Debbie oversees the operations of our Pimelea Conservation Trust Fund, and represents Trust for Nature on the collaborative Pimelea spinescens Recovery Team.
I have worked with Trust for Nature since 2005, having the fortune of working as Regional Manager in Port Phillip, GIS Manager, Acting Regional Operations Manager, and my current role as Regional Manager in Corangamite. There is such a great diversity of environments within the Corangamite region, including the extensive coastline spanning from Point Wilson to Peterborough, the tall Mountain Ash forests of the Otway Ranges, the vast and open basalt plains grasslands, the dry foothill eucalypt forests, the large and numerous lake systems, and various woodland communities. All this whilst hosting the second and third largest cities in Victoria, being Geelong and Ballarat, and accounting for only 6% of Victoria’s total land area. I love the fact that I could be working one day on the open grasslands collecting seed of an endangered plant, and the next day walking through cool temperate rainforest with a landholder discussing the design of a covenant.
I have received a Bachelor of Forest Science / Science (Botany major) from the University of Melbourne, and have previously worked as an ecological consultant specialising in botanical assessments and ecological burn strategies.
The work that I (and many others) do today, is a result of both history and people’s attitude towards the environment. Historically, we have worked hard over the past 200 years to clear away our natural environment to make way for agriculture, housing, industry, and roads. We have done this with little thought about how much we should be protecting so that all plants and animals can survive. As a result, we have many rare and threatened species that need intensive help so they are not lost forever. We spend lots of energy and money on trying to restore lost environments, including through planting back trees and eradicating weeds. We can’t undo the past, but we can have a plan to fix the problems we have created. It is my hope that more and more people will come to appreciate the importance of having a healthy environment, and will work together to protect our special natural places. It is my hope that humans can become worthy and proud guardians or all the living creatures, from the smallest ants living in the native grasslands, to the biggest of ancient and majestic Mountain Ash trees. At Trust for Nature, it gives me great satisfaction to meet with private landholders who share a passion for conservation.
I find that the natural environment has so much to offer that it is now difficult for me to imagine working in another field where some major element of environmental work is not involved. It is through a deeper understanding of ecology and ecosystem function that I have recognized the need for active conservation of the environment. As a society, I think we struggle finding the right balance between utilisation and conservation of our natural resources, with too many past and present examples of exploitation.