COCA-COLA LANDCARE AUSTRALIA WATERSHED PROTECTION AND REGENERATION PROGRAM
Partners:
Coca-Cola,
Landcare Groups

by rohan.antao@landcareaustralia.com.au | Oct 23, 2017
...by rohan.antao@landcareaustralia.com.au | Oct 23, 2017
...by rohan.antao@landcareaustralia.com.au | Oct 23, 2017
...by rohan.antao@landcareaustralia.com.au | Oct 23, 2017
...by rohan.antao@landcareaustralia.com.au | Oct 23, 2017
...COCA-COLA LANDCARE AUSTRALIA WATERSHED PROTECTION AND REGENERATION PROGRAM
Partners:
Coca-Cola,
Landcare Groups
As part of the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture, Esso and BHP Billiton have partnered with Landcare Australia to fund two Landcare projects in the Warragul area of Gippsland, Victoria. Warragul and District Urban Landcare and Mt Worth and District Landcare are undertaking two projects, engaging local community members with planting days and educational activities, while achieving significant environmental benefits. Esso and BHP Billiton have been replacing a key pipeline that runs from Longford to Hastings (187 kilometers in length), crossing the Warragul area. Esso and BHP Billiton are contributing to these meaningful projects in the local community to recognise the community’s ongoing support during construction of the pipeline.
This financial year has been a busy one for Landcare Australia, with a number of high profile projects and events, including the National Landcare Conference & Awards, the Transurban M2 project in Sydney, and a number of fundraising ventures and on-ground work accomplishments, which you can read about in this report.
I would like to acknowledge the team here at Landcare Australia for their efforts and passion for their work, and also to our tireless board for their support.
Our marketing and communications team pulled off an incredibly successful National Landcare Conference & Awards to great feedback and higher engagement than ever from attendees, who descended on Melbourne in September 2016 with vigour and excitement for three days of everything Landcare. It was truly an honour to see all the Landcare champions celebrated for their hard work and accomplishments.
Our fundraising area is continuing to grow, with over 1,900 individuals now regularly supporting Landcare Australia. We implemented a number of new appeals and campaigns during the year, as well as reinvigorating our Workplace Giving Program. Thanks to this program, we were able to support over $100,000 worth of projects to help restore the habitats of our native species, including the koala, southern cassowary, and coastal emu.
The Australian Government National Landcare Programme provides the support needed to deliver many of our services, and I thank them for their ongoing commitment to Landcare and Landcare Australia. In Victoria, the Department of Environment Land, Water and Planning made an important contribution to assist us in developing corporate partnerships locally, and was also a proud sponsor of the 2016 National Landcare Conference.
The continued robust support from our corporate partners allowed us to support 342 Landcare projects. These were funded through our partnerships with Momentum, Yates, Lion, RACV, to name a few, as well as our Workplace Giving partners. I truly appreciate contributions of our many corporate partners that enable us to continue to grow and support the Landcare community across Australia.
I’m excited to let you all know that Landcare Australia and the National Landcare Network began discussions this year to create unity and stronger alignment between the two entities – which in turn will allow us to serve the vast Landcare community better. This is a great opportunity to create a single, unified national voice for Landcare to better reach our goal of all Australians actively caring for the land and water that sustains us.
Ultimately, I want to extend my thanks to the Landcare community, who put in so many hours and heart into their work for our precious land; without the commitment of this community, none of this work would be possible.
Doug has had around 40 years involvement in regional Australia including 25 years leadership experience in the environmental sector. Doug led Bush Heritage Australia (1997 – 2011) to national prominence before establishing his own consultancy working for environmental NGOs, Indigenous groups, traditional owners and natural resource management /catchment management authorities. Doug provides advice and support on a range of strategic, investment, project and governance matters, and is particularly involved in building partnerships and collaborations. Doug is married with three children and lives in southern Victoria.
