National Landcare winners recognised for their passion, environmental excellence

The country’s most devoted and passionate landcarers possess been recognised tonight in front of greater than 2,400 other folks at a virtual National Landcare Awards. 

The biennial awards, hosted by ABC TV presenter and Landcare champion Costa Georgiadis, were attributable to be held in Sydney last November, nonetheless COVID-19 forced the match to 2021 and in a roundabout blueprint online along with the 2-day National Landcare Conference.  

Landcare Australia’s CEO, Dr Shane Norrish, said it became an honour to recognise the mountainous work implemented by the Landcare champions.

“This previous twelve months has been incredibly great for the Landcare community who proceed to veil unprecedented stoicism in the face of adversity,” he said.

This twelve months’s Landcare champions were selected from 69 finalists in nine classes, with one other six nominees up for the inaugural Total Jeffery Soil Health Award – in honour of Australia’s first National Soils Indicate, the gradual Major Total the Honourable Michael Jeffery – and the Bob Hawke Landcare Award which lists Colin Seis and Charlie Arnott amongst its alumni. 

‘Prominent outcomes’

A soils educated from the University of Western Australia, Emeritus Professor Lynette Abbott received the Total Jeffery Soil Health Award, and Victorian grazier Andrew Stewart won the Bob Hawke Landcare Award – and $50,000 – for his work increasing woody vegetation and planting 50,000 bushes and shrubs on his farm in the foothills of the Otway Ranges.

Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud praised Mr Stewart for turning in prominent outcomes on his grazing and agroforestry property.

“His dedication to turning in the Yan Yan Gurt Creek Catchment community revegetation program, which has restored almost 18km of creek frontage and formed a vegetation and fauna hall to join several farms across the district, has been impressive,” he said.

“That is to boot to his work bringing greater than 5,000 other folks to his farm to veil what is probably and educate them about sustainable land administration practices.”

Innovation in agriculture

Western Australia’s Basil Schur became named the Particular particular person Landcarer of the twelve months, and mixed crop and vegetable farmer Michael Nicols from Sisters Creek in Tasmania became recognised with Innovation in Agriculture Land Administration Award. 

Landcare Tasmania’s performing CEO Peter Stronach said the Nichol’s Redbank Farm became a winning instance of linking biodiversity and innovation in the farming sector. 

Farming champion

This twelve months’s Landcare Farming Champion is Amarula Dorpers, a sheep stud bustle by Justin and Lorroi Kirkby at Gravesend approach Moree in northern NSW. 

Since procuring for the farm 16 years previously, the couple has revegetated the degraded property of rundown cropping blocks – with scarce ground quilt and depressed nutritional grasses — to revitalise the land to 100 per cent biodiverse grasslands. 

Justin Kirkby said while regenerative farming became now changing into well-liked apply, early on, their changing programs raised just a few eyebrows. 

“We’ve been doing what we’re doing on our farm for quite a while with no intent different than correct changing issues, nonetheless quite just a few other folks were taking a understand over the fence early in the part and pondering we were inflamed,” he said. 

“We did what’s technically known as deep inversion tillage, which is in every other case deep ripping, and that became looking for to atomize up the hardpan and the scalded patches in the farm cultivation paddocks.

“Then we subdivided so a lot, 2,200 acres, and I mediate there would possess been about 10 paddocks on the living, and we’ve now purchased 46, and we’re persevering with to minimize it into smaller paddocks, and that enables us to abet an eye on our grazing and ground quilt.

With 20 per cent of the property now revegetated with native bushes particular to the living, the farm’s carbon footprint has decreased.

Work by Indigenous teams recognised

The Wunambaal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation’s work on Wunambaal Gaambera country — which covers 2.5 million hectares of key cultural and ecological land in Western Australia’s Kimberley — secured it the Indigenous Land Administration Award.

The Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation in the Northern Territory became recognised with the Coastcare Award for its work maintaining marine vegetation and fauna — including turtles and sea birds —  from plastic debris.

Newham Public College in Victoria won the Junior Landcare Workforce Award, and Dhani Gilbert from the ACT received the Young Landcare Management Award. 

‘Shifted conversations’

Ms Gilbert, a Kalari Wiradjuri lady, has been concerned with the fundamentals of Landcare since a younger age. 

Ms Gilbert said that the 2019–2020 bushfires changed how we understand at First Nations’ programs of caring for country.

“They shifted just a few of those conversations we have towards or how will we mix these programs of taking a understand after the panorama to guard country in the most productive probably means,” she said. 

“I mediate conversations spherical that are beginning to happen an increasing form of recurrently, which I mediate is one thing that’s in fact purposeful.”

The Pink Hill Bush Regenerators in the ACT picked up the Landcare Community Community Award, and Floating Landcare from NSW became recognised for its work restoring weedy hotspots in national parks and different public land in the Hawkesbury estuary, Pittwater and Central Glide waterways with the Partnerships for Landcare Award.