Landcare Week is an awareness campaign for landcare and coastcare groups, farmers embracing sustainable farm management, ‘friends of’ groups, bushcare, rivercare, dunecare, Junior Landcare and any volunteer group that manages environmental issues at a local level. The purpose of the campaign is to assist groups in the landcare movement around Australia build capacity, create awareness in their community and encourage participation by attracting volunteers.
Nominations are now open for the 2011 State and Territory Landcare Awards, giving everyone across Australia the opportunity to honour the people who make a positive difference to their local environment. See Your State and Territory Landcare Award Information for closing dates and nomination processes (note that nominations in some States/Territories close as soon as 27 May).
Registrations are now open for the 2011 Queensland Landcare Conference. The conference includes a keynote presentation from Dr. Linda Selvey, CEO Greenpeace Australia Pacific which will address the threats to Australia’s food security, including climate change, water shortages, changes in land use and overfishing; and some of the strategies we will need to apply to address them. The event is expected to attract around 250 landcarers from across Queensland and further afield as it explores the theme generations of guardians, and delegates will also have the opportunity to choose from more than 31 concurrent presentations already confirmed and many more to come.
The 2011 Queensland Landcare Conference, which will be held in Ayr from 20 – 23 September is set to focus on the generations of guardians responsible for land and culture stewardship across the state. Conference host Lower Burdekin Landcare Association is now calling for expressions of interest to deliver presentations and workshops for the conference. Nominations close Sunday 13 February and final abstracts and biographies must be submitted by Tuesday 15 March. For further information on the conference visit 2011 Queensland Landcare Conference. More information on the call for papers is available by emailing landcare2011@wombatcreative.com.au or phoning Wombat Creative on 07 5538 5109.
Sydney’s Nature Carers (SNaC) is a network of people who take an active interest in the natural environment within the Sydney metropolitan region. The network allows on-ground environmental groups and interested community members to share ideas and knowledge, and discuss their experiences with others who are similarly involved. A regular E-News Update is sent to members. There is no cost involved in joining. To find out more visit the SNaC Yahoo! Group.
Landcare Australia is encouraging everyone to become a citizen scientist during Landcare Week. Every Australian can participate in this Landcare Week activity. Simply register with ClimateWatch and you can monitor, collect and record data that will help shape the Australia’s scientific response to climate change. Data collected by ClimateWatch will be used by anyone studying the impact of climate change on ecosystems. To find out more about how you can participate visit the Landcare Week 2010 webpage.
Landcare Queensland, with the support of the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country Program is rolling out the “Our volunteers do it in the bush” Landcare Week campaign aimed at increasing awareness of natural resource management in urban areas and boosting the number of young people involved in Landcare activities. Landcare Groups are urged to register projects – the campaign will be primarily focussed around South East Queensland, Toowoomba and Cairns, however where possible other regional locations will be included. To find out more visit Landcare Queensland.
The annual Queensland Landcare Conference to be held in Caloundra from 15–17 September 2010 with the theme Celebrating 21 years of Landcare, will capture the progress, achievements and future opportunities for one of the strongest community movements in Australia’s history. The first gathering of Queensland landcarers was held in Brisbane in 1990, since that time the landcare and natural resource management sector of Queensland have gathered annually for the Queensland Landcare Conference at different locations around Queensland ranging from Townsville to Roma and including a previous visit to Caloundra in 2000 to debate and discuss changing trends in land management. To find out more visit the conference website.