Graham Lalchere was recently presented with a Banks Community Volunteer Award by Federal MP David Coleman on 13 November. Graham Lalchere has been a member of Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservation Society (OFF) for 17 years and a committee member in various positions for 13 years, including Technical Officer for 3 years, as Vice-President for 2 years then President for 7 years (2013-2019).
As President Graham has been an exemplary leader of, and a tireless worker for, the Society and the general community and has made a remarkable contribution. He has led the Society in its rejuvenation in activities, growth in membership, strategic directions and adoption of a more prominent role, indeed a more muscular approach, in lobbying for protection of our environment at a local, a statewide and a national level.
Under Graham’s guidance OFF has successfully undertaken numerous projects using grant funding to bolster OFF’s in-kind volunteers’ contribution including:
- Vegetation planting and ongoing maintenance at a number of sites in parks and reserves to improve biodiversity and tree canopy and to sequester carbon emissions;
- Community awareness & education campaigns for stormwater drainage & water quality incl. drain stencilling, brochure publication, guided walks and community surveys.
- Purchase of water testing equipment and chemicals to support the Streamwatch program, undertaken by OFF members, sampling and testing the waters in local waterways and logging and reporting the results on a regular monthly basis.
During Graham’s tenure over the last several years OFF has restructured its donations program to focus on awarding annual funding grants to university doctoral students for targeted research on worthwhile flora and fauna topics.
And Graham gets involved in all the OFF events and projects going on. He has recently jumped in to be the Acting OFF Newsletter Editor when the position became vacant and has pitched in to help on projects supporting wildlife after the bushfires earlier this year.
OFF remains a thriving, vibrant and prominent community organisation in the environmental sphere due in no small part to Graham’s contribution particularly during his time in Executive positions. He is a worthy OFF nominee for a Banks Volunteer Award in 2020.