4 December
2006 - Westernport volunteer Dr Tim Ealey has
won a national award in recognition of his coastal
revegetation work in Victoria's Coronet Bay.
Dr Ealey, 80, was today announced
as the winner of the $5000 Minister's Award for
Coastal Custodians, marking the start of national
Coastcare Week.
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Greg
Hunt, said he was delighted to announce the win
to Dr Ealey.
"This is a great achievement
for Dr Ealey, whose pioneering work was ranked
at the top of 26 nominations from around Australia,"
Mr Hunt said.
"I am particularly pleased
because Dr Ealey made a valuable contribution
in a rehabilitation campaign to improve degraded
coastal areas at Blind Bight and Lang Lang, in
my electorate.
"Dr Ealey's work typifies
the characteristics recognised in the Minister's
Award, identifying a problem, using initiative,
garnering volunteer support and raising awareness
of coastal environment issues.
"At the age of 80, Dr Ealey
is achieving incredible results for his local
coastal environment, fighting against erosion
and planting thousands of mangrove seedlings to
rejuvenate coastal and marine ecosystems.
"As someone who has been
literally up to my knees in mud to support Dr
Ealey, I am delighted that this quiet achiever
has been named the Minister's Coastal Custodian
of 2006."
Dr Ealey experimented with a
range of planting techniques and despite losing
much of the work in floods, has established thousands
of mangrove seedlings in Coronet Bay.
Earlier this year, Dr Ealey
obtained an Australian Government Community Water
Grant to expand his planting programme at the
Bass Valley Primary School and enabled him to
build a glass house to germinate mangrove seeds.
Dr Ealey received volunteer
support from five separate community groups for
his revegetation work over the past three years.
John Deller / Gina Schwass
