Renewed Landcare push

Now, on the program’s 25th birthday, its key proponents are calling for another decade of reinvigorated effort to strengthen the successful initiative, which spends taxpayer dollars on achieving on-the-ground environmental action.

A quarter of a century ago, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) decided it was time they put aside their basic ideological differences and stand shoulder to shoulder for the environment.

Their commitment to down weapons and act for the common good of the Australian landscape’s future was also prompted by a prolonged period of drought.

But it was enough to motivate then Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his government to support the Landcare movement’s formation with a $320 million investment.

Since then, Landcare has evolved by engaging communities throughout Australia in activities to reverse the degradation of farmlands, public lands and waterways.

There are now more than 6000 Landcare and Coastcare groups working collaboratively to improve those vital assets.

The innovative movement was commemorated last Friday at “Mundango”, Braidwood, NSW, owned by long-time Landcarers, Geoffrey and Sally White.

The small but significant event was attended by ACF chief executive officer Don Henry, NFF CEO Matt Linnegar, National Landcare Network chair David Walker, media and other key stakeholders.

Mr White is a former chairman of Braidwood Rural Landcare and the Upper Shoalhaven Catchment Management Committee.

Speaking in the shearing shed on his property, he said two key quotes summarised his feelings about the program’s past and future.

One from former Governor General, Major-General Michael Jeffery - now the national Advocate for Soil Health - came from February 2011, at a high level land use forum in Canberra.

“Farmers should be recognised as the primary custodians of our agricultural landscape and be rewarded accordingly,” Major-General Jeffery said at the time.

The other quote was by former US President Dwight Eisenhower who said, “Farming looks mighty easy when your plough is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field”.

Mr White has planted about 30,000 trees on his property over the past 15 years which he says have helped rejuvenate pastures and livestock production, while providing a range of environmental benefits.

A commemorative ceremony was held at a special location on his farm named One Tree Hill, signifying the lone acacia tree on the rough granite mound, which now overlooks physical evidence of Landcare’s shared benefits.

Mr Linnegar said his predecessor, the late Rick Farley, and Mr Henry’s predecessor, Phillip Toyne, deserved great acknowledgement for their work bringing about the Landcare movement.

He said the two leaders came together following a period of extreme drought in the 1980s where land degradation was causing significant environmental and social impacts and hurting farmers’ bottom lines.

Mr Linnegar said Landcare had produced genuine social outcomes by bringing farmers and local communities together, to work on each other’s properties.

He said over time those groups had also branched out to become “beacons of support”, in tough times, including droughts and “little knots of innovation”.

Mr Linnegar said while Landcare has become a lot more than what the NFF and ACF CEO’s envisaged 25 years ago, it was important the program continued growing.

Mr Henry said last week’s event was “truly a celebration of the fantastic work of hundreds of thousands of Australians who have been putting effort into looking after our land”, to create healthy farms and landscapes.

But he said the journey was only just beginning.

“Together, ACF and NFF are now calling for another decade of renewed and reinvigorated effort with Landcare,” he said.

“We want to really start a discussion across Australian society about what that effort could look like.

“It’s very important that the efforts of landowners on their properties are recognised and rewarded for healthy landscapes and looking after the environment.”

REPORTS of the joint meeting between former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, then ACF boss Phillip Toyne and NFF head Rick Farley in 1989 to request the $320 million which started Landcare, have become legendary to the movement.

Mr Toyne is reported to have said, "When we emerged from the meeting, Hawke agreed to $320 million, Rick turned around to me and he said 'Jesus, if I'd known it was going to be that easy, we should've asked for more money’.”

Current ACF CEO Don Henry said before Landcare started, there seemed to be “an artificial divide” between the city and the country.

Mr Henry said there was an incorrect view from many people living in cities - and reflected in some environment groups - that people working on the land weren’t doing enough to protect the environment and should be doing more.

He said there was also an incorrect view by some in the farming community that city people didn’t care about the challenges faced by rural people.

“I think it was really good that two peak bodies, the NFF and the ACF said 25 years ago, ‘hang on, we should not be fighting over these issues, we’ve got far more common ground than difference and it’s in everyone’s interests that our land is healthy because healthy land is productive land and healthy land is sustainable and looks after the environment’,” he said.

“The two groups really helped lift onto the national stage the importance of the whole Australian community getting in behind good land management and supporting people on the land to do good management, recognising it was important and encouraging it.”

National Landcare Network Chair David Walker said many of the problems that NFF and ACF set off to repair 25 years ago hadn’t gone away.

“In many cases we’ve turned the ship around and farmers are a lot more aware of how their management of the landscape sustains their farming businesses and that’s helped them become more productive but we do have a long way to go,” he said.

Mr Walker said more taxpayer dollars would be welcomed to bolster the Landcare program with many studies showing the leverage on taxpayer dollars was as high as $6 returned for every $1 invested.

“It’s certainly a very good investment for the government,” he said.