The Spread of International Landcare – A timeline of change
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1986 Germany (May, via Josef Goeppel, a Bavarian, and later, national politician); Australia (November, Victoria via Joan Kirner, a state politician). Unconnected events. Landcare went national in late 1989 – Hawke, Farley, Toyne, Cook, Kerin …
1993 Iceland (Andrew Campbell, Andrés Arnalds)
1996 New Zealand (Don Ross and others including Mattie Wall, later Richard Thompson and Nick Edgar)
1997 The Philippines – initially Clavaria Landcare 1996, then collaborating with the Filipinos, including Delia Catacutan: Dennis Garrity and others [ICRAF-WAC], and later, for a decade, Noel Vock, Christine Rhinehart, John Muir and Jenny Metcalfe through Queensland government and ACIAR. Also Horrie Poussard, Joan Kirner’s right-hand in 1986, worked in the Philippines. Some SE Queensland Landcare groups directly involved also
1997 – 2001 Republic of South Africa, initially Sue Marriott, Elaine Spencer-White, later several Australian helpers including Rob Youl, leading to a 12-person multi- sector delegation visiting WA, SA, the Adelaide Landcare conference and Victoria in 1997, with WRIST workshop in Hamilton. Then via extensive AusAID support, including Richard Holt, Ted Rowley, Julian Prior, Theo Nabben, Les Bohm, Andrew Watson, John Holley and Fiona Bain. Over next decade South Africa spreads Landcare ideas to neighbouring Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and helps Kenya-based ICRAF establish Landcare in East Africa
1998 Secretariat for International Landcare (SILC) forms Hamilton, Victoria; includes Sue Marriott, Victoria Mack, Mary Johnson, Christine Lever, Lyn Milne, Julian Cribb and Stuart Hill. SILC runs many tours of Australian Landcare projects for overseas resource managers over next one and a half decades. Sue and John Marriott visit South Africa. (See: The SILC Road – A 20 year journey with international Landcare. S Marriott and V Mack: Point Lonsdale 2017 – a helpful reference compiling this paper)
1999 DAFF briefly operates International Landcare Clearinghouse (Rohan Wilson). SILC’s Mary Johnson and Christine Lever work with David Swete Kelly, Noel Vock, ICRAF and Philippines Landcare on agricultural and NRM projects
2000 First international conference – Melbourne – 45 overseas delegates
2000+ ICRAF and RSA have developed the African Landcare Network (formalised 2006), now also embracing Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, DRC, Rwanda and Ghana and a regional project in Nigeria
2000s Early 2000s USA – Virginia, North Carolina (Jerry Moles, Christy Gabbard, Jim Stokoe, Adela Backiel, Ruth McWilliams) – Grayson Landcare in southern Virginia very strong – to this day
2003 Darwin conference; Landcare International forms
2004 Jim Moseley, Secretary USDA visits Australia to examine Landcare. Toowoomba’s James McKee completes US speaking tour
2006 Melbourne International Landcare conference attracts 85 delegates from overseas; special thanks to SILC, which inter alia organised tours for them interstate and in Victoria. AusAID, International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Crawford Fund, with PwC and Landcare Australia (LA) support, finance Melbourne master class –involves Fiji, Kenya, Nauru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Solomons, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, UK, USA. Organised by Rob Youl (then LA) and Sue Marriott; training led by Julian Prior (UNE). Ian Sauer (Tamar NRM) and Jerry Moles (Grayson Landcare, Virginia) form an inter-group partnership. Australian Landcare Sri Lanka post-tsunami project (Emma Bennett). Rotarian Bob Edgar starts to develop Tongan Landcare projects. Nick Edgar takes over New Zealand Landcare Trust (NZLT) from Don Ross. SILC, Rob Youl publish eighth version of Landcare in Australia
2007 – 2008 Australian Landcare International (ALI) forms in Melbourne. Contact made with Ikponke Nkanta in SE Nigeria
2007 – 2012 ALI funds overseas travel for eleven Landcarers to look at community activities and spread the concept of Landcare – countries visited: NZ, USA, Kenya/Uganda, South Korea, Sri Lanka. Philippines project funding from Australia ends, but project soon regroups as Landcare Foundation of the Philippines Islands (LFPI), with continuing Australian support led by Noel Vock and later Mary Johnson
2009 Indonesia (SILC – to present – at least ten visits). SA Rural Solutions working in Middle East. Australian Environment Minister Tony Burke learns at meeting from South African counterpart that Landcare is amongst Australia’s best aid initiatives. Prof Michael Seigel, Nanzan University, Nagoya starts bringing Japanese student groups to Australia to study Landcare. ALI, ICRAF, SILC publish Landcare: Local action, global progress.
