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Action 9: Develop a public education/community extension program

By necessity, the recovery of threatened Caladenia taxa in southeast Australia in the short-term will rely heavily on input from expert botanists, ecologists and horticulturists. However, the responsibility for long-term survival of these taxa will ultimately rest with members of the community. Failure to educate the public about orchid conservation or a lack of public enthusiasm for orchid conservation will almost certainly result in the extinction of a number of currently threatened taxa.

Conversely, involving the community in key stages of the recovery process will dramatically increase the chances of survival of these taxa in the wild. A number of community groups are already involved with the recovery of threatened Caladenia taxa in Victoria (see Table 9) but greater awareness in the wider community will need to be fostered through the production and delivery of threatened orchid public education and community extension programs that focus on threatened Caladenia taxa.

9.1 Prepare educational material and undertake community extension

A range of promotional and educational material on threatened Caladenia taxa will be made available for public consumption. These materials will include printed information such as colour pamphlets, posters and information sheets and electronic information on state department web pages. These media will be used to provide information on rare and threatened orchids of southeast Australia, with a focus on threatened Caladenia species. Colour photographs, distribution maps and key identification features will be included.

Individuals will be encouraged to report sightings of threatened Caladenia taxa to local state agency personnel for verification. Information on where to access further information or how to make contact with interest groups and regional recovery teams (see Action 10.1) will also be provided. Educational material will also be used as part of on-going community extension work conducted by state government departments and to generate regional media interest as a way of promoting orchid conservation and raising public awareness in regional areas. Public education and community extension projects will endeavour to build on existing activities already being conducted in regional areas by other organisations.

It is intended to run a pilot program in southeast South Australia/southwest Victoria in the first three years of recovery. This will involve a number of organisations including field naturalists clubs, Catchment Management Authorities, Trust for Nature (Victoria), orchid groups, NRE and EH and will build on an existing landowner/community threatened orchid network project being conducted in southeast South Australia and managed by EH. The success of this pilot program will determine whether similar projects are attempted in the other regions in subsequent years of recovery.

Funds are sought in the first three years of recovery to cover the salary and associated field costs (eg. vehicle hire, travel allowance, consumables) of a regionally-based (eg. Hamilton) project officer to coordinate and undertake the threatened orchid education program in south west Victoria and south east South Australia. Funds are also sought in years 1 and 2 of recovery to cover the cost of designing and producing a range of promotional and educational materials including a colour poster and pocket identification guide of threatened orchids of south east South Australia/south west Victoria. If considered successful, further funding will be sought in subsequent years for other areas of southeast Australia.

NRE or the Glenelg-Hopkins CMA will provide office space and computer/telecommunications facilities for the regional project officer and both NRE/EH will cover the cost of developing electronic information on department web pages and implementing on-going community extension programs.