On July 1 in Canberra, the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare Co-Chairs Libby Coker MP and Sam Birrell MP, hosted members of Parliament, Landcare Australia and the National Landcare Network for a very special event to celebrate landcare. Senator the Hon. Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water, and the Hon. Julie Collins, Minister for Agricultural Fisheries and Forestry made spoke to guests about the importance of landcare in communities across Australia.
Special guests included the National Farmers Federation, ALCA, Bush Heritage, Landcare Australia corporate partners Bupa, 4 Pines, Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners Australia, and Transition Accelerator, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Climate Change, Energy and the Environment, the State and Territory Landcare organisations and other landcare supporters.
Speakers acknowledged the upcoming Landcare Week August 3 to 9 campaign that celebrates individuals, groups and organisations across Australia involved in conservation land management, sustainable agriculture, Cultural land management, and education programs to create resilient communities and healthy landscapes.
Landcare Australia Chair Peter Garrett AM, acknowledged the important work of the thousands of landcare volunteers, farmers, and First Nations people in their tireless efforts to restore and protect the land, waterways and biodiversity in their community, and why members of Parliament need to step outside this Landcare Week and visit a landcare project site.
Peter Garrett announced the commitment from Landcare Australia to support the active participation of young people in landcare to 1 million by 2029, the anniversary of the decade of landcare.
