Words by Naomi Edwards
It was only a month ago when some of the Intrepid Landcare tribe were rubbing shoulders with some of the finest land carers from across Australia and the world at the 2016 National Landcare conference. We had many light bulb moments that could have been likened to a dangerous electric summer storm in a quest to answer, how can we contribute to the future of Landcare?
Conveniently there was a talk about the Australian Government’s review on the National Landcare Programme. We thought we should cross promote the review with our network of young people, and inspire a handful of them to formally contribute to an Intrepid Landcare submission for the review.
Between work, study and life, we managed to pull together what we think is a reflective submission about the National Landcare Programme, in particular, the approaches to, and effectiveness of engagement with the community and industry for the National Landcare Programme.
We know we don’t have all the answers, and all the time in the world to answer everything that the review is seeking, however, we saw this as a great opportunity for young emerging leaders in Landcare to have a voice.
So, what did we have to say…
Please download our submission: Intrepid Landcare NLP Review Submission (lo res_1.4MB)
Summary
Intrepid Landcare and our supporters reflect on our experiences in Landcare (e.g. the National Landcare Programme) and present a new direction. There are a number of common themes and those being, the need for better coordination between the regional natural resource management and Landcare groups. This is particularly needed where there is a lack of capacity to meet the demand of Landcare or more broadly environmental issues. This could be addressed with increasing support resources for the Regional Landcare Facilitator Program, and review capacity constraints in priority areas with high population growth.
We also need to share the benefits and results of the many projects funded through the Programme. This will increase the value proposition of Landcare and more effectively encourage the wider community, corporate and industry groups to co-invest in projects.
We also need the Programme to invest in the development of young people to build their skills and capacity to lead in their communities. We present two opportunities that are currently in development given recent funding from the NSW Government. As a national organisation with a mission to empower young people to lead on stuff that matters to them, we believe we are in a good position to facilitate this conversation and expand our programs across Australia.
The last comment is on future employment opportunities for young people in the environment. There are minimal environmental jobs available for young people and with the current oversupply of qualified young people seeking employment in the environment, the Programme could facilitate a skilling program beyond the Green Army Programme. This is why we are empowered to connect young people across Australia to share employment opportunities and pathways in the natural resource management of our land and water
We choose to not live in a future of extreme uncertainty and this is why we are empowered to connect young people across. We look forward to hearing from the Australian Government to discuss future opportunities to effectively engage young people in natural resource management, sustainable agriculture and Landcare.
For more information about our submission please email hello@intrepidlandcare.org. Thank you to all young people who contributed to the review.
