New Community Engagement and Volunteer Coordinator – Mike Urlich.
Happy new year to our wonderful community, we hope everyone enjoyed the holiday period and had the opportunity to re-charge body and mind. In 2020 we will see Weed Action’s strategic direction re-charged with an opportunity that was granted to us from the Department of Conservation’s Community Funds at the end of 2019. There was a great deal of thought and voluntary hours put into the grant application, so a big thank you goes out to our wonderful volunteers Robyn Bigelow and Jenny Lawrence for their dedication to Weed Action’s growth and development.
This grant will allow us to extend our weedy efforts into the ecologically significant Public Conservation Land parcels such as Bream Head, Mount Manaia, Kauri Mountain and Reotahi. Areas we’ve been battling to protect by reducing the spread of weeds from private land, but now we are enabled to have a greater focus on.
Stepping up to the challenge of coordinating this project is Mike Urlich, who has moved up to Whangarei from Waikanae. Mike brings with him many years’ experience dealing with pest plants from many different angles including Regional Council, QE2 and his own personal weed contracting business. We are confident that he will do well in this new role and we look forward to his knowledge and skills strengthening the strategies of Weed Action. Welcome to the team Mike!
Parua Bay Privet Buffer Project Coordinator – Jan Marshall
Another exciting development for 2020 that boosts our ability to support more landowners to control tree privet throughout our community, is the appointment of Jan Marshall who has stepped from our committee and into the role of overseeing the Parua Bay Privet Buffer project. This project relies on multiple neighbours over a large area working as a network to control privet and is the first of its kind. Jan is well known for rolling up her sleeves and getting the job done, and we know her passion for this project will make it a success.
These are exciting times for our small community group. We are morphing into the established and reputable organisation we envision whilst keeping our roots firmly in place in this wonderful community.
