Thanks to our Volunteers and Supporters

As ECF winds down, it was wonderful to bring together some of ECF’s key volunteers and supporters, at a morning tea in Port Adelaide on 8th March 2024.

Catherine McMahon has been ECF’s Hon Executive Officer including projects leader, grant seeker and key advocate.

Catherine convened the first meeting of the Port River Shellfish Restoration Project in January 2016 and key supporters of that project – David Stephenson and Belinda Leigh, Helen Macilwain and Michael Weir, Steve Reynolds, Mike Burrell, Craig Robertson, Phill McPeake and Steve Papp – were at the morning tea. Other active contributors included Rae Nunan, Peter Hunt and Travis Howson.

ECF’s trial Living Shoreline was made possible by technical support from Phill, deployment of posts and coir bags by David, Steve R, Mike, Craig, Steve P and Mike Crampton, and collection and transfer of mangrove seedlings by Helen, Catherine and Christine Gates.

Phill’s technical skills were also invaluable in ECF’s Living Seawall project.

ECF’s seagrass restoration trial drew on many of the same volunteers, while ECF’s seagrass monitoring has drawn in many volunteers, including from the Defence Shed, before settling on a key team of Steve P, Catherine and Chris.

ECF’s community engagement activities have principally involved Catherine, Rae, Tom Lindley-Donaldson and Kym Murphy with support from many others. Kym Murphy has taken numerous photos for ECF, and generously shared his existing photos, for ECF’s website, ECF’s SALA exhibitions, social media posts etc. Tom has been ECF’s volunteer designer and the website and event fliers/posts Tom developed have greatly assisted ECF in spreading our message. Rae researched the history of native oysters in the Port River and developed that into script for our History Festival Oyster Tales & Bubbles events. Rae also developed information for the self-guided Eco-Walk that’s on the Visit Port Adelaide app.

Melanie Carter (present at morning tea) and Chris Blundell have been generous donors to ECF, as were the 30 individuals who donated to the scoping study for ECF’s proposed swimming facility.

ECF’s final goal was to develop ECF’s Future Vision, as our guide to our desired future, and Alena Gerlek and Tom, with Catherine have developed that Vision and its promotion.

In looking to the future Catherine and the ECF Board could see that large projects are needed, and are potentially possible, in the Estuary such that project management now needs to be undertaken by staffed organisations. This is occurring with the transfer of the shellfish reef restoration project to OzFish and the support of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield for Living Shorelines, notably at Yitpi Yartapuultiku.

Crucial to ECF are its Board members who all began their terms in 2016 and gathered together in late 2023 to celebrate our achievements and finalise plans to close ECF. Special thanks goes to Karina Albanese, ECF’s Treasurer, whose provided unwavering support, dealing with financial and other matters, while helping keep ECF afloat with chocolate sales at her workplace.

To continue ECF’s work in advocacy and community engagement (and seagrass monitoring) Catherine has formed Friends of Port River, as an unincorporated organisation and many of those attending the morning tea will continue to be involved as Friends.