Who is Whitsunday Catchment Landcare?

WCL is a community organisation comprised of various stakeholders including agriculture, community and business as well as individual community members

Whitsunday Catchment Landcare Inc. is:

• An Incorporated and Registered Environmental Organisation which is afforded charity status and entitles WCL to receive tax deductable donations and requires the organisation to fulfil operating obligations determined by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and the QLD Office of Fair Trading.
• A Not-for- profit Community based organisation that has been operating in the Whitsunday region since 1998.
• In 2017-18 WCL has over 70 members and over 90 registered volunteers and a monthly newsletter circulation of nearly 200.
• WCL has a Management Committee of 7 which include community, local council and industry representatives. WCL also has a Public Fund that is administered by a separate Public Fund Committee. 

As an incorporated association, WCL is guided by an elected management committee. The current management committee members are:

• Chairperson - Graham Armstrong. Graham is a retired executive manager and scientist with a lifelong interest in Biodiversity.. He has contributed to numerous biodiversity field surveys across Australia.
• Treasurer - Glenda Hodgson. Glenda has a keen interest in horticulture having held office in this capacity and has been a dedicated volunteer for Landcare for a number of years. 
• Secretary - Jacquie Sheils. Jacquie is passionate about the environment and brings with her a great depth of expertise and experience working for and within eco-community organisations.
• Committee - Jim Dickens. Jim has a background in the forestry industry and a strong interest in native plants.
• Committee - Scott Hardy. Scott works for Whitsunday Regional Council as an Environmental Manager.
• Committee - Cr. Ron Petterson. Cr. Petterson represents Whitsunday Regional Council.
• Committee - John Casey. John is a Sugar Cane Farmer and represents Proserpine Cane Growers

WCL currently has four part-time staff members.

• Whitsunday Catchment Landcare Coordinator - Cath Campbell. The Coordinator leads the development of Landcare projects in the Whitsunday catchment and promotes community education and involvement in Landcare activities.
• Landcare Officer - Peter Alden. Peter's main activities include advice on weed control on private land, environmental projects initiated by Reef Catchments,  WCL revegetation projects as well as the WCL’s Bushcare Volunteer Network.
• Community Nursery Coordinator  - Our Nursery manager manages the Bushcare Volunteer Nursery, running weekly volunteer days and caring for the plants grown by the Landcare volunteers. 
• Admin / Bookeeper - Leigh Donkers. Leigh is responsible for maintaining the financial records and various administrative duties. 

Objects of the Association.

Like all incorporated associations, WCL is guided by Rules of Association lodged with the Office of Fair Trading. These rules include the Objects of the Association.  WCL's Objects are:

To promote the planned and sustainable management of the O’Connell, Andromache, Proserpine and Gregory River catchments in a constructive and balanced way in order to protect and enhance the natural environment by actions such as:

1. Fostering coordination between landholder, community actions groups and government agencies in their land, water and vegetation management activities.

2. Promotion of community and government understanding of the interactions between land usage, waters, soils, vegetation and wildlife of the catchment.

3. Promotion of the value of a coordinated catchment wide approach for managing these resources.

4. Identification and prioritisation of interrelated land and water resource issues in the catchment.

5. Promotion of solutions and actions through public and government participation as part of catchment management strategies.

6. Provision of a forum for community and government discussions on catchment management issues for resolving conflicting demands on natural resources.

7. To encourage the conservation of native flora and fauna by integrating nature conservation practices with rural and residential land uses for the benefit of the countryside and the community.

8. To establish and maintain a public fund to be called the "Whitsunday Catchment Landcare Fund" for the specific purpose of supporting the environmental objects/purposes of Whitsunday Catchment Landcare Inc. The fund is established to receive all gifts of money or property for this purpose and any money received because of such gifts must be credited to its bank account. The fund must not receive any other money or property into its account and it must comply with subdivision 30-E of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.