Landcare is a community-based approach to managing and restoring our environment, and improving the sustainability of our agricultural activities. The Landcare approach comprises three different aspects:
•The Landcare Ethic – a philosophy, influencing the way people live and work in the landscape while caring for the land (soil, water and biota).
•The Landcare Movement – local community action
founded on stewardship and volunteerism, putting the philosophy into practice.
•The Landcare Model – a range of knowledge generation, sharing and support mechanisms including groups, networks (from district to national levels), facilitators and coordinators, government and non-government policies, structures, programs and partnerships influencing broad-scale community participation in sustainable resource management. Evolution of Landcare in Australia: In the context of Australian Government natural resource management policy and programs. Australia is not immune from the global issue of the loss of biodiversity, the decline in health of our rivers and the challenges of urbanisation. Nor are we separated from the challenges of providing food security for ourselves and others into this coming century. In fact, Australia and particularly NSW are at the forefront of the intersections of food security and environmental concerns. The Landcare movement formed sporadically at first, as locals formed groups together to deal with problems that they could not tackle as individual. As government support increased, the number of groups also increased. The problems that encouraged people to work together in the 1980s and 1990s were too big to be tackled by just one farmer, problems such as salinity, riverbank erosion and feral animals need landscape-scale group approaches. This landscape-scale and group approach has evolved to tackle broader issues in agriculture, urban and rural environments and communities. In agriculture the group approach undertaken by Landcare is ideal for the dissemination of research and development breakthroughs, for undertaking biosecurity tasks, and for building skills in production. The ‘farmer teaching farmer’ approach provides a trusted pathway for a wide range of agricultural improvements. NSW has been blessed with some outstanding natural heritage including towering forests, sweeping coastlines, alpine meadows, grassy woodlands and broad mallee scrub. We are home to some of Australia’s most iconic species: the koala, platypus, emu and lyrebird. We also have some of the rarest animals and plants in the world such as the Mountain Pygmy Possum and the Wollemi Pine. Each region in NSW has its own unique flora and fauna that is dealing with legacy and ongoing issues affecting their survival. Weeds and feral animals, loss and degradation of habitat, fire and drought, and climate change all impact on our natural wonders. Landcare applies a landscape-scale and nil-tenure approach to dealing with these issues. By bringing people together to address environmental concerns in a practical way it provides for enduring and well-supported solutions. In cities, groups are often actively supported by their local council and work is carried out on council owned bushland. The focus of these works is usually restoring bushland and creeklines in busy urban centres. This ensures that urban residents have access to healthy bushland and all the associated health benefits that this entails. Finally, the group approach that forms the basis for Landcare provides a vehicle to strengthen communities. This is especially important in rural areas where population decline can cause social dislocation. The social fabric provided by Landcare groups and activities builds resilience into a community and helps it deal with and recover from challenges such as fires, floods or drought with less heartache. Landcare groups and networks rarely work on issues in pure isolation. Rarely is an agricultural productivity project undertaken without reference to an environmental objective. Part of the strength of the Landcare approach is that it involves an integrated approach. The key elements of any Landcare project are:
•a locally-driven approach to local issues
•active participation and leadership by individuals, groups and networks
•appreciation of our natural environment
•respect for local knowledge
Some of the Landcare guiding principles:
•Self determination
•Inclusive, collaborative — working in partnerships
•Apolitical with bipartisan support
•Flexible, adaptable and innovative
•Responsive to different needs and cultures
Types of environmental Landcare activities include:
•Bush regeneration and w**d control
•Revegetation
•Repairing eroding gullies and stabilising riverbanks
•Collecting litter
•Repairing walking tracks
•Protecting threatened species
•Stabilising sand dunes
•Working with councils on installing litter traps
Types of agricultural Landcare activities include:
•Sustainable cropping techniques
•Local fox and wild dog control programs
•Drought management programs
•Safe chemical use and storage
•Minimising nutrient run-off
•Building soil carbon
•Managing climate variability
•Managing groundwater and salinity. Typical aspects of many of these projects involve workshops, field days and site tours.
