Volunteer: Ocean Grove’s Cate Barham.
By Michelle Herbison
AN OCEAN Grove woman’s dedication to protecting the region’s coast has put her among finalists in 2012’s national Landcare awards.
Ocean Grove Coastcare acting president Cate Barham, 22, has been a committed volunteer with the group since its 2010 inception.
“It’s not just my award because we’re a group and we all work together,” she said.
“There are so many other really amazing volunteers so it’s definitely a team effort.” Ms Barham said she balanced full-time work at Corangamite Catchment Authority with organising working bees, education days and events on coastal protection for Coastcare.
“One of our core beliefs is to work as much within our community as we can.”
Ms Barham listed environmental issues in Ocean Grove including effective litter control, responsible pet ownership and “garden escapee” plants disrupting coastal dunes’ biodiversity.
The Ocean Grove group often conducted working bees around Collendina to remove “invasive and nasty” weed polygala.
Ms Barham said the group also ran education programs with the Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club’s nippers and attended local festivals to teach new residents how to protect the area’s dunes.
Ocean Grove Coastcare was “pretty different” to many similar organisations because most members were young and worked full-time, she said.
“A lot of other groups have a lot of retirees who have lots of time but we sometimes don’t have a lot of time.
“Having a lot of young people in the group makes it more appealing for other younger people to join but we want more members of every age.”
