The National Landcare Network and Landcare Australia celebrated the launch of the National Parliamentary Friends of Landcare on 16 March 2021. This is an important acknowledgement of the beneficial impact Landcare has on the environment, and the role Landcare plays in communities around Australia. The National Landcare Network and Landcare Australia thanked the Co-chairs, New South Wales Senator Perin Davey and Victorian Senator Raff Ciccone, and their parliamentary colleagues for championing the work of Landcare.

The Parliamentary Friends of Landcare was formally launched at Parliament House in Canberra with Senators and Members of Parliament, national and state landcare organisations, landcare groups and volunteers, and landcare supporters from across the country. The event was officially opened with a Welcome to Country by Uncle Wally Bell, a traditional custodian of the Ngunnawal lands of the Canberra region.

The Hon. David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management; the Hon. Julie Collins MP, Shadow Minister for Agriculture; the Hon. Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, and Ms. Terri Butler MP, Shadow Minister for the Environment all spoke of their support for the Landcare movement, which celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2019.

The launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare strengthens the national bipartisan support for Landcare, ensuring the collective voices of grassroots Landcarers will be heard at a national level in the Australian parliament. The establishment of this Friends group signals to the community the wide parliamentary support and recognition for Landcare and the invaluable role landcarers play in caring for our country and building resilient, productive landscapes.

The Chairs of the National Landcare Network and Landcare Australia welcomed the group and thanked Senator Ciccone and Senator Davey and the large number of parliamentarians who expressed their support.

National Landcare Network Chair, Dr. Patrick O’Connor said the formation of the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare is a significant step forward in highlighting the important and inspiring work the Landcare movement does for our environment across Australia.

“The National Landcare Network looks forward to supporting the group and growing ties between parliamentarians and our Landcarers to help build understanding through all levels of our community.”

Landcare Australia Chair, Doug Humann AM said that members of parliament need to recognise the value of landcare in communities across Australia and embrace its inclusiveness.

“Drought, bushfires and now Covid-19 have made more difficult and critical our task of restoring health to our landscape and providing for a long-term sustainable future. A cohesive landcare movement is now more important than ever to the future of our natural assets and people.”

Parliamentary Friends of Landcare enables members of parliament to directly connect to the work of Landcare on the ground, strengthening the Landcare movement for the future.

Landcare Australia would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of the late Tony Flude to one of the greatest examples of urban Landcare in Australia.

The team at Landcare Australia were saddened to hear of Tony’s peaceful passing on 6 September 2020 after a long illness.

Tony’s long term commitment to the astounding regeneration of Westgate Park on the doorstep of Melbourne’s CBD as well as his contribution to the Port Phillip EcoCentre make him nothing short of a Landcare legend.

Tony was always a big supporter and collaborator with Landcare Australia over his full 20 year history with Westgate Park right up until his passing and was instrumental in organising hundreds of fantastic volunteering events for thousands of Landcare Australia corporate volunteers.

Volunteers regularly went out of their way to tell us how amazing their experience was. Hard work, making a positive contribution to the environment in the open air, surrounded by stunning nature, lunching together, getting to know each other better, working with all sorts of other volunteers on such constructive tasks. All going back to the office the next day proud of what they’d achieved and also having learnt a little more about their home city.

Tony and the team’s efforts at Westgate Biodiversity Bili Nursery and Landcare have been well recognised over the years, including as the Urban Landcare Award winner at the 2010 National Landcare Awards.

All who experience Westgate Park are blown away by what the team have achieved over the past 20 years. Being instrumental in creating such an amazing biodiverse wetland environment right in the heart of Melbourne will be Tony’s legacy.

Our thoughts are with George and the amazing staff and volunteers at Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery and Landcare as well as the Port Phillip EcoCentre.

You can read more about the history of Westgate Park here.

A Sydney environmental group is taking it upon themselves to upskill local conservation volunteers, groups and private landholders in using ecological fire and cultural burning to ease wildfire intensity.