Mieke Bourne, former WA catchment co-ordinator, employed at ICRAF, Nairobi. Over a decade, she helped numerous African countries and communities implement more sustainable farming techniques, and integrate Landcare into primary and secondary schooling. Africa clearly leads in junior Landcare. Concomitantly, Australians Tony and Liz Rinaudo promoted farmer-managed natural regeneration across Africa: agroforestry techniques to protect soils and crops and enhance biodiversity and fuelwood production.
2010 Josef Goeppel, founder German Landcare, visits Victoria. (Beate Krettinger, one of his staff, studied at UNE.) Canada (Geoff McFarlane, Kim Nielsen).
Sri Lanka: Neosynth, Jerry Moles, Yvonne Everett with later help from SILC – to the present.
Landcare projects start in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Rob Youl commences working with Prof Seigel. NZLT partnership workshop, Hamilton NZ – Matt Reddy, Rob Youl. Attended Adelaide conference. SILC oversees launch of Lanka Landcare and Bangladeshi Landcare
2011 Fiji (WWF, South Pacific Community). Global Landcare Alliance formed (initial members LI and ALI). Republic of South Africa (RSA), Crawford Fund, AusAID, ICRAF, ALI finance Uganda master class – involves Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda – Mary Johnson, Rowan Reid, Julian Prior, Theo Nabben and Rob Youl on training staff
2012 Rob Youl attends RSA LandCare conference at Maheking and links with various groups, in particular networks in Western Cape province. ALI salinity tour of Victoria for Thai departmental staff. Sydney conference –SILC fosters 13 delegates
2012- 2014 ALI’s Bob Edgar and Horrie Poussard working in Fiji and Tonga, with Landcare groups and projects forming in each country, with Rotary and Crawford Fund playing a major role
2013 Clinton and Alice Muller employed by ICRAF, Nairobi, following Mieke Bourne (who resumes three years later). DAFF-RSA, Crawford Fund and ICRAF finance Malawi master class – involves Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe – Mary Johnson, Julian Prior, Theo Nabben and Clinton Muller on training staff.
Tomomi Maekawa, Japanese PhD student, spends a year in Australia at CSU, Albury and meets many groups and networks. Secretariat for the Promotion of Landcare in Japan (SPELJ) forms.
ALI and Victorian Landcare Council (VLC) initiate Overseas Landcare Program and the Australian Landcare International Fund (The ALI Fund) to support small community projects – generally worth $500-1000 – inspired by Ben Roberts’ work in Ecuador. The ALI fund stimulates wider networking.
In Kabale, Uganda, Rowan Reid leads Otway Agroforestry Network team in its first agroforestry and Landcare training overseas (later goes to Timor Leste) and Vanuatu, and Jon Lambert of NGO Beyond Subsistence also runs African Master Tree Growers courses
2013 – 2014 Bernie Wonder and ACIAR develop a project examining better produce marketing allied to conservation agriculture in Kenya and Ethiopia. With ACIAR support, Noel Vock, Mary Johnson and Ken Menz commence work with LFPI to develop an improved extension model using Landcare approaches to raise farm livelihoods in vulnerable communities in troubled Mindanao
2014 Landcare personnel from Merapi region, central Java visit their Mindanao counterparts exchanging ideas on farming and community development
(Crawford Fund, ALI, SILC).
Rob Youl and Malachy Tarpey attend RSA LandCare conference at Durban, expand relationships with various groups, and run project development workshop in Langsberg, Western Cape province. Melbourne conference
2015 Landcare a national program in Uganda. Four Landcare facilitators operate in Japan. ALI assists Wolverhampton Link Project from British Midlands to run four-day training course in Hanover Parish, Jamaica – Andrea Mason, Rob Youl.
Crawford Fund finances five-day training course in Fiji – trainers Andrea Mason and Ian Oxenford.
Victoria Mack and Malachy Tarpey visit central Java and western Sumatra to help develop Landcare projects.
Rotary (Royce and Jean Abbey Scholarship) brings Kabale Landcare Network’s Jimmy Mussime to Victoria for training
2016 Liaison with Japan via Tomomi Maekawa and others, and further Japanese visits. SILC visits Timor Leste. Assistance to Dr Jo Millar in Bhotan.
Melbourne Landcare conference offers publicity to overseas Landcare. Crowd-funding experiment launched with Pozible – varying success. Neil Blake assists with ALI internal planning workshops. Landcare’s important role after disasters now well recognised, at home and abroad. Forester Metchie Arnaiz from Masbate in the Philippines visits Aus for Rotary (Royce and Jean Abbey) training.
Uganda and DAFF-RSA organise a week-long ALN meeting in Pretoria. Clinton and Alice Muller, after four years in Nairobi with World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), return.
Misato Imase completes six-month induction in Landcare via a Tokyo Olympics initiative to promote volunteerism.
