Victoria was the birthplace of Landcare 38 years ago and the organisation has stood the test of time, still boasting an extraordinary 740 groups around the state — including the highly dedicated and still amazingly active Kyabram organisation.
Forward-thinking farmers from St Arnaud were ahead of their time in 1986 when they banded together to form the first Victorian Landcare Group.
While not totally embracing the term ‘environmentalists’, these men set the foundations for what would become the major non-government tree-planting and ecosystem management group.
Climate change is now at the forefront of every natural resource conversation, and the role of the environmentally conscious organisation is more important than ever.
Restoration projects and sustainable use of resources, including land and water, were identified as key issues by the forefathers of the Landcare movement almost 40 years ago.
Thirteen years after that organisation started, the Kyabram Urban Landcare Group was formed, and Tuesday, March 12, will celebrate 25 years of work in the community.
The group had 12 inaugural members, two of whom — Doug Small and Neville Hunter — are still involved.
Four of those inaugural members have since passed: Pat Morrell, Peter Walsh, Don Anderson and Betty Wood.
The 2024 version of the club has 18 active members and 20 associate members.
Mr Small was the first president of the group, accepting the role after a planning meeting was held with Russell Pell from Wyuna Landcare, Craig Tuhan from the Goulburn Murray group, Drew Gailey (Campaspe Shire’s Landcare co-ordinator) and Geoff McFarlane, from the Department of Natural Resources.
Twenty-one Haslem St Primary School students planted 220 young plants in the area now known as the Trotting Track Reserve as the first project of the group.
Mr Hunter said he wasn’t sure how long the group would last after it was formed.
“We had sketchy ideas that we may be able to achieve some revegetation and restoration, but no idea of how we could enhance the natural environment alongside the Parkland golf course and Kyabram drainage basin,” he said.
South Boundary Rd’s Ern Miles Reserve and the Greybox Reserve that is sandwiched between Kyabram’s trotting club stables and Parkland course stand as testament to the work of the group.
The award-winning group was named Campaspe Shire’s Community Group of the Year in 2009 and is a former winner of Shepparton Irrigation Region’s Landcare Group of the Year award.
Arguably the most famous member of the group, and the man with his name attached to the jewel in its crown, is Ern Miles. He was named winner of the Individual Landcarer of the Year award early in the history of the group.
Mr Hunter said the club would love to develop an extensive walking track in the Ern Miles Reserve, but had been held up by flooding and drainage problems.
“We have stalled on our new South Boundary Rd beautification and walking path project, due to the recent town flooding and drainage problems in the vicinity,” he said.
“We are tackling the weed issue and trying to recruit new members to become involved.”
The Kyabram group even has second-generation members, Domenic Gorman and his wife, Michelle. Domenic’s parents, Mark and Suzanna, were active members.
“Our work in the early 2000s has made a big difference to the Kyabram of today,” Mr Hunter said.
“We have planted many thousands of indigenous shrubs and trees — at the Trotting Track Reserve, Grey Box Reserve, Ern Miles Reserve and along the South Boundary Rd walking track.
“More bird species have been added to these habitats as a result of these plantings and that has improved the biodiversity in the town.”
As a teenage cadet journalist working for the Seymour Telegraph in the late 1980s, one of my first stories was the launch of the Seymour Landcare group.
I remember it well because then Conservation, Forests and Lands Minister Joan Kirner (and her small entourage) gave me a lift to the Highlands property where the event was being staged.
Mrs Kirner and Heather Mitchell, from the Victorian Farmers Federation, were instrumental in the formation of the first Landcare groups.
Seymour was among those, and two years later, Mrs Kirner became the 42nd premier of Victoria — the first female to hold the top job in Victoria.
In 1989, the Federal Government announced its ‘Decade of Landcare Plan’ and committed $320 million to fund the National Landcare Programme.
Landcare is about a simple idea — people organising to come together to discuss shared land management issues and design and implement practical solutions to take action to address said issues.
In effect, Landcare is community-based leadership in action.
Just like the founders of Landcare, Kyabram’s group is made up of retired farmers who want to remain connected to the land and give back to the foundations of what had been their income.
Since the first Landcare group was formed at Winjallok (near St Arnaud in central Victoria), hundreds of Landcare groups have followed.
After going national, Landcare has expanded to more than 20 countries.
Landcare has successfully nurtured a more sustainable land management ethos and practice.
Among the wide variety of on-ground activities have been the rejuvenation and repair of habitats, restoration of waterways, improvements to farmland and addressing land management issues such as erosion and pest plants and animals.
Research has confirmed that Landcare-led improvements have been a cost-effective response to environmental issues.
Low, often non-existent co-ordination and administration costs, volunteer labour and significant landholder contributions (both cash and in-kind) have allowed projects to continue without the red tape and box-ticking of grant submissions.
The Kyabram celebration is at Kyabram Community and Learning Centre (enter via the rear of the building) on Lake Rd at 6pm on Tuesday, March 12. For more information about the event, contact Neville Hunter on 0421 556 556 or email nhu32843@bigpond.net.au