Board Attendance: 3/5
Partnerships Committee Member | Attendance: 2/5
Commenced 13 December 2016.
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DBP, a member of the Australian Gas Infrastructure group, is the owner and operator of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline. In partnership with Landcare Australia, DBP will be funding Landcare projects from Dampier to Bunbury that focus on eradication of feral animal species. It’s hoped that through these projects DBP will be protecting threatened and endangered species, helping farmers and improving farming productivity, as well as upskilling numerous local and indigenous Landcare groups.
Jess leads ACF’s Great Dividing Range campaign. He has worked across tropical, arid and temperate Australia on marine, mining, forest and biodiversity conservation issues. He has a background in environmental education and community engagement and is a former Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger. He is currently undertaking a Masters of Environment at the University of Melbourne and is a Fellow of the Centre for Australian Progress.
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Jim is currently CEO of the National Landcare Network, and has been a member of his local Landcare group in Bombala since its inception in 1993. Trained as a forester, Jim worked and lived in many small rural communities and developed an interest in local government on the Bombala Council. Jim has worked in natural resource management plus has experience of both the public and private sectors running his own business. He has had senior executive positions across commercial and national not for profit and community organisations including as Chair of the Forest Stewardship Council in Australia, and as CEO of Timber Communities Australia.
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Kate has over two decades of experience in senior roles as a CEO, senior manager, chairperson, facilitator, consultant and researcher in diverse organisations across Australia; in both regional and national roles. Her recently completed PhD explores the history of cropping and policy learning in northern Australia, “A Circular Conundrum”. Now based in south coast NSW, Kate will be working as Manager NSW Landcare Program and is a Visiting Fellow with the Fenner School for Environment and Society at the Australian National University.
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Sam farms with his family at Gundagai running a sheep and cattle enterprise in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. In 2002 the farm was selected as a pilot site for the Australian Government’s national environmental stewardship programme. In 2008 Sam was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship and travelled throughout the world researching environmental stewardship schemes. He is Chair of the Riverina Local Land Services and a non-Executive Director of Farm Apps. Sam has held board, advisory and leadership roles in the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the Australian Farm Institute, NSW Farmers Association, Murrumbidgee Landcare and the National Farmers’ Federation.
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Stephanie is the Chief Executive Officer of Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) and a Bidjara woman from Queensland. Stephanie is currently on the Advisory Group of the Indigenous Social Enterprise Fund (ISEF), Director of the Healing Foundation and Advisor to the Indigenous Reading Project. She is passionate about community development, social justice and human rights, and Caring for Country, with a special interest in Indigenous Ranger programs.
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John has spent his entire 30 year career in the Western Australian public service supporting people and organisations to achieve their personal, business and professional aspirations. He is currently Director of the State NRM Office in Perth and has been involved in managing NRM programs which have supported hundreds of NRM and Landcare projects with grants totalling over $800 million since 1997. John is passionate about encouraging the continuing involvement of community volunteers and grass root groups in environmental action and having input to Government policy.
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Tor is recognised as Australia’s pioneer of environmental economics, having been at the forefront of research, teaching and practical management in this field for almost four decades. He has served as President of the Queensland Conservation Council, Councillor of the Australian Conservation Foundation, a founding member of the Queensland and National Environmental Law Associations, founder and president of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand, Environment Commissioner for the Industry Commission and Chair of Keep Australia Beautiful. In 2003, he became the first Australian to be awarded an Order of Australia in recognition of his contribution to environmental economics.
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Gerald is Chair of the National Farmers Federation’s Natural Resources Committee. Raised on an irrigation property at Red Cliffs in the Sunraysia region of Victoria, he has spent his working life as a dryland farmer in the Mallee region. The family operated property produces cereal grains, lambs and wool whilst incorporating sustainable production principles. He also chairs the Board of Ouyen Livestock Exchange Inc., a community based incorporated body which leases the sale yard facility from the local Council and operates it as a commercial entity.
