Tag: news

LANDCARE IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC: HOW COVID-19 IS CHANGING THE FACE OF ‘LANDCARE’

‘You’re on mute’ seems to be the catchphrase of 2020, but with a global pandemic restricting activities and gatherings, the method of connecting via online platforms can no longer be restricted to the young or tech-savvy.

With geographic distance between individuals and local groups no longer as big of a challenge for established and new Landcarers, learning new skills on how to care for our environment and community has become more accessible that ever.

Exploring remote Landcare sites via live feeds on Facebook, webinars on the design and installation of nestboxes to help with post bushfire relief and mental health and community support – by migrating online, Landcare communities are continuing to positively impact their local communities and environments.

“Landcarers, like everyone else, have had to become more flexible in their approach to delivering outcomes,” says Landcare NSW CEO, Dr Adrian Zammit.

“Landcarers are resilient and flexible individuals, and despite our current situation limiting on-ground activities, what we’ve seen is individuals looking for new ways to help address all the environmental and social challenges that haven’t changed since COVID-19 started.”

Based in Tenterfield in Northern NSW, Granite Borders Local Landcare Coordinator, Mandy Craig, says online workshops have become a core component of delivering recent activities, meaning landholders in remote areas have access to the same events as those individuals living closer to towns.

“People can just take a break for an hour or so and join the event. It’s not the case of setting aside a day to travel to Tenterfield. Many of our Landcarers live up to, and over, an hour away from town so this is a great way to have a greater geographical reach and connect with farmers from across our region.”

“Online means we can have more training events or activities in a cost-effective way. For example, our most recent event was a book club where we were able to have each author join in our zoom meeting. This would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to have authors join us locally.”

Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Local Landcare Coordinator, Rebecca Klomp, agrees saying webinars hosted by experts, as well as online resources, mean that more people can make positive impacts for their local environment and be part of an established community.

“Our webinar on nest box installation with Ecologist Alice McGashen had 30 people take part.  The webinar covered local hollow dwelling species, nest box design and materials, installation and monitoring. We also produced videos on YouTube and downloadable material for people to have at home with nearly 100 nest boxes currently being built.”

“The session was shorter than a face-to-face session and the face-to-face networking that normally happens between landholders was a little different, however everything else ran like a normal workshop with interactive options.” 

“I definitely think we will use online technology more in a combination with face-to-face delivery for our Landcare activities. Of course, the face-to-face connection remains so important and plays a crucial role in sustaining our communities to deliver work so we look forward to that being commonplace again,” Rebecca said.

Community involvement crucial in environmental protection

If you didn’t know where to look, you would hardly notice them. But for those well versed in cane toad’s habits and habitat’s the quest to eradicate the estimated 200 million amphibians seems insurmountable. But you’ll be hard pressed to see that attitude here.

Armed with torches, buckets and good ears to tap into calling toads, volunteers and field workers in the Clarence Valley undertake night-time cane toad surveys across multiple private properties.

Community efforts and collaborations between government and local bodies such as the Clarence Landcare, Clarence Valley Conservation in Action (CVIA) Landcare Group, Department of Primary Industries, NSW Local Land Services and the Office of Environment and Heritage are crucial in helping stop the spread of invasive species.

Local Landcare Coordinator for Clarence Landcare, Debbie Repschlager, says projects such as the community and professional Cane Toad Control and trialling of Cane Toad Detection Dogs, are all tools used in the crucial role of supporting local ecology.

“We are trying to reduce and halt the Southern Front of cane toad migration and it is a big undertaking. The project covers a large area, over 30,000 hectares, with very diverse environments, but for us it’s as much about community participation and education as it is about on-ground work,” Debbie says.

“Since this project began in 2019, we have collected 13,361 mature and juvenile cane toads and 565,232 tadpoles. That’s 578, 593 toxic species removed from the local environment! That is a lot, but there’s a long road ahead of us.”

With females being able to produce between 8,000 – 35,000 eggs at a time, usually breeding twice a year and few predators to control the population, the job at hand is a long-term approach.

“It’s what we do” says Debbie.

“Landcare is about a long-term approach and thankfully we are supported in our endeavours. With this project we worked with Border Ranges Richmond Valley Landcare Network and the Office of Environment and Heritage. We share information, resources and landholder contact details in overlapping areas. There’s no such thing as borders with invasive species and it takes a strategic community approach to deal with them.”

The economic cost of invasive species in Australia is large. A study published in 2016 (using data from 2011/12) found the combined estimated cost of invasive species was $13.6 billion in the 2011-12 financial year. In 2019, the Invasive Species Council of Australia released a paper advising that an estimated $155 million over just five years would be needed to deal with invasive species in Australia.

Landcare NSW CEO, Dr Adrian Zammit is not surprised.

“The cost of invasive species to our economy and ecology is not to be underestimated. You have incredibly delicate ecosystems versus thousands of different invasive species who see opportunity and jump on it. These are animals, birds, plants, insects and other invertebrates, fungi, parasites and marine creatures. There’s thousands of them killing off our native species who have few, if no, defences against them.”

But we are not without hope.

“In the NSW Landcare network alone you have citizen scientists, industry leaders and the average concerned landcarer dealing with them. They are upskilling and educating themselves in best practice and management.

“Our Landcare groups work within all borders, both local and state, to ensure that vulnerable species are supported and maintained. Each region may have its own unique problems, but they joined in being a network of dedicated individuals and communities that want to see their native environment survive and thrive.

NSW Landcare Program Manager Natasha English agrees, saying that all groups, regardless of their location, are on the forefront on invasive species management.

“Every one of our Landcare groups across NSW are dealing with pests and weeds. From the madeira vine to feral cat and dog control, they are part of a strategic approach, working with government agencies to tackle a wide range of bio-security threats. With bushfires, droughts and flood exacerbating pest control through the migration of species you’ve got to work towards being responsive to each challenge and I believe we are doing just that.”

Image courtesy of Clarence Landcare – Cane Toad Control –