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From the Chair’s desk…
The year 2020 is going to go down in history and the COVID-19 pandemic is showing how truly global our world is. As borders close down and travel is restricted we will need to change some of our planned joint ventures for the year. We hope this crisis will be overcome soon and I urge you all to stay safe.
Thank you to our many friends across the globe who sent us messages of support and concerns as the bushfires affected the south east regions of Australia. Some of our members and many of our Australian colleagues have been affected by these extraordinary events.
ALI and Global Landcare
On a brighter note, our new and global Board has been working hard to move towards a new, but long anticipated venture – a Global Landcare association. It is not ‘international’ but ‘global’ by design. National borders are not important to Landcarers except in so much as the huge difference it makes to have ‘national ‘ support for Landcare activities. So the name has been chosen carefully and hopefully will embrace national activities globally and support those who do not yet have national support, as members of the global Landcare community.
In 2019, a discussion paper developed by myself as Chair of ALI was used as the basis for a survey which was developed and implemented among the members of LI to assess their views about the most appropriate way that this connection might be accomplished. The options that were presented, and the percentage of respondents that preferred each option, were:
- Global Landcare is established as a new incorporated organisation in its own right, with a Board and new organisational structure. Preferred: 20%.
- Australian Landcare International assumes the role of the global network, using a tagline such as: Australian Landcare International – a global Landcare network. There has been initial feedback that this may not quite hit the mark to fully reflect the current global nature of Landcare, which now also spans the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. ALI currently draws its major strength from looking outwards from a Victorian and Australian Landcare base. Preferred: 13%.
- Global Landcare is created as a fully branded entity, but with no formal legal or business structure of its own. ALI would assume responsibility for the secretariat of Global Landcare, and manage the business arm of this new entity. ALI branding would then be made mostly redundant, and ALI would in future operate under the Global Landcare branding. The ALI Inc Board would become the official operating mechanism for Global Landcare. The ALI Board would be expanded to broaden its focus, and ensure adequate and balanced representation from Landcare International, the Secretariat for International Landcare, and other sources, e.g. strong country Landcare programs such as New Zealand. Preferred: 67%.
The survey results indicated that there is enthusiastic support for merging LI with ALI, recognising ALI’s strong and formal organisational structure, and its excellent track record of supporting the development of international landcare.
Andrea along with Dennis Garrity, also Chair of Landcare International, and Nick Edgar from NZ we have begun putting together a strategy for this. Since the survey, a fourth option of renaming ALI to Global Landcare is being investigated with potential changes to our structure to accommodate an even broader representation from across the globe.
If you were interested in helping out and indicated this in the survey, please make contact us again as we did not get your details at the time!
We are also looking at formalising our membership with Evergreening Global Alliance which we hope will enable us to expand our connections and opportunities. You may remember in our last newsletter we helped with their Australian launch in Melbourne.
Our Overseas Landcare Program was once again heavily subscribed, and our recipients are outlined later in this newsletter. However, we have more projects requiring funding so if you’re one of our generous donors, please consider giving again or talking your friends into giving! We know that the generosity of people has been stretched since the bushfires here and now the pandemic, but the world still needs us!
thanks again to everyone, Andrea Mason.
And here is the latest news from our team…
Preparations for 2020 National Landcare Conference
Having won the partnership section in the State awards in 2019, ALI is now preparing for the National Awards – adding even more amazing things that have been achieved since then. See the website for the conference, 11-13 November in Sydney: https://landcareaustralia.org.au/national-landcare-conference-2020/
Abstract proposals for presentation at the National Conference are open. Australian Landcare International (ALI) is trying to greatly increase conference coverage of overseas activities. We need to promote Landcare’s achievements abroad. Please consider submitting an abstract – the call ends on Friday 24 April. https://landcareaustralia.org.au/call-for-abstracts/
Do you know someone you can team with, or others with different interests to yourself, but who might be interested?
Note: At the time of publishing the conference has not been cancelled but this may change due to COVID-19. Register for emails from the conference organisers for updates.
The ALI Fund in 2020
Background
Australian Landcare International (ALI) has an Overseas Landcare Program (OLP) which manages a small grants program for projects carried out by established and new Landcare groups in developing countries.
