Victorian Landcare Report
Alex Arbuthnot , Feb. 2014
The very good winter and spring in Victoria followed by a hot & dry summer brought the inevitable ( and not surprising ) destruction and tragedy of fire. The comments by farmers ring in my ears – “ I suppose the rain will shut off and then with the growth of vegetation we will have fires “- the dryness of our countryside even in Gippsland is a staggering and the effects of high temperatures on agriculture ( crops and stock ) a renewed learning experience . Andnote that in the Macalister Irrigation District (MID) on a very hot/ humid day over 80 dairy cattle died from heat stress.
Re – fires - the response and support by Govt ,community and volunteer groups , once again is outstanding and the structures in place by the Vic. emergency systems was top rate .
2 points to consider:
- – perhaps we do need to give more attention to control systems – fire breaks , slashing and burning of long grass and perhaps clearing trees from some roadsides etc .
- Re – landcare – perhaps we need to be more prudent on what we plant and where we plant in landcare ( the landcare plantings on my road are a ‘fire hazard “ I think ! )
The ‘for sale “ signs on gates of farms is a little frightening – even in dairy areas ( and most of these hope somebody from China buys their farm. ( Australians are not interested ). Chinese buyers have bought my brothers organic dairy farm and 2 dairy processing factories ( we have 15 in Gippsland ) are now owned by Chinese investors. I support this investment and we should think about how we can link community and landcare with these investments.
Farm Tree and Landcare Association FTLA
Congrats FTLA and Susi for having nearly 600 member groups and 18,000 member households. This included 60 new groups last year and some interstate. (even from WA ) – The AGM was held on Feb 23 and nearly 100 people attended. Excellent presentations including Jenny Barbour from Dept, Ag Canberrawho said that Govt has said there will be no reduction in Landcare funding.
Weeds – blackberry – Community model
Without landcare and community a lot of weed work would never be done . The Vic. Govt has recognised this and invested in support of the Vic Community Weed Program administered by the Vic. Blackberry Taskforce and have 15 groups working on weed control programs in Vic. The 2 forums recently in held at Boolarra and Mt Best were top rate.– with around 60 people at Boolarra and 50 at Mt Best. – I am always amazed at the interest by the community in weed and pest control . A point that we should iterate to Govt as any survey done on NRM issues always has weeds and pests as the number one issue !
Australian Landcare International ( ALI)
I have had 2 meetings now with a staff member from ALI who are very keen to be involved with the 25 year celebrations . Landcare is in 20 other countries and many of our State’s are involved with projects. Perhaps we should think about opportunities with trade and export of Landcare knowledge especially with a focus on food production . Involving DFAT and may be using the Minister for Trade – Andrew Robb who was at NFF with the late Rick Farley when landcare started.
Government
With the pressure on budgets both at State and with the Federal Govt we must continue to promote the need for support for facilitators and for grant programs. NRM is essential for sustainable economic outcomes and the link with commercial outcomes through LAL is an essential institution to deliver these outcomes
Landcare Australia LAL
Susanne Johnstone is the new Technical Project Officer in the Vic Office and did a very good presentation at the FTLA AGM . There are 2 other new staff in the Vic office – L10 , Farrer House , 24 Collins St- and do pop in if you are in Melb.
-LAL provided $ 2.6million of ‘ cash’ to landcare from Corporate sponsors last year supporting nearly 500 projects
-5,300 landcare groups registered on line
-Survey show’s that there is 78% awareness of landcare
Happy Landcaring