Volunteering American youth brave Australian wildlife to restore our river

Three snakes, countess huntsmen, lots of butterflies and endless flies, but nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the recent team from Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) who has been helping our river recover from the floods earlier this year.
Whilst the majority of the rubbish they collected originated as blue plastic covers off hay bales that got washed away in the flood, they also picked up barb wire, steel pegs, beer bottles, tyres, an assortment of farming equipment and much more off the banks of our river.
The team of seven, aged between 18 and 20, who all originated from all over the USA, are the first of 10 teams who will spend the next 10 weeks working along the river clearing manmade debris.
The seven volunteers and their leader collected 183 pieces of rubbish, weighing in at 446kg from 10 sites; they also flagged another 482 pieces weighing a total of 5.2 tonnes for removal by the council and landholders.
They worked on 10 sites, nine public and one private, and removed rubbish from 13 hectares of riparian land along three kilometres of stream bank.
It was a week of higher than average temperatures but, according to the team’s leader from CVA, the team worked tirelessly collecting debris.
With a wet summer being predicted, rivers across the Condamine catchment are getting the once over, thanks to flood and disaster recovery funding from Queensland Rural Reconstruction Authority.
“We need to ensure that all major manmade debris is cleared from the flood zones to protect the river and ensure, if future flooding occurs, debris is not mobilised again,” Condamine Alliance CEO Phil McCullough said.
“The volunteers will stockpile debris collected and the local councils are supporting us by arranging for its removal,” Mr McCullough said.
“We will also work with landholders along key sections of the river to ensure the work done is as effective as possible,” he said.
The next team of volunteers arrived in the catchment on Tuesday, equally as keen and excited about being able to help restore the rivers.