Native grasslands on roadsides are often driven past without a second thought, but a passionate group of people are taking an active role in restoring these endangered plant communities and having great success balancing the ecological, community and agricultural values of the region.

Soil used to be seen as the enemy in natural resource management (NRM), and there was once a great divide between the farming community and those authorities who sought to improve the environment. But things have changed - and now agriculture and NRM can work hand in hand for beneficial outcomes for everyone - with Richard taking care of the admin.

We met the dynamic duo getting stuff done along the waterways of the Glenelg Hopkins CMA region – Steve and Alex. These two are responsible for putting things IN the river, like fish hotels and ladders, delivering environmental flows along the waterways, and probably most importantly, talking to people about the river and engaging with the communities along it.

Meet Jarred, the man with the job of trying to manage the competing needs of our environment where the river meets the sea.  Managing coastal estuaries with the competing needs of the environment and the community can be tricky, but he also gets to spend a lot of time outdoors in some pretty spectacular environments, learning from traditional owners, helping landholders and working with community and school groups.

We sit down with Aggie and Ben, the Glenelg Hopkins CMAs natural resource management planners in the Biodiversity team who are charged with protecting an area known as the VVP. We learn how locking up and leaving native grasslands is the worst thing you want to do if you want to actually look after them, and why they’ve been clocking up the kilometres playing cupid to an oddly named little yellow flower.

The Glenelg Hopkins CMA protects and enhances the land, water and biodiversity across about 26,000ha of Victoria's south-west. But, does anyone really know what GHCMA stands for? In this episode, we meet Adam Bester, the CEO of the Glenelg Hopkins CMA and ask him what his organisation does, how it does it, who funds it, and who does all the work.