How co-management, diversification and stronger promotion helped a volunteer run Landcare nursery regain its feet and keep delivering local native plants to the community. After more than two decades of operation, the Riverina Highlands Landcare Network (RHLN) Nursery had started to succumb to the pressures of volunteer fatigue and burnout. Funding grants were becoming less…
Understanding the differences between online followers and active participants helps ensure equitable access to information and opportunities Social media has brought huge benefits to Landcare, allowing us to reach a far wider audience, and providing a quick and easy means of promoting our activities. But unfortunately not all of these virtual friends have the same…
Developed by a passionate Landcare volunteer, this series highlights local native plants to grow awareness and appreciation of Junee’s natural environment. The Junee Shire is home to a diverse range of native plant and tree species, however, many residents are unaware of the ecological value and local significance of the vegetation around them. This lack…
Narrandera Landcare used a small Bendigo Bank grant and community support to remove woody weeds, influence 22.47 hectares and strengthen local connections through five collaborative environmental events. Narrandera Landcare faced several challenges in tackling woody weed infestations across local reserves. Increased growth of date palms and bridal creeper had spread, threatening native vegetation through commonly…
First Nations People and scientists working together to monitor Country through citizen science We are lucky enough that there are people in the world who care deeply about our natural environment. Whether they are scientists, people who work in natural resource management or First Nations People who have been caring for Country since time immemorial. However, the most common discussion that we…
Blooming Connections brought older Murrumbidgee residents together through nature-based activities, building skills, friendships and confidence while promoting wellbeing, environmental awareness and long-term community connection across the region. Across the Murrumbidgee region, many older residents face social isolation, limited opportunities for connection and reduced access to community activities. Rural living increases these challenges through distance, transport…
The Narrandera Koala Count is one of Australia’s longest-running citizen science monitoring programs, critical to sustaining the Narrandera Koala colony’s conservation over five decades. After successfully lobbying for the first koala translocation for conservation purposes in NSW in the early 1970s, the Narrandera Koala colony experienced a lack of sustained formal monitoring and an increase…
About 25 years ago the Riverina Highlands Landcare Nursery was opened, under a different name, in a different time. The initial coordinator lasted two weeks, and trusty volunteer Ken stepped up to the challenge. Tumut local, Ken Stubbs, was the Nursery Coordinator and he still plays a significant part in both the Nursery and Tumut…
How Batlow rallied local community networks and Landcare groups to restore bushland and build environmental resilience after the devastating 2020 bushfires. The 2020 Black Summer bushfires devastated Batlow’s bushland, wiping out swathes of native vegetation and wildlife habitat, whilst leaving the landscape badly scarred. In the aftermath, the Batlow Environment Network (BEN) formed to bring…
Landcare groups spend thousands of volunteer hours restoring habitat. Telling the stories of their efforts and storing maps and surveys of a group are sometimes forgotten about until there is no sign of the records. As people get older and Landcare groups fold and change there is a need to store information built up by…