The Batemans Bay region Green Army is the first of three teams, comprising people aged 17 to 24 who will work to restore the Eurobodalla’s 110km coastline over the next year-and-a-half.

Stage one, launched at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens on Thursday, will work from Durras to Tomakin.

Further groups, yet to be recruited, will work from Tomakin to Moruya and Moruya to the shire border.

Each will work for six months and members will earn two modules of a certificate II in conservation land management in the process.

The Green Army has already been hard at work for seven weeks doing weed control at Rosedale, targeting asparagus fern at Broulee Island and Illawong Nature Reserve and building a new walking track at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens.

Among its planned projects is building more walking tracks, controlling erosion, planting mangroves and rehabilitating a riverbank at Tomakin, controlling weeds in high value reserves and planting trees which members themselves have propagated and grown at the Gardens.

The works program is determined by project sponsor Eurobodalla Shire Council in consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Local Land Services.

Campbell Page and Skillset have partnered in delivering the project, providing team members with the tools and training they need.

Green Army supervisor Damon Lane said most of his seven team members were jobseekers prior to the deployment but each brought a unique skill set.

He said he was lucky to have such a good team.

“A couple of them are more interested in plants than the others, a couple of the guys are really interested in track construction,” Mr Lane said.

“With such a varied program, it’s great to see the different strengths; people can fit into niches to further their careers.

“They’re a cohesive unit, all with a good work ethic, all willing to be here and I think  that’s’ really important, especially when I believe the cause, environmental management, is such an important one.”

Team member Vincent Haig, 21, hopes the program will help launch his future career.

He previously worked in labouring and kitchen jobs, but wants a career in the environmental industry.

Mr Haig said he was “ecstatic” to learn different plant names and said the amount you could learn was “mind-blowing”.

“I’ve been trying to get into Forestry, or anything to do with the outdoors, for three years and I find it’s pretty hard to get into,” he said.

“Hopefully this is a foot in the door, a step in the right direction.”

Eden-Monaro MP Dr Hendy, who launched the project on Thursday, said it inspired participants and the wider community to learn about important components of the environment.

“During the next six months we will see the benefits and improvements made to our local environment through activities undertaken by the Green Army,” Dr Hendy said.

“These participants will not only be generating real environment and conservation benefits for our community, but they will be gaining valuable practical training and experience to help them prepare for the workforce or further their training and improve their career opportunities.”

 The Green Army is a key federal government commitment with more than $700 million budgeted over four years.