	{"id":114118,"date":"2025-07-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=114118"},"modified":"2025-07-17T08:59:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T22:59:42","slug":"become-a-nature-steward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/become-a-nature-steward\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature stewards returns to Ballarat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE nature stewards program is returning for its fourth year to empower community members to care for the environment.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative is a partnership between the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/ballarat-city-council-launches-environmental-initiative\/\">City of Ballarat<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/victorian-national-parks-association-supports-local-projects\/\">Victorian National Parks Association<\/a> and first launched in spring 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Registrations are open for the 10\u2011week course for adults which will begin this September.<\/p>\n<p>Participants will learn from environmental experts such as Traditional Owners, City of Ballarat Sustainable Environment Officers, CSIRO staff, volunteers and industry representatives.<\/p>\n<p>City mayor Tracey Hargreaves encouraged community members to get involved and learn practical skills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNature Stewards empowers everyday people to make a real difference in their local and broader habitats,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether you are a long\u2011time nature lover or just beginning to explore your local environment, this program offers something for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou will discover all sorts of ways to help nature at home and through local <a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/volunteering-helps-connect-community-with-nature\/\">volunteering opportunities<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The program is best suited for people with little or no formal environmental education who are interested supporting nature and exploring volunteering opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Sessions will be held on Saturday mornings from September 6 until November 22 excluding long weekends.<\/p>\n<p>Each session will run from 9\u202fam until 1\u202fpm with some additional trips until 4.30\u202fpm.<\/p>\n<p>The program costs $90 for City of Ballarat residents or $350 for non\u2011residents.<\/p>\n<p>Registrations for the program close on August 24 at <a href=\"https:\/\/vnpa.org.au\/programs\/nature-stewards-3\/\">vnpa.org.au\/nature-stewards<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE nature stewards program is returning for its fourth year to empower community members to care for the environment. The initiative is a partnership between the City of Ballarat and Victorian National Parks Association and first launched in spring 2022. Registrations are open for the 10\u2011week course for adults which will begin this September. Participants [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/become-a-nature-steward\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":114120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-114118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nature stewards returns to Ballarat - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Register by 24 Aug for Ballarat\u2019s Nature Stewards\u2014a 10\u2011week environmental course for adults starting September.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/become-a-nature-steward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nature stewards returns to Ballarat - 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