Landcare Week Stories 2026
This Landcare Week, meet some of the people making a difference across Australia. Through their stories, discover the many ways landcare is experienced – from restoring habitats and improving farm sustainability to inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards.
Learn more about Landcare Week and how to get involved here.
Roxanne, University Student/Bushcarer
Meet Roxanne, a university student who discovered landcare through her local bushcare group and has never looked back.
Roxanne loves planting native species and creating microhabitats – especially fallen logs and branches – that help wildlife thrive. For her, landcare is more than restoring nature. It’s about learning from others, making friends in unexpected places and seeing the results of collective effort over time.
One of the things Roxanne values most is volunteering alongside retirees in her bushcare group, whose local knowledge and experience have taught her so much about environmental conservation, and that anyone can make a meaningful contribution.
Volunteering with landcare has given Roxanne new skills, field experience and lasting connections. Her advice? Bring a friend, make a day of it and give landcare a go.
Lori, Conservation Leader, Bird Lover, Nature Nurturer
Meet Lori, a conservation leader whose journey began in Newcastle and then on the banks of the Murray River.
Growing up camping, exploring and spending time outdoors, Lori discovered early that nature felt like home. That connection sparked a lifelong passion for conservation, leading her from hands-on fieldwork to a PhD studying migratory birds and a career restoring landscapes across NSW and the ACT.
But for Lori, conservation is always about people. Over decades of working alongside volunteers, farmers, Traditional Owners and community groups, she’s learnt that the best outcomes happen when people come together around a shared purpose.
Because restoring landscapes starts with connecting people to country and to each other.
Tom, Radio Co-Host/Lifelong Landcare Volunteer
Meet Tom, a landcare volunteer who has spent more than 30 years helping people connect with nature and each other.
From his early days fishing, hiking and exploring the outdoors, Tom developed a deep appreciation for the natural world. That passion led him to conservation groups, landcare and, eventually, community radio.
For 26 years, Tom has co-hosted Radio Landcare, sharing local stories, environmental news and opportunities for people to get involved. Whether he’s behind the microphone, volunteering with Queanbeyan Landcare Group or leading the singing of many older songs at an aged-care home, Tom believes in giving back.
As friends describe him: “Always doing something.”
Mitchell, Conservationist, Youth Worker and Birder
Meet Mitch, a conservationist, youth worker and passionate birder who is helping the next generation connect with nature.
Mitch’s journey began outdoors with family and friends, but it was a growing fascination with birds that deepened his connection to conservation. What began as a hobby soon became a way of understanding ecosystems, communities and the growing threats facing Australia’s wildlife. Along the way, he discovered that meaningful contributions don’t always come from formal qualifications, sometimes they come from curiosity, paying attention and showing up.
Today, Mitch works alongside young people, volunteers, Traditional Owners and community groups, creating opportunities for more people to connect with nature.
For Mitch, conservation isn’t just about protecting species. It’s about building community, inclusion and connection.
Junior Landcare Champions, Students Isabella, Kayla, Maddie and Holly
Meet the Junior Landcare volunteers from St Mary’s Primary School in Lancefield.
Friends Isabella, Kayla, Maddie and Holly are proving that you don’t have to wait until you’re grown up to make a difference. Through their school’s Junior Landcare program, they’ve helped plant habitat at Lancefield Park, supported local conservation projects and rolled up their sleeves for community clean-up days.
What they enjoy most isn’t just helping nature, it’s doing it together. Whether they’re planting trees, picking up litter or dreaming about what Lancefield Park might look like in the future, they’re helping create a healthier environment for wildlife, their community and future generations.
Now that’s Landcare in action.
Bombo Headland Landcare Group (est. 1988)
Meet Bombo Headland Landcare Group, formed in 1988 when a small group of locals came together out of concern for the NSW coastal headland they loved.
What began as a grassroots effort has grown into one of the region’s oldest landcare groups. Long before landcare was widely recognised, these volunteers came together to tackle erosion, restore native vegetation and protect habitat for wildlife.
