positions, each with a specific role:
- Administration, Sustainable Farming, Indigenous Landcare, Local Government Relationships (2 days per week)
- Bush Regeneration, Plant IDs, Community etc (1 day per week)
- School Landcare (1 day per week)
- Advertising, Media, Promotion, Public Relations (1 day per week)
RLI membership consists of 75 separate landcare/community groups, with over 2,000 individual members. 24 groups are school Landcare groups, 18 are farm-related Landcare groups and the remaining 33 are community, rainforest and dunecare groups. Managed by a committee of seven, with a combined "landcare" experience of 72 years, RLI has, since 2005, managed 18 Envirofunds and 14 major grants sourced through the Northern Rivers CMA or directly from the State and Australian Governments. Your local community support officers are available weekdays (and weekends by appointment) to provide you with information and advice on a range of local natural resource management issues and activities, and can put you in touch with a landcare group in your area or assist to form your own landcare group. Ph 0266191582 or Mob 0427 075363 or email: cso@richmondlandcare.org
Granite Borders Community Support
Helen is currently the Landcare coordinator for Granite Borders Landcare and Northern Rivers CMA Community Support Officer, positioned at the Landcare office in Martin Street, Tenterfield. Helen has completed a Bachelor of Animal Science through the University of Sydney's Faculty of Agriculture, and then worked in research in dairy science with the Faculty of Vet Science. During her studies she worked on commercial dairy farms in Victoria and New Zealand, and went overseas to study dairy production using indigenous cattle in Uganda.
New to the area, Helen is keen to get a clear picture of the natural resource concerns and requirements for the area, to achieve meaningful delivery of NRM services. Please drop in to the office or contact Helen on (02) 67 363 500 or email: helensmith@gblc.org.au.
Upper Richmond and Clarence Community Support
Richmond Landcare Services (RLS), in partnership with West of the Ranges Landcare INC. (WORLI), is a small local company servicing the Richmond Valley to Evans Head, Kyogle, the northern and western parts of the Lismore City Council areas and the Upper Clarence. RLS employ three Community Support Officers, Bob Jarman (Dip. Town & Country Planning, Cert 4 Bush Regeneration, Member of AABR, Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training), Anne Gibbs (Bachelor of Applied Science (Forestry), Dip. Primary Education) and Tara Patel (Bachelor of Environmental Science (Life Sciences), Cert 4 Bush Regeneration, Cert 3 Organic Farming and Horticulture). The CSO role is to:
- Work with farmers, landholders, schools, government departments and community organisations
- Provide the community with information and advice about natural resource management issues
- Support Landcare across the catchments and maintain a register of groups
- Assist with forming new Landcare groups and developing existing Landcare groups
- Assist the community with project development and funding applications for environmental projects
- Carry out environmental education by organising workshops, field days and training opportunities
- Provide resource centres for the community at Kyogle and Bonalbo
- Identify weeds and native plants
- Publish regular newsletters
- Develop and manage environmental projects
- Promote, publicise and assist CMA projects
- Provide bush regeneration services (advice, planning & on-ground works).
Tara and Bob cover the Richmond Valley and West Lismore areas, while Anne covers the Upper Clarence - each working in a part-time capacity. The Kyogle office is open 5 days a week. Contact Richmond Landcare Services at PO Box 410 Kyogle NSW, 2474. Ph (02) 6632 3722 or email: careland@bigpond.net.au
West of the Ranges Community Support
Anne Gibbs is the Community Support Officer for the Richmond (western areas) and Upper Clarence catchments. Anne's postion is hosted by Richmond Landcare Services in partnership with West of Ranges Landcare Inc. On Monday and Tuesday she generally works in the Kyogle office and Wednesday to Friday in Bonalbo. Her role is to assist Landcare groups, farmers, Aboriginal people and other community groups to gain funding to care for the land and make contact with relevant government and non government organizations. Her interests include forestry, community co-operation and sustainable agriculture.
Contact: Kyogle office (02) 66323722, Bonalbo (02) 66651364, 0439 763 190 (Mob). Email: annecso2@bigpond.com
Coffs Harbour Regional Landcare Inc.
Coffs Harbour Regional Landcare Inc. (CHRL) has been established for over ten years and services the NRM needs of Landcare members and residents throughout the Coffs Harbour LGA. Craig Stehn fills the Community Support Officer role for CHRL, while Jude Turner provides Administration and Volunteer Support for CHRL members and CHRL administered projects. At CHRL we aim to assist individuals and groups involved in land, water, and vegetation management. This assistance may include help with accessing funding programs, information, negotiating government bureaucracy, organising relevant field days, lobbying for useful land management assistance, or putting people in contact with others involved in similar activities. We are located at Shop 5, Monterey Arcade, 100 Harbour Drive, Coffs Harbour and our office is generally open from Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 3.30pm. It is advisable to call before arriving to ensure the office is attended.
Contact: Phone (02) 6651 1308, Fax (02) 66651364, Email: chrl@westnet.com.au Web: http://www.coffsharbourlandcare.org.au/
