Work groups in national parks and reserves
Members and guests are welcome to join our work parties undertaking conservation and regeneration efforts in Namadgi National Park.
The Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Group (GBRG) was established to rehabilitate the area of the former Boboyan pine plantation near Yankee Hat.
Work parties
The NPA ACT Inc. conducts monthly work parties (except December and January) to assist with the management of the national park, nature reserves and conservation areas in the ACT and surrounding NSW. Details are contained in the NPA Outings Program published quarterly in the NPA Bulletin.
For more information about a specific outing, please contact the work party leader.
To inquire about our program of bushwalks, work parties, outings and other activities by email click This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
COVID19-Safe Work Party Procedures
These procedures for work parties aim to minimise the risk of transmission of the SARS-Cov2 virus. They reflect the guidelines announced by PCS on Friday 8 May.
The basic rules about physical separation and vulnerability apply. That is: Maintain a minimum of 1.5m between individuals and a maximum density of one person/4m2 in confined areas.
- those aged 70 and over,
- those aged 65 and over with a chronic medical condition,
- those with a compromised immune system, and
- Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 and over.
Assessment of vulnerability is personal matter. Notwithstanding the above criteria, people who feel capable and are willing to participate in a work party are free to do so. Nevertheless, the work party leader has the obligation to decide whether a person should participate in a work party. This determination will be guided by the leader’s knowledge of the participant’s experience and general physical fitness. If necessary, the leader will need to seek further information from the participant. Also, a participant should volunteer information that might be pertinent.
These procedures apply to one-day work parties only at this time.
Personal Hygiene
In addition to the accepted Covid-19 hygiene principles, participants should sanitise their hands before boarding the vehicles at the start of the work party, before meals and before boarding the vehicles at the end of the work party. Hand sanitiser will be available at each work party.
Equipment Hygiene
When using tools, participants are to use gloves at all times. At this point in the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic, participants are to provide their own gloves as a first line of defence against cross-contamination. The small quantity of gloves in the NPA tool kit will be retained as a back-up.
Participants should use their own tools to the maximum extent possible and avoid sharing them with others. However, this is not always practical. When sharing of tools is inevitable, the hand-sanitisation measures and use of gloves are critical requirements.
The work party leader will sanitise tools in the NPA tool kit with methylated spirits before and after each work party.
Transport
Travel by vehicle is problematic. In order to meet the 1.5m separation and the density requirements, even vehicles up to a 4WD station wagon will usually have insufficient
internal floor area to comply. Therefore, the basic policy is to permit one person, or one household, per vehicle.
However, this policy may result in a large number of vehicles in use during a work party, which, in turn, can present logistical problems. As an alternative the following procedure may be used.
Within a vehicle the physical separation between non-household occupants should be, ideally, as close as possible to 1.5m, but in no case less than the World Health Organization minimum of 1m (see https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public). In practical terms, for non-household people this will limit occupancy to two persons – the driver plus a passenger in the back left-hand seat. Additionally, N2 or equivalent standard masks are to be worn while in the vehicle.
If two or more household people travel in a vehicle, no non-household people should share the vehicle unless it is of sufficient size to accommodate the distancing and density requirements.
The application of the alternative transport policy will be identified by the phrase ‘Non-household ride share’ in the work party description printed in the Bulleting and on the website.
Work teams
The following apply to the conduct of the work party:
- Maximum of 10 work party participants.
- Maximum of two people in a working team.
- Registration with the work party leader by the Thursday prior to the work party to ensure no turn-backs at the meeting place and to facilitate contact tracing.
- Sign-on via a roll-call to minimize contact between individuals.