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Knox Environment Society

The Knox Environment Society (KES) is a membership-based organization of like-minded individuals that have a concern for the environment. An elected Committee meets once a month to administer the day-to-day activities of the Society. A monthly newsletter, the "Kestrel", is distributed to all members. KES work closely with Knox Council, other Environmental Groups, Friends Groups and individuals to achieve the Society's objectives. KES was founded in June 1982 from a small group of people interested in their local environment and community. Over the years the group has flourished into a volunteer organization with over 100 members. To achieve their objectives the Society established a community nursery to which volunteers have a sense of ownership. This indigenous plant nursery was originally located in the Ferntree Gully Secondary College grounds. In 2009 the nursery moved to the Ferntree Gully Recreation Reserve behind the library on Burwood Hwy. Most of the money gained goes back into the community for environmental projects, both locally and globally, such as the Sword-grass Brown Butterfly project, lobbying for better public transport and donations to other groups striving for similar objectives. KES has also played an integral role with the Knox City Council in the installation of a Conservation Officer and development of conservation strategies, Sustainable City Plan and has been involved in the establishment of the Environment Advisory Committee and Public Transport Consulting Committee. We have a number of members on these committees lifting the profile and giving a balanced approach to various issues relating to Knox's environment. KES continues to work proactively with Knox City Council. As the KES Community Nursery began to grow and with greater interest from the community, there was a need to create a wholesale nursery and so was born Operation Revegetation (O.R). O.R leases land and buildings from Parks Victoria and has the motto "Principle before Profit". It's work includes environmental consultancy, fencing and weed control among many other roles throughout the municipality and beyond. O.R also grows and provides indigenous plants with known provenance to Parks Victoria, Councils and regularly donates to local schools. Nearly thirty years have passed since KES began its existence. We continue to grow, and hopefully educate future generations, so that in another 30 years our work will be less required as the community becomes more aware of how precious our environment really is. A book, written by one of the founding members of KES, details the history of KES.

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