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Bill was born in Adelaide, attended primary school in Brisbane and high school and university in Sydney (Medicine), working and teaching in Sydney and Adelaide, including short periods in Papua New Guinea and RFDS out of Broken Hill. A career shift to Health Personnel Education in the early 1970’s led to 21 years with WHO (two assignments in Nepal, one at WHO HQ and another in Cambodia, two as WHO Country Representative), returning in 2002 to Berry, NSW, becoming active in Landcare at local, district, regional and state levels.
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Ben is CEO of the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) and has held that position for 5 years. Prior to this Ben had extensive experience as a teacher and principal in Tasmania and Queensland in a range of settings including primary, secondary and special education. Ben is also a director on the boards of the Australian Beef Industry Foundation and Surfing Tasmania.
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Partnerships Committee Member | Attendance: 3/5
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Campbell Anderson was appointed Chairman of Landcare Australia in 2012. Previously he had exposure to Landcare through his career as an executive in the resources industry for over 30 years. Campbell was Chief Executive of North Ltd, during the 1990s, when North was one of Landcare’s largest supporters. He was President of the Business Council of Australia between 1998 and 2000.
Board Member | Attendance: 3/5
Partnerships Committee Member | Attendance: 3/5
Finance and Audit Committee Member | Attendance: 4/7
Resigned 31 December 2016.
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Managing Director, Asia Pacific for leading enterprise mobility company SOTI, Adele was appointed in March 2015. Fluent in five languages, Adele’s career has seen her break new ground across EMEA and Asia Pacific, holding senior roles; in large multinational corporations, working with new technologies, developing market entry strategies, developing social media platforms, being a teacher, aid worker, strategist, commercial negotiator, marketer, fundraiser and start-up mentor.
Board Member | Attendance: 2/5
Partnerships Committee Member | Attendance: 3/5
Resigned 19 June 2017.
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Natalie Collard (GAICD, BA (SSc)) manages corporate affairs in Victoria and Tasmania for Telstra. As CEO of Australian Dairy Farmers, Natalie delivered significant industry transformation. As Director of Agsafe, Natalie oversaw agricultural environmental stewardship programs. 2013 Telstra Victorian Business Woman of the Year (Community & Govt), Natalie has addressed the UN, managed two $600 million corporate defence contracts, and negotiated Australia’s first treaty with NATO.
Board Member | Attendance: 5/5
Partnerships Committee Member | Attendance: 4/5
Resigned 19 June 2017.
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Jan Davis works as a consultant in the Australian agribusiness sector and in member-based organisations, with a focus on agripolicy and corporate governance. She is a director of the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. After five years as CEO at Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, Jan has recently been appointed as CEO of the Agribusiness Association of Australia.
Board Member | Attendance: 5/5
Finance and Audit Committee Chair | Attendance: 7/7
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Rachel is an executive at the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) where she holds the position of CFO and General Manager Corporate Services responsible for Finance, Technology, Human Resources and Legal. Prior to joining the AICD Rachel had an accomplished career in banking that included CFO of HBOS Australia and Head of Finance for Retail at ANZ Bank. Rachel was previously on the board of Capital Finance Australia Limited. She has extensive experience in complex regulatory environments across both large established organisations and entrepreneurial enterprises.
Board Member | Attendance: 5/5
Finance and Audit Committee Member | Attendance: 6/7
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Robert Nicholson is a solicitor and partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, a leading global commercial law firm. Robert is a former member of the Victorian government’s National Parks Advisory Council, and Melbourne Parks and Waterways Advisory Council.
Board Member | Attendance: 4/5
Partnerships Committee Member | Attendance: 5/5
Finance and Audit Committee Member | Attendance: 6/7
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Peter Sutherland has had an extensive senior executive career in the public and private sectors in water and natural resource management. He retired from GHD as Business Leader Water Resources. Peter was; Deputy Commissioner on the Murray Darling Basin Commission, a member of the National Land and Water Resources Audit, the National Taskforce on Sustainable Agriculture, and the Prime Minister’s Land Management Task Force.
