Catchment Management peak body wins prestigious environmental award

It was the 35th Banksia Sustainability Awards, which cover categories such as travel, agriculture and conservation.

Vic Catchments and Corangamite Catchment Management Authority chair Cath Jenkins said the group was "thrilled and humbled" to be winners of the highly competitive category.

"For more than 25 years the CMAs have been at the forefront of working with communities and partners to deliver incredible results for catchments across Victoria," Ms Jenkins said.

"It's a delight that Vic Catchments has been recognised by such a prestigious organisation.

"I think the strength of the CMAs is they are regionally based - that's because the people that work in them live in those communities."

Among the work done by CMA's, particularly in the Corangamite area, has been assisting small landholders and working with other groups on feral pig control.

In 2023, across Victoria, 10 CMAs:

. Enhanced over 3,000 hectares of vegetation to create habitat for native species.

. Improved practices over 9,000 hectares of agricultural land.

. Issued 13,000 approvals and advice for works on waterways.

. Installed 368 kilometres of fencing to protect rivers and wetlands.

. Undertook 47,032 hectares of weed control.

Ms Jenkins said partnerships were one of the biggest strengths of Vic Catchments, and the organisation shared the success with Traditional Owners, partner organisations, community and government.

In announcing Vic Catchments as the winner of the award, Ms Jenkins said collaboration, partnerships and communities were highlighted - "not trying to do everything yourself, but really working together".

CMA's worked with "everyone and anyone" who had similar values and a shared vision, she said.

One of the challenges was working with communities in peri-urban areas, where there was housing expansion, while staying focussed on trying to improve natural environments, agricultural landscapes, waterways, soil health and biodiversity, she said.

Vic Catchment's work included everyone from individual farmers to organisations such as Landcare, Southern Farming Systems and the Birchip Cropping Group, Ms Jenkins said.

Landcare was a particularly important partnership - "we support them and they help us with rolling out grant programs as well as delivering projects," she said.

Farmers played a particularly important role in the CMA movement, she said.

"Farmers are usually the leaders in caring for natural assets, because they know if they don't do that, they won't have productive and sustainable farms into the future," she said.

"In our region, we also have two great partnerships with the traditional owner organisations in our catchments," she said.