ACIAR, Crawford, ICRAF support training in Zambia –trainers ALI’s Andrea Mason, Jason Alexandra and Keith Bradby – part of ACIAR innovation platforms for smallholders project
2017 Australia-Japan Foundation, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Nanzan University support first international Landcare conference at Nagoya in November – 80 people from 12 countries. Conference endorses the idea of creating a global Landcare entity. ALI assists young Japanese student to run SE Australia Landcare tours – so far, three.
European Landcare Network launched in Brussels. Website (2026) indicates a current membership of national and project-oriented groups from Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Ireland, Belgium, Lithuania, France, Italy, Croatia, Luxembourg, Spain (but not Iceland?)
2018 Further Caribbean training in St Kitts and Nevis – ALI trainers Andrea Mason, Hank Tyler and Rob Youl. High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago, Hon John Pilbeam, provides funds to bring students from Antigua, St Vincent and Barbuda.
ACIAR and Crawford fund three trainers, Belinda Brennan, Jason Alexandra and David Curry, to assist with Landcare training for eastern Uganda smallholders. Kamy Melvani awarded PhD from CDU, Darwin, and Mary Johnson PhD from RMIT University.
ALI, Leigh Catchment Group and Ballarat NGO, Aussie Action Abroad, provide Landcare experience for young Nepalese graduate who will advance sustainable farming on his return.
ALI’s small projects fund over five years has raised over $50 000 for over 40 small projects in 16 countries – some Landcare groups and networks are supporting their third project. Donations are tax-deductible and welcomed. LA assists overseas visitors to attend the Brisbane conference.
2019 ACIAR 2019 Johnson-Muller study of the potential of international Landcare overseas – guides further action
2020 Australian Landcare International, SILC and Landcare International merge to form a single entity – Global Landcare.
Andrea Mason established and Chaired the Global Landcare board with members from six countries with a new logo and the required governance. Covid blunted momentum, but brought Zoom technology, ideal for such a group.
Since then, GL’s main activities have been
• expanding ALI Fund
• continuing support for Africa
• promoting Asian projects
• developing a Pacific network via a major conference, and
• improving communications within Australia
2021 ACIAR-funded Fiji Landcare research project commences. Project led by RMIT University in collaboration with the Fiji Ministry of Agriculture, Fiji National University, TeiTei Taveuni, and local farmer groups. A third and equally strong partner is the Philippines, drawing on its experience in integrating Landcare approaches into agricultural extension via the Livelihood Improvement through Facilitated Extension (LIFE) model. Key project activities have included exchanges between Fiji and the Philippines, as well as a Fiji-south-east Queensland study tour run by project partner Global Landcare
Larger Asian projects have included helping promote organic vegetable growing, especially in Vietnam; liaison with Aussie Action Abroad in Nepal.
2022 Working towards a Pacific-wide network, GL and ACIAR brings overseas Landcarers to the Sydney conference in 2022, where the two bodies also launch the Nagoya proceedings Building Global Sustainability Through Local Self-Reliance: Lessons From Landcare
2023 Agroforestry information exchange with Japan via the Australia-Japan Foundation and Nanzan University. The delegation included two Dja Dja Wurrung women from central Victoria and Otway Agroforestry Network members.
2024 Nel Smit’s Hobart group connects directly with a Rarotonga, Cook Islands coastal nursery and obtains extra funds through Global Landcare for a schools project, a great example of direct action. GL organises a pilot excursion in the ACT and hinterland that could be adapted on a regular basis for politicians and diplomats.
Fiji Study Tour to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia built on two previous similar study exchanges: 1. Philippine delegates visiting Fiji in April 2023, and 2. Fijian delegates visited the Philippines in December 2023. This follow-up exchange presented an opportunity for continuous learning and strengthening partnerships for the Fijian partners and Global Landcare through undertaking international networking, knowledge and skill sharing on sustainable land management practices.
Andrea Mason hands over the Chair to NZLT’s Nick Edgar whose staff members Tracy Roose and Bridget Jonker have since proven very helpful. Thanks, Kiwis!
2025 Planning starts on Fiji conference in partnership with Fiji National University and supported by ACIAR and RMIT.
2026 As a Fiji Landcare project partner GL delivers Landcare training and supporting attendance at the International Conference on Landcare and Sustainable Agriculture, Nadi, Fiji in July 2026. It is also exploring opportunities in Papua New Guinea. Moreover, GL has backed efforts to adapt NZLT catchment management training to Pacific situations.
Seeking greater recognition in Australia, GL has:
• liaised with national and state Parliamentary Friends
• run webinars, and
• promoted soils textbooks
ALI Fund has now raised Au$622 000 for 264 projects in 27 countries; two major supporters, both keenly interested in Africa, are the Kain Foundation and Beyond Subsistence. GL has also helped with Ugandan Landcare conferences
A continuing and promising saga …