Women's History Month Heritage Walk Civic Square, March 2022

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this Heritage Walk contains images and names of deceased people.

Val Wiseman (1945-2018)

Environmentalist, Botanist, Educator and Leader

Val Wiseman is remembered for her significant contribution as a science educator and environmentalist in the ACT and region. With degrees in science and education, Val taught science in high schools, and botany at the Canberra School of Horticulture, Australian National University and University of Canberra.

In 1989 Val joined the ACT and SE NSW branch of Greening Australia working with farmers, Landcare groups, schools and individuals from across the region to re-establish native vegetation, combat weeds and to address riparian rehabilitation in the upper and middle Murrumbidgee.

Val was involved in the establishment and management of the ACT Catchment and Landcare Subcommittee of the ACT Environment Advisory Committee and the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment Coordinating Committee - an umbrella group bringing together representatives of community groups, non-government organisations and local governments in NSW and ACT.

With the establishment of catchment management across NSW, Val joined some of the early bodies tasked with the management of the entire Murrumbidgee Catchment, and the development of a formal Murrumbidgee Catchment Plan. She was also involved in the assessment of funding applications for Landcare and catchment projects across NSW, and as a member of the National Assessment panel that made final recommendations to the Federal Ministers for Environment and Agriculture.

Val was also the ACT representative on the Australian Landcare Council for several years, advising Federal Ministers for Environment and Agriculture. Keen to stay grounded by pursuing on-ground as well as committee-based activities, she undertook, via the Hall Landcare Group, a riparian rehabilitation project along a section of Hall Creek adjacent to Hall Village where, with the muscle power of a Green Corps group and local volunteers, she organised the removal of huge quantities of woody weeds growing along the creek. Val also wrote regular Landcare articles for the Hall newsletter. These activities saw Val recognised as the ACT Individual Landcarer in 1999.

Select Bibliography

Photograph courtesy of Greening Australia.

Val Wiseman Collection

Greening Australia

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_{Header photograph: March by Women's Employment Rights Campaign from the ACT Health Authority to the CES building, 2 December 1977.  ACT Heritage Library, Canberra Times Collection, 006515}