The Overseas Landcare Program is funded via a public fund called the ALI Fund
Small grants program – provision of $500 (Australian) grant to support international Landcare activities. Projects eligible for funding include:
- on-ground works (such as tree planting, agricultural improvements, forest protection, soil conservation.
- infrastructure such as local nursery, garden plots, water systems, protective shade and fencing.
- capacity building such as training courses, visits to other Landcare groups.
- education on Landcare issues at primary and secondary level
2020 Application process
Twenty six applications were received.
- All applied for $500 per project
- 10 projects funded without additional information required
- 1 project funded but more information was needed, received and project was funded
- 7 projects – set for a second round of funding if and when $$ available
- 8 projects – regarded as ineligible
The Successful 2020 Projects
Three groups in Victoria each donated $500 towards projects in this round. The committee decided rather than allocate a project to each group – we would forward the successful list to each group and tell them they are welcome to “choose” a group to match their donation to or we will keep them updated with all the unfunded but recommended projects.
- Landcare Victoria Inc
- Toms Creek Landcare Group
- Yarram Yarram Urban Landcare Group paired with Rise and Shine, Machakos, Kenya.
A second round of projects were deemed eligible and worthy of funding, however there were insufficient funds to enable them all to be funded. See at the end of the newsletter.
Australia-Japan Foundation Funding
DFAT’s Australia-Japan Foundation awarded funds for a small group of Australian farmer-foresters to go to Japan for two weeks in September to meet Japanese landowners, foresters, contractors and communities to discuss, ideally in the field, matters of mutual value. This included promoting Landcare, continuing the work of the late Prof Michael Seigel to publicise our ethos.
Participants in September were Rowan Reid (leader and chair, Australian Agroforestry Foundation), Andrew Stewart (farmer-educator, Deans Marsh), Annabel Kater (specialty timber grower, Hunter Valley NSW) and Prof Rod Keenan of Melbourne University – independently funded and Rob Youl.
The Australians visited Nagoya (east coast, Honshu) and Toyama (west coast, Honshu) to talk to Prof Kaz Kagohashi and associates, Nanzan University, and Toyama to meet Dr Joseph Runzo-Inada and colleagues of the city of Toyama. They also visited Gifu, Kanazawa , Niigata and Sado Island while there.
The Japanese Landcare people were enthusiastic about what is happening and ALI looks forward to working further with them. It was noticed that in Japan there are Landcare activities but they are not networked in the way such activities are in Australia. The Australian networks provide vital support for groups and this might be a way for Japan to develop Landcare in the future.
News from the Landcare networks
Bees in Samoa
Loddon Plains Landcare Network’s Landcare Facilitator, Danny Pettingill has been a key driver of a program to take beekeeping and land management skills to Samoa. This program, a version having been delivered in 2018, will once again be developed as a series of training and education workshops to be rolled out in Samoa in April 2020.
According to North Central Chat, March 2020 (http://www.nccma.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/north_central_chat-_march_2019_draft.pdf):
The program, funded by a consortium of the Crawford Fund, Loddon Plains Landcare Network and Bendigo Rotary will enable Danny and another beekeeper from the north central region of Victoria to travel to Samoa. The program has been designed to provide and share skills in beekeeping to help with the establishment and development of small-scale apiaries in village communities, particularly for women in Samoa.
Uganda News
The year 2019 was once again eventful as Kambale Agroforestry Network celebrated its 6th anniversary. KAN’s goal was to consolidate the modest achievements in junior land care in schools, and in the community groups. KAN was able to bring on board two more schools, (Hornby High School Junior and Buhumba Primary School. Now Hornby High School Junior has a school garden flourishing with a variety of vegetables and 5000 new trees. KAN has been able to reach 12 schools in its 6 years of existence but its target is 25 schools by 2025.
KAN received funding from ALI but the number of requests for support from schools in the area continues to be overwhelming!
