Two decades of Landcare celebrated

After two decades of dedicated service to the Landcare community of Far East Victoria, Penny Gray was fondly farewelled at the Orbost Golf Club on Friday, June 16.

More than 60 people dined in style at the golf club and expressed their gratitude, recounted memories, and reflected on Penny's sienificant legacy.

The theme of the night, “the Penny effect,” was drawn from guest speaker Dr Jessica Reeves presentation.

The presentation revolved around her work on the contribution of local environmental groups, such as Landcare, to bushfire recovery and the critical role Penny played in establishing links in the community of East Gippsland.

Penny experienced great change and oversaw the evolution of Landcare in her time as facilitator.

Now seven groups in the region, it evolved into Far East Victoria Landcare Network (FEVL).

This change gave it a distinct identity and contributed to making it representative of the people it served.

Groups and individuals presented photos, videos and gave speeches in high praise of Penny's work.

All wished her a well-earned happy retirement.

The group also farewelled project officer, Shirali Davé, who finished after almost three years.

Shirali came to Landcare after the Black Summer Bushfires and ran 14 biodiversity projects such as:

• Glossy Black Cockatoos

• Monitoring for Ground Parrots on the Marlo Plains

• Coping with eco-anxiety

These projects delivered much-needed support to highly impacted environments of the region post fire.

Her dedication and adaptability over this particu-larlv difficult time impressed ali she worked with Shirali will be profoundly missed.

New Landcare facilitator, Josh Puglisi, is currently introducing himself to Landcare Groups and looks forward to meeting anyone interested in Landcare.

Shirali Davé (left) and Penny Gray (right)