Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information for volunteers

We know your Coastcare work means a lot to you, as it does to us.
Please stay up to date at www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au

These additional resources may also help:

General guidance at the Department of Health and Human Services Volunteer website
Guidance for environmental volunteers at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Environmental Volunteering website.
Information for Committees of Management website
If you volunteer on public land managed by someone other than DELWP or a CoM, contact the land manager. If you don’t know who the land manager is, contact your local Coastcare Victoria facilitator

Volunteering from home

Volunteering connects us with people and the environment. There are ways to stay involved:

Hold your committee meetings online. If you need help getting set up, talk to a tech savvy member of your group, a family member or your local Coastcare Victoria facilitator
Visit the SWIFT (State Wide Integrated Flora and Fauna Teams) website for interactive online seminars
Renew or develop membership forms, brochures and/or website
Organise a catch up with people you volunteer with

Follow Coastcare Victoria on Facebook and Instagram
Work on a strategic plan for your group or project. Landcare Victoria’s Planning with Purpose Toolkit is a great resource.
Plan recruiting more volunteers. Volunteering Victoria has helpful information
Plan and apply for grants
Make your volunteer group more inclusive and diverse. You can also share your learnings

Make sure everyone has a current Working With Children Check and understands Child Safety Standards
Do your paperwork!
- Review Job Safety Plans
- Complete outstanding grants reporting
- Update meeting templates
- Update your volunteer contact list
- Check incorporation, auspice or insurance status

Service your equipment
Connect with other volunteer groups. Ask your Coastcare Victoria facilitator to put you in touch
Get involved in citizen science projects.

Sort out your photos. Choose the best ones for future promotion or reporting
Subscribe to DELWP’s Marine and Coasts Newsletter

Coastal Plants and Weeds

Weeds at the Early State of Invasion Early Invader Online Manual

Data - where to contribute yours

Biodiversity Data: Activity Kit

Activity Kit video tutorials

Marine Debris Database: Tangaroa Blue

Decision Making

New Group Starter Kit for Landcare/ Coastcare

Committees of Management (Level 3)

Value of volunteering calculator - find out how much your volunteering is worth!

Volunteering Tas resources - very useful tips and facts about volunteering

Education

Highlights of Summer by the Sea

During the January school holidays, Coastcare Victoria, delivers hundreds of free ‘Summer by the Sea’ activities.

In 2021 and 2022, Summer by the Sea also went online!

Summer by the Sea shares Victoria’s precious coastal and marine environment. Find out more about these remarkable places, learn about some of the challenges they face and the work being done to help improve and protect them. Some highlights from the program are now available to view below.

For 2021 and 2022 all videos have English closed captions and translations into:

Arabic

English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Hindi
Punjabi

Vietnamese

Visit the Summer by the Sea website for more information.

Videos

Balcombe Estuary Eel Migration

Presented by: Suzanne Ryan, Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group

Join Suzanne Ryan from the Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group to learn about the eels that live here.

Transcript - Balcombe Estuary Eel Migration (DOCX, 80.6 KB)

Beneath the Waves at Ricketts Point

Presented by: Jack Breedon, Meet me Underwater.

Join Jack Breedon for this journey underwater at Ricketts Point.

Transcript - Beneath the Waves at Ricketts Point
(DOCX, 93.9 KB)

Bug Blitz @ Nungurner Jetty - Surveying invertebrate life in the shallows with your family

Presented by: Dr John Caldow and Erin Nowak, Bug Blitz Trust.

Learn how to check the shallows. This video teaches you how to:

collect invertebrate

make a Seascope to view underwater life
make your own Polychaete keyring.

Bug Blitz @ Nungurner Jetty - Resource Links
(PDF, 486.1 KB)

Transcript - Bug Blitz @ Nungurner Jetty - Surveying invertebrates in the shallows with your family
(DOCX, 186.7 KB)

Catchments to the Sea

Presented by: Roberto D'Andrea, The Connies.

Follow the 'litter stream' and track our way from gutters to the sea.

Catchments to the Sea - Resource Links
(PDF, 490.0 KB)

Transcript - Catchments to the Sea (DOCX, 185.7 KB)

Coastal Critters

Presented by: Xavier Morello, WildlifeXposure.

Get up close to marine creatures along the Victorian coast. Learn what you can do to help!

Transcript - Coastal Critters (DOCX, 185.0 KB)

Coastal Plants and Beach Combing

Presenter: Naomi Wells, Bellarine Catchment Network.

Have you ever wanted to know the names of plants that you see along coastal trails? You will also find six plant species that exist right across Victoria and could be in your backyard! Print the Beachcombing activity (PDF, 2.6 MB) to take to the beach.

Transcript - Coastal Plants and Beach Combing
(DOCX, 172.0 KB)