Focusing on the native vegetation communities of the Cumberland Plain in western Sydney – among the most threatened in New South Wales – Greater Sydney Landcare Network is developing the know-how to carry out cultural and ecological burns in a manner to restore this fire-dependent ecosystem safely.

Presenting their findings at the upcoming National Landcare Conference, now taking place on March 10 to 12, 2021, Greater Sydney Landcare hopes to build knowledge and expertise amongst public and private landholders in the area, in addition to local council.

“Hopefully, the end result is more upskilled Landcarers and more ecological and cultural burns across the Sydney landscape,” explained Xuela Sledge of Greater Sydney Landcare Network.

“We want to arrive to an evolved understanding that ecological fire can be considered as a safe restoration and climate change mitigation tool which is more accepted – and not considered with the fear and anxiety as that which was imposed on us all over the 2019/2020 extended fire season.”

In a partnership with National Parks and Wildlife Services funded by the Environmental Trust – as part of the Save our Species Program – GSLN is bringing together Landcarers and stakeholders to develop skills and share knowledge about cultural burning. This network can also facilitate the development of communication channels and implement education, public events and volunteer activities for the project.

The GSLN program recently submitted an abstract for the National Landcare Conference this year. However, due to COVID-19, the National Landcare Conference Steering Committee have announced the conference will now take place on March 10 to 12, 2021.

If you would like to make a submission to present at the event, deadline for Call for Abstracts has been extended to July 1. Landcare Australia is calling for submission in the below four conference streams:

Sustainable Agriculture: Innovation and technology, soil health, adaptation to climate change, integrating productivity and conservation.

Environment & Climate Change: Encouraging positive action to mitigate climate change with Landcare.

Community Partnerships in Action: Building community capacity and resilience, communication and storytelling, volunteering, partnerships, building and sharing knowledge.

Landcare Impact: Landscape, biodiversity, community resilience, mental and physical health of individuals, community wellbeing, agriculture productivity, economy.

For more info, visit landcareaustralia.org.au/call-for-abstracts/

• Landcare in Australia June 2020 from Doug Humann
  Chair, Landcare Australia
• An update for Landcarers from Landcare Australia’s CEO
  Dr Shane Norrish

Landcare in Australia June 2020

Doug Humann | Chair | Landcare Australia

Landcare in Australia and a cohesive landcare movement is now more important than ever to the future of our land, water and people.

Drought, bushfires and then Covid-19 have made more difficult and critical our task of restoring health to our landscape and providing for a long term sustainable future, integrating the best of our scientific, natural and cultural heritage knowledge and skills. But it has also given us an opportunity to put our collective good will and initiative to the task.

For over 30 years Landcare Australia has been working to harness that good will and we have been buoyed by the enthusiasm and trust that institutions, including governments, corporations, and other “for purpose” charitable groups, are putting in Landcare Australia and our people. Collectively we are part of the solution.

At the end of 2019 Landcare Australia joined a collaboration of other land management stewards in formally establishing the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA), where I now sit on the Board of Directors representing Landcare Australia. Landcare Australia, ALCA and more than 70 other organisations including farming and landcare groups are currently urging the Australian Government to create a stimulus package to restore health to our landscape. In April 2020 I had published a call to action for this initiative in dozens of regional newspapers throughout Australia; the response has been overwhelming.

This is why I joined the Landcare movement. To be part of a new and inclusive chapter for Landcare that has at its core a collaborative community filled with optimism and mutual support that produces many benefits for landcarers.

Landcare Australia’s CEO, Dr Shane Norrish, writes of this below.

Together with my fellow directors and staff, we share the disappointment that the one unified voice for Landcare has not yet eventuated, but that doesn’t stop our commitment to unify and help build the landcare movement regardless. We can write of the things we are not, but I prefer the narrative of writing of who we are and what we believe and seek. Landcare Australia has a particular role in the landcare community and particular unique capabilities in promoting Landcare and its partners for the benefit of all landcarers. Our current large grants round with WIRES is but one example of this and of our support for fire ravaged landcare communities.

