Honour your local heroes today

Nominations are now open for the 2011 State and Territory Landcare Awards, giving everyone across Australia the opportunity to honour the people who make a positive difference to their local environment.

The prestigious Landcare Awards recognise the invaluable work done by committed volunteers across the country on a daily basis protecting and restoring our natural resources. All winners from the 2011 State and Territory Awards will go forward as nominees in the biennial National Landcare Awards which will take place in 2012.

Landcare is currently encouraging people to nominate anyone they feel deserves to have their efforts recognised. All types of environmental and agricultural volunteers can be nominated for any type of on-ground work which includes a huge range of activities such as sustainable farming, community gardening, habitat restoration, caring for rivers and creeks, preserving coastal landscapes and much, much more. With 12 categories in place there is sure to be one for every type and size of project or group, be it large or small, urban or rural, bush or coastal.

“The Landcare movement is all about ordinary people making an extraordinary difference and the Landcare Awards are about celebrating these people and the work they do across the length and breadth of the country 365 days a year,” said Heather Campbell, Landcare Australia CEO.

“There are thousands of Landcare, Bushcare, sustainable agriculture, ‘Friends of’ and Coastcare groups around Australia who have amazing stories to tell and we want to hear what they are doing and promote their hard work. It would be an impossible task to protect and improve the Australian landscape and environment without the work of these volunteers, who are the backbone of Landcare.

“We also hope that these awards will help raise awareness of Landcare and encourage people to donate themselves to their local group and become part of this amazing Australian movement,” she added.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Joe Ludwig, also supported the call for nominations to recognise the work of individuals and groups in restoring and creating sustainable environments.

“Over the last 20 years, Landcare has been supporting people to achieve real outcomes on local, state and national levels.

“These awards are a great way to recognise the co-operative culture that has developed through this work across Australia,” Minister Ludwig said.

The Little Swanport Catchment Plan Implementation Committee of Tasmania picked up the Toshiba Community Group Landcare Award at the National Landcare Awards in 2010. Committee member, Melanie Kelly, fully acknowledges how important this award has been to the work of her group.

“Winning this award was a great boost in confidence for the committee who have been working hard on projects for many years. The award made us realise that quietly working away on implementing our catchment plan, even through difficult times such as drought, is a significant contribution to a much bigger picture,” Ms Kelly said.

Information on categories and criteria, closing dates, and all application forms can be found here.