Hands on Wildlife's Ranger Dan and Laura Dunstan at the Green Nomads launch

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GREY nomads are being urged to turn green to help the environment and also to report sightings of feral camels.

A new Green Nomads scheme designed to bring together Australia’s large transient grey nomad population with community environment groups has been launched in Townsville, Queensland.

And at the same time, a new website as been introduced in a bid to track the movements of wild camels which are leaving a $10 million trail of damage as they wreak havoc in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.

NQ Dry Tropics' Laura Dunstan said the Green Nomads launch was an exciting and significant event for groups such as Conservation Volunteers which need extra green thumbs to help with projects.

"The Green Nomads is an incredibly successful program in southern areas of Queensland and NQ Dry Tropics is delighted to launch it up here in the north," she said.

The event involved volunteers planting trees and getting close to native animals such as snakes, lizards and a rare glider thanks to Hands on Wildlife.

The launch was part of last month's Australian-wide celebration of National Volunteer Week.

Queensland Water and Land Carers is behind the Green Nomads initiative.

The group's Esma Armstrong said: "By joining the program and becoming a Green Nomad, travellers are able to access numerous volunteering opportunities with local groups throughout Queensland.

"They can also undertake conservation work including community education, tree planting and wildlife caring while they travel around our beautiful state.

"Not only will travellers be able to contribute to the environments and communities they travel through, by becoming a Green Nomad they can have fun, meet new friends, learn new skills and visit some very special places."

Mick Brady, from Conservation Volunteers Australia, said there were many exciting projects for volunteers to get involved in.

"We have many projects in north Queensland that would suit Green Nomads, including the cyclone recovery program," he added.

NQ Dry Tropics' region includes the local government areas of Townsville, Charters Towers, Burdekin, Isaac, Barcaldine, Etheridge, Hinchinbrook, Palm Island and the Whitsundays.

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Meanwhile, outback caravanners and other travellers have been urged to report any feral camels they see to assist a nationwide campaign to limit the damage caused by over a million of the wild animals.

The Australian Feral Camel Management Project plans to register sightings to update regional and national mapping information.

"With estimates of more than one million feral camels spread across over three million square kilometres and an annual damage bill of over $10 million, we need community support to track and monitor significant populations and sites being damaged," spokeswoman Jan Ferguson said.

Tracking their movements was becoming more difficult and she has appealed to four-wheel drive enthusiasts, grey nomads and other travellers to record sightings on its CamelScan website.