Board Member | Attendance: 5/5
Partnerships Committee Chair | Attendance: 5/5
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The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources recognises the important role Landcare plays in increasing the productivity and profitability of the agriculture sector and financially supports Landcare in a number of ways.
Landcare Australia is supported to deliver a range of activities on behalf of the Landcare community including the National Landcare Conference, Bob Hawke Landcare Award, State & Territory and National Landcare Awards and the Landcare in Focus magazine.
The Victorian Government Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) provides support to Landcare Australia’s Victorian operations to assist Landcare Australia in developing partnerships with the corporate sector.
This support has contributed to Landcare Australia’s success in delivering dollars in corporate support for a diverse range of Landcare projects across the state. DELWP has also assisted Landcare Australia to bring the National Landcare Conference to Melbourne in 2014 and again in 2016.
The National Landcare Programme is a key part of the Australian Government’s commitment to natural resource management. It is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and the Department of the Environment.
It includes support for the Landcare Networks, 20 Million Trees and Australia’s 56 regional natural resource management organisations. This funding helps support local environmental and sustainable agriculture projects.
Landcare Australia participates in the National Landcare Programme as a service provider for the 20 Million Trees Programme. Landcare Australia also acts a service provider in partnership with ManpowerGroup for the Green Army Programme which operates alongside the National Landcare Programme.
LANDCARE IN FOCUS: THE DIGITAL AGE & SECOND TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT
Partners:
Funding: Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme
Delivered by Landcare Australia
Highlights:
LANDCARE STORYTELLERS
Partners:
Landcare Groups
Habitat Restoration Appeal
Partners:
Port Macquarie Landcare Group
Highlights:
National Program Manager, Landcare Australia
Trek for Aussie Farmers
Partners:
Inspired Adventures,
Charlie Arnott
Highlights:
RACV INVESTING IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Partners:
RACV
CEO, Landcare Australia
LION DAIRY PRIDE LANDCARE GRANTS
Partners:
Lion Dairy
MOMENTUM ENERGY – FUNDING THE FUTURE
Partners:
Momentum Energy
Highlights:
CEO, Landcare Australia
WALLAMORE ANABRANCH AND PEEL RIVER REHABILITATION PROJECT
DAKALANTA SEEDING PROJECT - 20 MILLION TREES
Partners:
Funding: Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme
Delivered by Landcare Australia
Highlights:
National Program Manager, Landcare Australia
M2 MACQUARIE PARK PROJECT
Brands: Landcare
Function: Corporate Partnerships, Landcare Services
Highlights:
A SIP IS A QUID FOR LANDCARE
Brands: Landcare
Function: Communications
Former Prime Minister of Australia
20 YEARS OF SUSTAINABLE FARMING PAYS OFF FOR QUEENSLAND’S PRESTIGIOUS BOB HAWKE LANDCARE AWARD WINNER
Highlights:
Partners:
Funding: Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme.
Delivered by Landcare Australia
Project Officer, Coordinator, Mary River Catchment Resource Centre, Community Waterwatch Program
NATIONAL LANDCARE CONFERENCE AND AWARDS MARKS VICTORIAN MILESTONE
Highlights:
CEO, Landcare Australia
NEW CHAIRMAN OF LANDCARE AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCED
Highlights:
The announcement by the Australian Government of an investment of more than $1 billion for the next phase of the National Landcare Program is both welcome and necessary. Without more effort to improve the health of our soil, deal with our water issues and increase the permanent coverage and diversity of our vegetation, we will be faced with something akin to a landscape train smash. Having healthy and productive soils, biodiversity and permanent vegetation coverage, benefits farmers and communities worldwide.