Landcare Australia will do more, and we look forward to doing it together, and hearing of your suggestions and concerns and building a pathway to the future – together.

For more information on Landcare Australia, who we are, and what we have done and what we hope to achieve please use the links here and don’t hesitate to contact me directly [email protected] or contact our team [email protected] if you have any questions.

In the meantime, I’m sure I speak for all landcarers in looking forward to removing the shackles of the necessary Covid-19 response and getting out on the ground to meet the task at hand.

Doug Humann
Chair
Landcare Australia

An update for Landcarers from Landcare Australia’s CEO
Dr Shane Norrish | CEO | Landcare Australia

It’s been more than three decades since Landcare began and we have much to be proud of!

I often wonder whether, when our Prime Minister at the time, the Hon. Bob Hawke AC, first backed Landcare and created Landcare Australia in 1989, did he truly contemplate such a diverse and impactful volunteer movement? Did he contemplate the full extent of involvement by farmers, landholders and communities who have come together across Australia to protect and restore our land and unique environment? Did he contemplate a movement that embraces the practices of indigenous Australians and engages the next generation of Junior Landcarers?

Back then, Bob Hawke was amazed by the outstanding achievements of the early Landcarers, and he championed Landcare and Landcare Australia all his life.

As a young sustainable farming agronomist, I remember a Brisbane meeting decades ago when a participant commented on Landcare’s massive responsibility and the extraordinary trust Australia placed in Landcare. That trust is respected by all Landcarers and the Landcare Australia team, who passionately protect and promote Landcare’s profile and reputation, because it represents the combined efforts of generations of Landcarers.

I’m proud to lead an organisation that has supported community Landcarers and their groups to become the most highly recognised community-based environmental movement in Australia. The Australian Landcare model is so successful that it has been adopted by 20 other countries.

In earlier years Australia imported rabbits, blackberries, foxes, lantana, and cane toads. And now we have exported Landcare, because it works exceptionally well. Importantly, when that success is boosted by appropriate funding and support of local people, communities quickly work out how to get things done on the ground and multiply returns from that funding many times over. If Landcare hadn’t been around for more than 30 years, what would Australia look like now?

In the last three decades we’ve achieved a great deal of good work. Yet there is much more to do. We are all confronting the impacts of a changing climate, biodiversity loss, droughts and of course, devastating bushfires. I appeal to all who value Landcare to work together, to work with us, so we can further build Landcare’s success. We need Landcare now more than ever.

Over the years, Landcare Australia has provided many millions of dollars in support and promotion to Landcare groups and the Landcare community. We have funded many thousands of community grass-roots projects, and advocated the importance of Landcare to successive Federal and State Governments, business, industry, and international agencies.

We are continuing to get on with supporting the Landcare community and the protection and restoration of natural assets. We have been consulting the Landcare community, Government agencies, researchers and other NGOs to increase the impact of grants funding, including those supporting bushfire recovery. In recent weeks, we have been able to fund over 70 projects with Landcare and other community groups in bushfire affected areas. A good result, but we must do more.

I remain convinced that a strong and united national voice is the best outcome for Landcare. During our work to unify Landcare at the national level, we looked at ourselves and the National Landcare Network and understood that Landcare is much bigger than what is represented by our two organisations. Our Board, staff and other stakeholders are committed to supporting an inclusive Landcare movement, which reflects our vision of all Australians actively caring for our unique land and water assets.

We welcome working with the Landcare peak organisations, networks, and groups in each state and territory, youth networks, Indigenous organisations, environmental NGOs, farming organisations and the vast range of other organisations, groups and individuals involved in Landcare, just as we have always done.

We will continue to work hard supporting those Landcarers, wherever we can.

That’s our role, that’s one of the reasons why we were created by Bob Hawke 31 years ago.

Dr Shane Norrish
CEO
Landcare Australia