Connecting Country and Landcare in the Spotlight
Posted on 20 August, 2012 by Connecting Country
Landcare Australia Limited – the corporate arm of Landcare in Australia – use the slogan: ‘Everyone, everywhere, Landcare’. That has indeed proved the case in our Shire recently, with three important presentations made by Connecting Country to different audiences in the last two weeks.
The first was to the Victorian Minister for Environment & Climate Change, Ryan Smith, on a visit to a Yandoit grazing property undertaking a Connecting Country Yellow Box Woodland project. The visit was part of a wider tour of the North Central Catchment with our focus being on Landcare.
The state government supports Landcare through the Victorian State Landcare Team. It includes the ten Catchment Management Authority-based Landcare coordinators and the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s (DSE) Landcare team. It also funds the 68 new Local Landcare Facilitators (of which Connecting Country’s Landcare Facilitator is one) and administers the Victorian Landcare Gateway website.
Our presentation to the minister provided an overview of the Connecting Country project and the landscape restoration works that were set to occur on the property. We also highlighted the importance of government support to Landcare groups who want to be able to focus on their on-ground projects – rather than the ever-increasing paperwork.
The second presentation was to members of the Board and Natural Resource Management Committee (NRMC) of the North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA).
The CMA’s Regional Catchment Strategy is the umbrella plan under which Connecting Country’s Biodiversity Blueprint and individual group’s local action plans and projects sit. This tour was an opportunity to show the Board and NRMC a current Landcare project – Muckleford Landcare’s Chinaman Creek Valley Community Plan – and demonstrate how Connecting Country is working with Landcare groups to produce local action plans which will be used to guide future projects and attract funding to the area. The tour also visited another landholder in Welshman’s Reef who is being funded through the Yellow Box Woodland program. He was very enthusiastic about the inspiration and support Connecting Country has given him to enhance the biodiversity on his land.
Jarrod, Chris Max and Marie from Connecting Country with Brian Rebecchi on his property at Welshman's Reef
The third presentation was to the Mount Alexander Shire Council. It was an opportunity for Connecting Country to update Councillors and executive staff on our new projects and discuss how we can work together more effectively in the future.
Landcare is a particularly important link between Connecting Country and the Council because both organisations have the objective of working with and supporting Landcare groups in the Shire. Connecting Country has already begun collaborating with the Shire on events such as the World Environment Day Fair (held in June this year), the Shire’s Roadside Conservation Management Strategy, and the steering committee for the Landcare facilitator position – which includes a council staff member.
Together, these three events demonstrate the way in which Landcare is a part of many organisations. Connecting Country hopes to be an important link between Landcare groups and the greater natural resource management world. There is no doubt that the work done by Landcare groups in their ‘own corner of the world’ is highly valued by ‘everyone, everywhere’, and deserving of continued support.
Leave a Reply