This group is shaped by the people who continue to show up, long term volunteers, families and Kiama High School students who are learning by doing. Over the decades, new generations in the community have been involved in the group ‘s activities to restore native vegetation, protect habitat and share knowledge.
At its heart, Bombo Headland Landcare is a story about people caring for place, year after year.
Sarah, Landscape Architect, Researcher, Small Farm Manager
Meet Sarah, a landscape architect, researcher and small farm manager who is proving that even heavily degraded land can recover with care, creativity and persistence.
Drawing on her expertise in design, ecology and land management, Sarah is restoring a damaged tributary of Stewart Ponds Creek using practical, nature-based solutions. From revegetation and habitat restoration to simple works that slow erosion and improve soil health, every action helps rebuild resilience in the landscape.
For Sarah, landcare is where science, creativity and hands-on action come together. Her work shows that when we invest in nature, even small changes can have a lasting impact for wildlife, waterways and future generations.
First Friends of Dandenong Creek
Meet First Friends of Dandenong Creek, a community group that has spent more than 25 years caring for one of Melbourne’s most significant urban waterways.
Since 1999, local volunteers have been working to restore habitat, improve biodiversity, support wildlife and build stronger connections between people and nature along Dandenong Creek.
Recently, through Landcare Australia’s Corporate Environmental Volunteering Program, FFDC welcomed corporate volunteers AusNet and Engie Australia to contribute to projects supporting the health of Dandenong Creek and its habitat corridor.
These opportunities allow participants to make a practical contribution to the environment while learning about the unique ecology and challenges of managing an urban waterway.
Michael, Aboriginal Landcare Officer
Meet Michael, Aboriginal Landcare Officer, who is helping to shape a stronger future for Aboriginal-led landcare with the North Coast Regional Landcare Network.
Growing up on the banks of the Clarence River, Michael learnt from an early age that caring for Country was simply part of everyday life.
Over the past five years, Michael has become a trusted bridge between Aboringinal communities, landcare and government, helping increase access to funding, programs and opportunities for Aboriginal-led conservation. At the same time, he’s worked alongside local landcare networks to strengthen cultural awareness, build respectful partnerships and embed Aboriginal knowledge into landcare projects.
Through initiatives like the Walking Together Program and the regional Aboriginal Koala Partnership through NSW DCCEEW, Michael is helping communities care for Country together, bringing environmental, cultural and community outcomes side by side.
Halie, Storyteller, Landcare Volunteer & People Connector
Meet Halie, volunteer and project lead of The Saltbush Line, a community-led coastal restoration project* from Southern Beaches Landcare Coastcare (SBLC) group on Tasmania’s Southern Beaches.
For Halie, restoring coastal dunes isn’t just about planting native species. It’s about helping people reconnect with place, with community and with the natural world around them.
Through propagation workshops, storytelling walks, school activities and community planting days, The Saltbush Line is bringing locals together to care for 300metres of fragile coastline at Okines Beach.
As hundreds of saltbush and other local species take root, so too do new connections between people and place. Because caring for a coastline isn’t just restoration work, it changes the people who are working to protect it.
Joc, WA Farmer
Meet WA farmer Joc, who has been farming 800 acres near Bindoon since the late 1990s.
Working in a landscape with naturally high aluminium toxicity and iron-rich soils, Joc knows that farming successfully means understanding the land and working with it. That’s why sustainable agriculture and soil health has always been central to the way he manages his property, building a productive farm while caring for its natural environment.
Through Landcare Ag’s Biodiversity in Action program, Joc joined RegenWA’s eDNA for Biodiversity Action project to learn more about the biodiversity on his farm. Using cutting-edge environmental DNA (eDNA) technology to uncover the hidden biodiversity living on his property.
The results have been eye-opening. A simple water sample revealed a native fish species in a farm waterway that he never knew existed on his property.
That discovery is helping Joc make even more informed decisions about protecting waterways, supporting biodiversity and strengthening the long-term resilience of his farm. Every new discovery is another opportunity to farm with nature.
