You’ve got to admire your local Landcare heroes: hats on heads, gloves on hands and smiles on faces. They are the volunteers who meet on an almost daily basis in our communities, usually for hours on-end, to get down and dirty for the sake of the environment.
Drought, climate change, human greed, natural disasters and increasingly complex technological change are among the challenges these people are up against in their line of volunteer work. But they press on, as they have done since the Landcare movement first began in Australia almost 50 years ago.
Free of charge, these everyday people do the ‘hard yakka’ that no one else is willing or bothered to do: they clear weeds and plant trees on our riverbanks, do fertilizer and soil trials and tests on local farmers’ pastures, and generally make our communities environmentally stronger, better and more sustainable.
On 24 June 2010, the most dedicated, hardest-working and top-performing among Australia’s Landcare heroes will be recognised at the National Landcare Awards ceremony at Parliament House, Canberra. Of all the awards, probably the most hotly contested is the category known as The People’s Choice Award.
In the running are a total 88 Australian individuals and groups, including Chris Cumming from a small town called Holbrook in Southern New South Wales, who has been touted by Mandi Stevenson, Deputy Chair of Landcare NSW, as a very deserving winner. “She has shown an incredible ability to re-frame an existing organisation that had been struggling and transform it into a vibrant model that responds to the needs of the community and promotes it in a challenging environment,” Ms Stevenson said.
Ms Cumming is just one of the national heroes (and groups) that members of the community are being urged to get behind. Just go to the Landcare website, read about the awe-inspiring work they’ve been doing, and then cast a vote.
Take your time reading about them – soak it all in and be inspired, because like the judges, you may find that you’ll have a very tough time picking your favourite.
If you ask us at Green Times, they all deserve a gold medal!
Green directory of eco-friendly Australian businesses. This green directory is providing you all details about environmental companies around Australia. Find the green business around your place.
You’ve got to admire your local Landcare heroes: hats on heads, gloves on hands and smiles on faces. They are the volunteers who meet on an almost daily basis in our communities, usually for hours on-end, to get down and dirty for the sake of the
