by Alan Broughton, Vice President of Organic Agriculture Association (OAA) as well as organic agriculture educator of Mekong Organics
Landcare is a national organisation funded by the government to encourage farmers and local communities to better care for their land. It was a plan by farmers, conservationists, and scientists to improve the natural environment and farm sustainability. Because waterway protection, erosion and salinity control, and pest plants and animals are not confined to just one farm, the idea was to enable groups of landholders to tackle issues together.
Landcare started in Victoria in 1986, following joint discussions between the National Farmers Association and the Australian Conservation Foundation. It was supported by the Victorian government, and subsequently became a national organisation with federal government support and funding. The Landcare idea has now spread to at least 15 other countries. Global Landcare is the international arm of Landcare Australia.
Australia is divided into Landcare Networks, each made up of local self-governing groups of farmers and other rural residents on a voluntary basis. There are 6,000 such groups in total. Each group develops its priorities. Groups in a region are organized into a formal network, which has paid facilitators whose role is to assist with funding applications and project development.
For example, the East Gippsland Landcare Network in eastern Victoria covers 25 local Landcare groups. There are four paid staff members: a network coordinator, a project manager, and two facilitators. The Network is overseen by a voluntary elected committee. The Network has published resources for Landcare members to use, on bird, native flora, pasture species and weed identification;, erosion management; bird nesting box design; farm dam management; revegetation; and bushfire preparedness and recovery. There is also a weekly email newsletter with news about the activities of member groups, events that members can attend, and information about grants that groups can apply for.
Priorities vary depending on the interests and environmental awareness of the members of each Landcare group. More progressive groups can get funding to run seminars and field days involving leading educators in alternative farming methods. Some regions have great interest in soil biology enhancement and rotational grazing systems in particular. Tree planting to create windbreaks and wildlife corridors, referencing to manage stock better and protect waterways, pest plant and animal control, and erosion management are some other projects that receive support. Some networks employ education officers to visit schools.
Some groups are mostly made up of farmers. Other groups have urban or semi-urban members whose interests lie in protecting and enhancing public areas such as waterways and nature reserves. They do activities like environmental weed control and tree planting.
There are various sub-groups in Landcare, such as Coastcare, Bushcare, and Junior Landcare.
For more information, please visit website of Landcare Australia