The children tell the stories of the work KAN does ever so well:
OUR SCHOOL GARDEN: My name is Kesande Lynet. I belong to Kabale Primary School Junior Landcare Club. In our school we have a school garden. In the school garden we grow cabbages, spinach, guavas and other vegetables. We water our plants and mulch during the dry season and weed them during the wet season.At home my mother gave me a piece of land where I grow eggplants, cabbages, beans and fruit trees such as mangoes, pineapples and guavas. I sell them and get money to buy clothes and scholarstic materials which i do not have. My mother is very happy and has thanked me for being active in growing food crops. Junior landcare club has helped me and other pupils who are its members. I wish every school in Uganda had a school garden. (Kesande Lynet, P6A, Kabale Primary School)
KAN’s work with communities is also inspiring:
KAN CONNECTS WITH OTHERS: Kabale Agroforestry Network programmes actively involve relevant partners including communities, local governments private sector agencies and donors. We use our unique approach of engaging community members and schools to manage their environmental footprint for the well being of the environment and the communities . We are part of conservation networks where we share our experiences and learn from others.
And KAN organized a Junior Landcare Week to coincide with the National Landcare Conference and Awards.
National Landcare Conference
The Uganda Landcare Network organized a National Landcare Conference which was held at Bunyonyi Safaris Resort in Kabale, Uganda from 25 to 28th November 2019. The Conference attracted landcarers from all over the world including Australia, Sweden, South Africa, Kenya and Malawi. It included field trips and was a great success.
Dr Dennis Garrity was the keynote speaker at the conference to speak about Leading in Evergreening the Earth; Landcare across Scales. Among other things, Dr Garrity is Ambassador at the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Senior Fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre and at the World Resources Institute and Chair of the Global EverGreening Alliance and Landcare International.
Dr Garrity said, “Uganda has one of the most successful and vibrant grassroots landcare programmes in the world” and he was participating “to help celebrate its accomplishments and to learn more about how Global Landcare can help Uganda to further strengthen that foundation of success. I will also explore how other countries can learn from Uganda’s success, as they seek to emulate it in supporting communities in their countries to develop landcare programmes.”
When asked, “Can regreening be achieved by individuals or is it something to be implemented by policy?” he replied:
“Ultimately, regreening depends upon the mobilisation of individuals, working in their own self- interest but guided by the values of land care. However, the enabling environment created by incentivising government policy can assist in important ways in motivating farmers and the general public to get engaged in the process.”
To learn more about evergreening, and particularly what it has achieved in Africa, see https://evergreenagriculture.net/poverty-reduction-with-trees-in-africa/
News from Australia
Bushfire Recovery Assistance
ALI echoes the information provided before the summer did its worst:
Our thoughts are with those in bushfire affected areas and we give thanks to all who are contributing to tirelessly to the firefighting effort.
Thank you to our many friends across the globe who sent us messages of support and concerns. Some of our members and many of our Australian colleagues have been affected by these extraordinary events.
Below are some resources for bushfire recovery support –
Vic Emergency – https://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/relief/#recovering_from_a_bushfire
Agriculture Victoria – http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/emergencies/recovery
Australian Government Emergency Information Line – 180 22 66 (8am to 8pm local time, Monday to Friday).
Wildlife Victoria – Request Assistance by calling 03 8400 7300 or online here – https://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/wildlife-information/report-a-wildlife-emergency
Need Drought/Dry Seasons Support? (a link for help)
Climate Webinar Series
Agriculture Victoria is running a free lunchtime climate webinar series in 2020, where participants will hear from a broad range of expert speakers from Agriculture Victoria, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), CSIRO and other agencies.
The webinars will also be recorded so if you cannot join on the day, you can listen later. For further information and scheduling details go to –
http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/weather-and-climate/climate-webinars
Landcare Voices
2019 was the 30th anniversary of the National Landcare Program. It was a sad year in that we lost Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister, who launched the Decade of Landcare in 1989. LVI continued to capture Landcare Voices via an oral history project.
To see the newsletter, be added to the Landcare Victoria distribution list visit / or send an email with subject LVI NEWS SUBSCRIBE to info@lvi.org.au.
Overseas Landcare Projects Looking for Funding
ALI is seeking additional funding to help the projects listed below.