Staff profile: Hugh Wareham

It’s now 3 months since Hugh joined us as the CEO of Greening Australia Capital Region. Here he reflects on his time on the team so far.

Hello, my name is Hugh Wareham and I am delighted to have joined Greening Australia Capital Region as the new CEO. I come with a passion for working in the environment sector and over twenty-five years’ experience in Australia and the UK. I have worked in a mix of government and non-government roles and recent positions have included Deputy to the Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability and CEO of not for profit organisations ECO-Buy and Beyond Zero Emissions. I am very excited to now be in a role with Greening Australia that makes a real and direct impact in a practical way while working with such a dedicated team of staff and volunteers.

During my first week here I had the privilege of meeting the Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove and I have subsequently met a huge range of people; volunteers, Government Ministers, partners and landholders to name a few. Through all these groups there has been overwhelmingly positive feedback on the work and achievements of this organisation.

Since I started at the end of May we have had successful community planting days including those for World Environment Day, National Tree Planting Day and the recent planting at Molonglo Gorge. Other highlights have been the launch of our bushtucker garden and a great story on ABC 730 about our seed production partnership with CSIRO and the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

More recently, the opening of our Bush Tucker Garden by the Attorney General and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Island Affairs was another highlight as it brought together volunteers and partner organisations to celebrate an important milestone in a really rewarding project.

We have also had news that we have been successful in gaining funding for a number of new and innovative projects. These build on our work around habitat restoration and protecting and enhancing threatened species. This is very exciting, with the opportunities that it creates to transform our landscapes and to protect biodiversity.

It has been a fantastic three months and I look forward to working with all of you over many more!

Words: Hugh Wareham