Environmental heroes honoured at 2011 ACT Landcare Awards

8 September 2011: Ten of the Territory’s most impressive environmental achievements have been recognised at the 2011 ACT Landcare Awards.

The biennial awards ceremony, held this morning in Acton to coincide with ACT Landcare Week, celebrated individual and community volunteer projects that have made significant contributions to the environment in local communities around the ACT.

Dr Chris Bourke, Member for Ginninderra, congratulated the winners for their outstanding efforts which have created positive outcomes for environmental sustainability.

“The ACT Landcare Awards provide probably the leading recognition for the exceptional work carried out by the many hundreds of landcare workers and volunteers in the Territory.”

“Without the work of these people, the rest of us would be ignorant about much of the beauty and natural wealth contained in our environment,” said Dr Bourke.

Heather Campbell, CEO of Landcare Australia, also praised the winners for their exceptional work.

“The high calibre of nominees and impressive achievements of the winners demonstrates the dedication and enthusiasm of the Landcare community, and the essential role it plays in the management of Australia’s natural resources.”

“The winners in each category represent the diverse work that the landcare movement is involved in with activities ranging from rehabilitation of wetlands to student environmental education programs,” she said.

The winners of the eight national categories will go through as nominees for their respective categories at the 2012 National Landcare Awards to be held in Sydney next year. Winners of the 2011 ACT Landcare Awards are:

Australian Government Individual Landcarer Award: Sarah Hnatiuk
Rural Press Primary Producer Award: Sherry McArdle-English
Local Government Landcare Partnership Award: Banksia Street Wetland Carers and Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate
Urban Landcare Award: Friends of Mount Majura, Mt Ainslie Weeders and Watson Woodlands Working Group
Leighton Holdings Indigenous Award: Namadgi Rock Art Working Group
Westpac Education Award: St Peter and Paul’s Primary School
Be Natural Young Landcare Leader Award: Maris Tebecis
The Quiet Achiever Award (ACT category): Leanne Barrett
Toshiba Community Group Award: Red Hill Regenerators (Highly Commended – Greening Australia Capital Region, ACT Landkeepers)
The Environment Community Support Award (ACT category): Steve Welch

About Landcare

The Landcare movement is made up of approximately 4,000 Landcare and 2,000 Coastcare volunteer groups that work on environmental projects in their local communities. The groups that fall under the Landcare umbrella are varied in nature and don’t necessarily include Landcare in their names, including Productive farming groups, ‘Friends of’, Bushcare, Coastcare, Rivercare, and Dunecare. Landcare also include farmers embracing sustainable farm management and any community group that partakes in volunteer environmental activities.

Click here to find out how you can become a Landcare volunteer

Click here for full details on all 2011 State and Territory Landcare Award finalists