Dinner to celebrate women and the environment

Elizabeth Fraser, pictured with Cardinia Environment Coalition (CEC) members Lindsay McNaught, Pat Canty and Paul Higgott will speak at a women in conservation event. 140040_02

By Mitchell Clarke and Jonathon McQuie

The Cardinia Environmental Coalition (CEC) will celebrate International Women’s Day by hosting a dinner to recognise women in conservation.

The CEC aims to support networking and collaboration between environmental groups, along with educating the community about environmental issues and are prominent advocates on behalf of nature and conservation throughout the shire.

The dinner at Deep Creek Reserve on Thursday 5 March will feature three key note speakers who each have extensive involvement in environmental work across the region.

Past president of CEC, Elizabeth Fraser OAM will join ‘Honour the Woman’ co-founder Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young and Living Links project founder Sarah Maclagan as presenters on the night.

Ms Fraser played a key role in the establishment of the Deep Creek Reserve and has a long association with the Deep Creek Landcare group and Trust for Nature.

Dr Hartnell-Young has been listed in the “who’s who” of Australian women, largely due to her expertise as an educational researcher, presenter and writer and her work in achieve gender equality through Australia’s honours system.

Dr Maclagan, who majored in zoology and animal biology, worked as a biodiversity projects officer with the CEC and was the primary author of Biolinks’ project action plan for the Westernport Catchment Central Region.

Former CEC committee member Shirley Haynes, who has been involved in organising the event, said the dinner provides attendees with a “very good” explanation of what is going on in the conservation world.

“We’ve been holding this every couple of years for International Women’s Day to recognise the amazing work that women do in conservation,” Ms Haynes said.

“There’s a lot of information that can be shared and so we look forward to this part of the dinner.

“We’ve had some great speakers in the past and this year will be no different.”

The dinner, which isn’t a females only event, will be held at Deep Creek Reserve from 6pm to 9pm and is open to all.

To book your ticket, visit www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=600098&.