Greening earns gongs

By Dion Teasdale
HONOURS have been given to two environmental achievers as part of the Shire of Yarra Ranges Australia Day Awards.
The Badger Creek Primary School Junior Landcare Group took out the Ken McIntosh Young Environmental Achiever of the Year Award, and Healesville conservationist Peter Hannaford has been named Environmental Achiever of the Year.
The school students were honoured for their commitment and dedication to the environment at their school and in the local area.
The school became a member of the Mt Toolebewong Landcare Group in 2003 and then formed its own voluntary Junior Landcare Group.
The group organised and hosted an Environment Day with two other schools and participated in Clean Up Australia School Days in 2004 and 2005 by cleaning up areas around the Badger Creek CFA.
The group has also been successful in obtaining grant funding including three Mitre 10 Junior Landcare grants to construct a bird bank garden and a frog bog.
The group obtained a Melbourne Water Community Grant with Mt Toolebewong Landcare Group to build the Badger Creek Community Greenhouse at the school.
The school’s assistant principal, Mary Moore, who initiated the formation of the group, said the school community was delighted with the award.
“The students, their parents and the staff at the school have worked very hard over the past few years and have maintained a passion for environmental education,” she said. “This is a great pat on the back, an accolade for our commitment to sustainability, and it shows what a community can do when they work together.”
Mr Hannaford was named Environmental Achiever of the Year for his significant contribution to the preservation and understanding of wildlife.
In late 2000, Mr Hannaford created a second-hand goods store to raise funds for the Judith Eardley Save Wildlife Centre.
All proceeds are diverted to wildlife causes, which range from the purchase of large tracts of bush heritage to practical equipment for local groups involved in wildlife protection.
Some notable donations include the recent purchase of a 20-hectare (50 acre) reserve at Yellingbo to protect the state bird emblem, the helmeted honeyeater, at a cost of $305,000.
In 2004, $235,000 was given to the Australian Bush Heritage Fund towards the purchase of the Judith Eardley Save Wildlife Reserve at Wedderburn, north west of Bendigo.
Mr Hannaford said the award was recognition of the good work achieved by the Judith Eardley Save Wildlife Centre as much as it was recognition for his own efforts.
“I accept this award for myself and for the Judith Eardley Save Wildlife Centre,” he said. “Clearly this is not the work of one person, but all the people who have been friends to the shop, the people who have donated and traded with us are involved.”