Our Region, Our Voice
Regional Youth Investment Program
This unique project engages young people to restore river health and habitat for wildlife. They have assisted by planting trees along waterways, making fish hotels for threatened fish species, restoring wetlands, collecting rubbish and designing and implementing a litter prevention project for their local rivers.
Stewardship & development
By bridging the gap between environmental stewardship and youth development, the Regional Youth Investment Program creates an enriching experience to empowers young individuals to positively impact their local rivers while developing essential skills and knowledge for a promising career in the conservation field.
Engaging over 1800+ of tomorrow’s leaders
To date, 1,871 participants from Dubbo, Moree and the Sunraysia region have engaged in the RYIP OzFish program. This includes youth from organisations and schools such as Boys to the Bush, Peel High School, James Sheahan Catholic College, Skillset Senior College, Miyay Birray Youth Services, and Boggabilla Central School.
River & bush habitat restoration
Events featured a range of activities led by OzFish staff and volunteers, including discussions on fish biology and river ecology, bush regeneration techniques to enhance habitats for native species, planting native vegetation, constructing eco-friendly fish motels, and removing illegally dumped rubbish from environmentally sensitive areas.
Community driven positive change
These hands-on activities provide invaluable opportunities for young people to connect with nature, make a tangible impact, and contribute to improving their environment.
OzFish has also collaborated closely with Indigenous and First Nations organisations throughout this program, embracing the profound learning gained from these partnerships, which often surpasses the knowledge we aim to share.
How these help waterways
River de-snagging was a popular activity to increase boating safety and reduce flooding. Today, removing wood from waterways is listed as a Threatening Process under the Fisheries Management Act.
Unfortunately, before this legislation, river de-snagging had already led to significant declines throughout the Murray Darling Basin. Fish hotels are innovatively designed wooden construction that looks like a hashtag (#).
They consist of crisscrossed wooden beams placed to create a complex system of habitat that sits on the riverbed. Made from natural materials, they are environmentally friendly. More importantly, they’re a perfect location for native fish to inhabit.
This project provides experiential learning and work-readiness skills while empowering young people to make positive changes to their local environment and give them a sense of belonging to the community.
