Supporting our local wetlands

You may know that wetlands play a critical role in water and food security, flood mitigation, and carbon storage. They also have intrinsic value for nature conservation and contribute to community wellbeing.

What you may not know is that ExxonMobil Australia has partnered with Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) since 1992 to support a variety of environmental initiatives. In recent years, we have partnered with CVA to deliver the Victorian Wetland Care Program.

The Victoria Wetland Care Program provides the local community with opportunities to volunteer and learn about significant wetland sites at Sale Common Conservation Reserve, Sale; Jawbone Flora & Fauna Reserve, Williamstown; and Warringine Park, Bittern.

A component of this initiative is a student outreach program including a presentation with hands-on activities and access to an educational resource pack.

To date, more than 200 volunteers have participated in activities including flora and fauna surveying, planting, track maintenance, weed removal and litter collection.  More than 1,000 local students have participated in incursions learning about the importance of their local wetlands.

On World Wetlands Day, CVA will again host community volunteer events in each of the conservation reserves in Sale, Williamstown and Bittern. ExxonMobil Australia Public & Government Affairs Manager Andrew Murphy said that the company is proud of its longstanding support of CVA and its conservation projects.

“Our local community contributions program supports a variety of environmental research, conservation and education programs and CVA do very important work in this space near our operational sites,” he said.