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BIEPA's strategic plan initiated last year is yielding dividends. Proof that results come from establishing functional structure in our organisation.
Mission teams
Our Mission Teams — each tackling a different aspect of our overall mission — are getting members involved and having an impact:
Wildlife Team
Flora Team
Environment Team
Ecotourism & Sustainable Development Team
Community Team
Dividing up our mission like this allows each member to follow their passion and make a difference in an area they care most about, without getting overwhelmed by everything BIEPA needs to do.
Proactive projects
Each team is running many projects, of which this is a small selection:
BioBlitz days to collect observations that go into the Atlas of Living Australia.
A community wide extension program collecting sightings of dugongs.
Wildflower walks through our unique wallum habitat.
Organising signature events like our Giant Turtle on Woorim Beach.
Raising funds by returning cans and bottles to Containers for Change.
It is convincing that our structured approach is improving our effectiveness, and attracting new members too. People are joining us in droves, and from all backgrounds. Our monthly public meetings provide a great opportunity to hear updates about projects, and to sign up to join our friendly teams.
Each team has leaders who can help you settle into your role. Some commitments need only be a one-off — 60 volunteers recently joined our tree planting project at Ernest Sendall Park for an hour or two on a Sunday morning, for example — while other roles give you the chance to get more involved in driving projects forward.
Management can manage
We also have the Management team, who concentrate on the big picture, growing and streamlining the organisation, developing policy and strategic direction, and relationship building.
This means engaging with partners in the community like schools, the Seaside Museum, Pumicestone Indigenous Education and Employment Council, Bribie Nature Festival, Healthy Land & Water, Queensland Conservation Council and many others, as well as keeping up relations with the State Government and City of Moreton Bay Council.
Our teams, their leaders, and supporting volunteers are essential in getting BIEPA going. This frees up the Management team to play it's role. We are fortunate to have many experienced and capable personnel. This is helping BIEPA address environmental problems and be a real agent for change.
We need you!
Our key ingredient for success is you — our members are making us effective, and we are getting noticed.
So I encourage you all to continue to join in where you can, and let's celebrate our culture of enthusiastic, considerate, collective support for our team leaders. BIEPA projects are a fun way to make a real difference!
Absolutely true, H! I am so pleased to be associated with your valuable work. Quite right, and something to focus on in our planning. The impact of climate inaction dwarfs all other considerations.
One more team is critical at this moment in history - a Climate Action team. This team doesn't have to be activist; it can comprise people who believe we and our political representatives aren't moving fast enough or broadly enough to ensure Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast do their bit to try to keep heating down to 1.5C, as Australia promised to do in signing the Paris Agreement.
We all know that the climate crisis will jeopardise the best and laudable efforts of organisations like BIEPA in preserving and nurturing our wildlife - and indeed ourselves.
The Moreton Climate Action Now (MoretonCAN) campaign (already associated with BIEPA) is working with MBRC and encouraging them to effect more robust policies to…