The Marketing and Communications team develops and delivers a range of programs and services that support the initiatives of Government partners, corporate Australia, Landcare community groups, and other aligned not-for-profit organisations. The primary objective of the team is to create awareness of Landcare and to engage community as well as corporate organisations in all aspects of Landcare.

In the past year, we delivered the 2016 National Landcare Conference which was attended by over 700 passionate individuals, representing all sectors of the Landcare community. The conference also provided the platform for recognising and celebrating the achievements of community leaders and innovators through the National Landcare Awards, where in 2016, 69 state finalists were vying for a national award across nine categories.

Also presented in 2016, the Bob Hawke Landcare Award which offers a cash prize of $50,000, was bestowed upon Stephen Burgess for demonstrating a remarkable commitment to caring for the land; championing better practices; and giving his time to sharing knowledge with others so that they too can prosper.

We published Landcare in Focus, a quarterly newspaper that shares expert and technical knowledge and case studies to the Landcare community, while also delivering monthly eNewletters to keep the community up-to-date on events, funding opportunities, and Landcare projects being delivered across the country.

Still in its infancy, fundraising has grown over the past two years thanks to our newly acquired supporters. Due to our generous supporters, we have raised over $180,000. We have over 1,900 regular supporters who genuinely care about the Landcare movement and the environment. They are passionate people who want to make a difference and see results.

Over the past year, we have raised funds through our Workplace Giving Program, direct marketing appeals, community fundraising, events, and general donations. In addition, we launched a new bequest and community fundraising program and hosted a successful Trek for Aussie Farmers in Tasmania earlier in March 2017.

Thanks to our supporters, we were able to grant ten habitat restoration grants valued at $10,000 each throughout Australia supporting our Landcare groups working to save Aussie species such as the koala, southern cassowary and coastal emu.

The corporate partnerships team develops and delivers partnerships with corporate Australia which have a positive impact on our land and water resources. We have close to 30 years’ experience working in partnership with the private sector. We build partnerships to help businesses achieve objectives in the areas of community engagement, sustainability, brand differentiation, corporate social responsibility and employee engagement. We also focus on helping companies have a positive impact on the communities and the environment in which they operate.

Over the past year, 342 projects have been funded and $1,075,069 in funding distributed as a result of our corporate partnerships. These projects include a variety of Junior Landcare projects in schools across the country, sustainable agriculture projects to help farmers respond to challenges, community Landcare projects tackling local issues, and large scale revegetation projects.

In the 2016/17 year Landcare Australia delivered 18 corporate funded grants programs, distributing over $800,000 to support the implementation of 327 projects.  The majority of the 18 grant programs were defined by a target geographic area and theme. However, three of the 2016/17 grant programs were available to support the vital efforts of Landcare and community groups nationwide. The generous and continued support of 26 corporates into Landcare Australia’s Workplace Giving Program, allowed our Habitat Restoration grants to fund 10 groups up to $10,000 each to protect and enhance Australia’s biodiversity assets. Momentum Energy’s ‘Powerful Youth Projects’ Junior Landcare grants, in its first year, supported 244 schools, kindergartens and youth groups across Victoria to further educate their students about environmental sustainability.