Australia: Ideas for IECA and the SOIL Fund from “Down Under”

During my five-day stopover in Australia, I was fortunate to spend some time with Doug Wimble, past president of IECA and now the president of IECA’s new Region 2 which includes chapters in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), Malaysia, India, and South Africa.  During my second day in Sydney, I took a commuter train to the Vineyard station located less than 1km from the operations center for Doug’s landscaping company, Spraygrass, which specializes in revegetation and erosion control for highway construction and other large infrastructure projects (www.spraygrass.com.au).

Doug Wimble, his son Luke, and one of their hydroseeders

Three days later, Doug drove me to the town of Picton (southwest of Sydney) where IECA’s Australasia Chapter (www.austieca.com.au) and Region 2 headquarters are located.  There we met with Sandra Lanz, the office manager, and the three of us discussed our vision for the SOIL Fund within IECA’s new regional structure.  We agreed that it made no sense to have separate SOIL Funds for Regions 1 and 2.  Instead, Doug and Sandra felt that the fund should be managed by the new IRC which will coordinate the two IECA regions.  I suggested that we need a mechanism to insure that any funds raised by an IECA chapter for a specific project need to be earmarked for that project even if the money goes into the general SOIL Fund account.  I also felt that Doug had an excellent idea for bringing in additional money into the SOIL Fund:  Designate $10 from the fee paid by each IEC A conference participant to go to the SOIL Fund.        

IECA’s Australasian office is located in a small office building in Picton, New South Wales.

I noted that many IECA members are unfamiliar with the SOIL Fund.  To date, all our projects have been in Latin American countries.  Since we have a large IECA Australasian chapter, we need to encourage their membership to come up with a SOIL Fund project in a developing country in the South Pacific or Southeast Asia.  Sandra replied that she will publicize the SOIL Fund in the IECA Australasian newsletter.  

We also discussed on-going efforts to establish an IECA chapter in China.  In order for this to happen, Chinese government support will be essential (perhaps from a Chinese natural resources agency).  Doug feels that holding an IECA conference in China in cooperation with an organization such as WASWAC (the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation, headquartered in Beijing) would be a good way to get a new Chinese chapter off the ground. 

Doug Wimble and Sandra Lanz at IECA’s Australasian office

After leaving the IECA office, Doug drove me to his home in Sydney where his wife, Judy, prepared me a delicious vegetarian meal.  Doug and Judy’s hospitality was much appreciated by this weary traveler who boarded yet another flight the following day, this time for the Indonesian island of Bali.