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July 13, 2006
Long term volunteers rewarded with woylie special experience
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They may be experts at swapping safety boots for wellies and hard hats for shovels, but getting up close and personal with native wildlife was a treat they hadn’t expected!
That was the story last weekend when a dedicated bunch of Alcoa volunteers got together for the fifteenth time to plant seedlings with the Wooroloo Brook Land Conservation District Committee, as part of the Swan Alcoa Landcare Program.
During fifteen years of tree planting weekends, Alcoa volunteers have not only planted over half a million trees, their efforts have improved air and water quality and helped combat soil salinity and erosion.
And in recognition of their long-term efforts, Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) offered the Alcoa volunteers a unique experience – to assist with the release of endangered woylies into their newly created sanctuary.
AWC CEO Atticus Fleming said that involving the Alcoa volunteers in a fauna release by the Conservancy was as a fitting way to show the volunteers the real impact of their efforts.
“The positive impact Alcoa volunteers have had on the ecosystem in this local area in the last fifteen years has been tremendous.
“It is a real privilege to be involved in a mammal translocation, but this group have done the hard slog for two days putting in this habitat and we wanted to give them an insight into how their efforts are providing homes for endangered native species such as the woylie.”
Over 100 woylies were released into the sanctuary over the weekend and they will be monitored by the Conservancy to ensure they thrive in their new environment.
Alcoa Foundation and Environmental Partnerships manager Kylie Cirak said the company was extremely proud of its employee volunteer spirit and their dedication was making a real environmental difference.
“Alcoa employees have always taken an active role in the communities where they work and this on-the-ground land care work is a critical part of our long term involvement with the Swan Alcoa Landcare Program.
“We are indebted to these volunteers who over fifteen years have together volunteered over 40,000 hours of personal time in the name of environmental sustainability.”
*ENDS*
Further information: Libby Archell, Alcoa Corporate Affairs, 0404 800 174
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