As your Patron, I am well aware of the wonderful work done by Landcare and its many volunteers. I trust that with this injection of funds, the projects and ground level work can be increased to add value to the already great efforts of the Landcare movement. You all realise that caring for country is fundamental to the long term survival of both our nation and the planet. We need healthy landscapes to be able to feed and water our increasing global population, to maintain the diversity of living things and ensure a prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.
Desirably, all of us should understand the importance of our soil, water and vegetation assets. I believe that this would be best done by establishing a garden in every primary and junior high school across the country, with an agreed, integrated syllabus taught as part of the school curriculum. By age 16, all our children would have a sound knowledge of the interactions between soil, water and vegetation, the importance of maintaining the health of all three and the positive impact it has on producing clean, green and nutritious food.
It is vital that we bring together those who value our environment and you as land carers across Australia lead the way. Collaboration and cooperation is key to success in maximising outcomes, including working with the National Farmers’ Federation.
We must remember that it is our farmers who are the carers of some 60 percent of our landscape and as such their contribution to regenerating their land on behalf of 22 million urban Australians needs to be recognised. Many Landcare groups work closely with farmers to reverse degradation and improve the health of the soil. I am heartened when I visit farms and communities to find an ever increasing collaborative approach to this work. The end result is a marked improvement in environmental, economic and social outcomes.
The planet is faced with an unpleasant future if nations do not reverse the degradation of their land, water and vegetation assets. Landcare Australia provides the opportunity for Australians to work together and demonstrate to the rest of the world how landscapes (including agricultural) can be restored to good health and maintained that way.
May I thank everyone involved in the Landcare movement for your dedication to a wonderful and vitally important cause. I look forward to working with you to achieve an even better, more sustainable environment for us all.
I was honoured to take over the role of Chairman in December 2016 from Campbell Anderson. I extend my thanks and gratitude to Campbell and the board for their stewardship of Landcare Australia over the four years of his tenure.
Landcare Australia’s financial position remains robust as evidenced from this year’s accounts. We are very grateful for the strong financial support from corporate, community and government partnerships which helps to sustain the remarkable work of volunteers and their commitment to caring for our land. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the Australian and Victorian governments and leading corporate partners, including Transurban, Momentum Energy, and Lion.
Our strategic outlook is heavily influenced by a desire to see a stronger united voice for Landcare, and a commitment to Landcare Australia’s vision of all Australians actively caring for the land and water that sustains us. We also remain committed to supporting the delivery of projects on the ground, to communicating the Landcare message widely, and to building widespread support for Landcare.
I am delighted to have been able to visit Landcare related projects in places as different in setting as the Tjuntjunjara Traditional Owner community in the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia, the Sydney Transurban M2 project which is now completed, Melbourne’s Westgate Park progress, and the Dakalanta 20 Million Trees project on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.
At each of these places I can see the result of partnerships and passion bringing change to the landscape at a local scale, but with regional and national implications. One doesn’t have to go far in Australia to see a Landcare project, be it urban and rural or remote; and Landcare Australia welcomes the role it can play in supporting or managing these projects.
In 2016 we were delighted to host the National Landcare Conference and Awards, and now in 2017 we’ve seen the commencement of state and territory-based awards leading to the 2018 National Awards. The Bob Hawke Landcare Award was won in 2016 by Queensland’s Stephen Burgess, and in early 2017 Bob Hawke contributed all of his profits from a new venture to Landcare Australia through Hawke’s Brewing Co.
I would like to thank the Landcare Australia directors of 2016/17, Tessa Matykiewicz, and the committed staff at Landcare Australia who so often work above and beyond, our partners at the National Landcare Network with whom we have worked so closely and effectively this year, and all our partners and stakeholders including participants from across Australia who are members of our Strategy Forum.
The Landcare movement must remain relevant to Australians, represent the Australia of today, and build on the wonderful work of our founders and all our supporters and stakeholders. It is my commitment to make it so, and to ensure that Landcare Australia is a powerful voice for years to come.
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