Landcare grows rapidly in South Australia in late 1980s, guided by Cicely Bungey and state agriculture department
South Australian government agriculture minister Lynn Arnold launched Operation Landcare in the state at Cobblers Creek in 1989. The minister (centre) is pictured at right with Cecily Bungey, called the mother of South Australian Landcare, and Soil Conservation Council soil conservator Roger Wickes.
Images courtesy History of Agriculture in South Australia
The Landcare movement, with origins in Western Australia and Victoria, spread repaidly in the 1980s to South Australia where Australia’s first Landcare management committee was appointed.
Landcare was started by farmers groups and individual families, concerned passionately about their environments, who began tackling soil, wind and water erosion and salinity by organising tree planting and information field days. In 1988, the South Australian government agriculture department, appreciating these grassroot initiatives, started Operation Landcare guided by Cicely Bungey – the mother of Landcare – and Landcare officers.
Many local Landcare groups started with active help from Bruce Munday and the agriculture department. Annual conferences, regularly attracting up to 250 delegates helped consolidate the movement. South Australia’s nation-leading Landcare management committee had its first meeting in August 1859 with Barbara Hardy, well known evangelist for environmental care, as chairperson. South Australia's governor Roma Mitchell showed great interest and agreed to be patron.
In 1994, the committee was renamed at the South Australia Landcare Committee “to encourage community wide networks to increase awareness, understanding and involvement in Landcare”.
At the national level, the Australian soil conservation council, with representatives from each state and territory, declared the 1990s as the decade of Landcare. To encourage the movement, the federal government offered support by setting up Landcare Australia and pledging $1.5 million to operate it. South Australia’s Landcare committee readily embraced the federal initiative and, in 1991, issued plans based on 69 submissions from individuals, organised groups and government authorities. At the community level, only eight Landcare groups directly participated in the federal scheme. Government agencies, familiar with the necessary paperwork, dominated the process. The federal Decade of Landcare plans failed many small groups who wanted to start their own land degradation projects.
Fortunately, South Australian Landcare group activity was able to move on without relying on the federal scheme because of the strong partnership between the community and state government forged by Landcare officers and the support of funding. Soon after the start of formal management of Landcare in South Australia, there were 32 active groups with budgets totalling $400,000. They were supported by Landcare officers and soil conservation staff in the regions.
Within five years, 243 Landcare groups had been formed in South Australia with 7,000 members. An additional 70 groups had voluntarily formed to care for national parks. Landcare groups were busily organising field days, farm walks and programs with school children to publicise land and water management by tree planting, revegetation projects, soil care and gully erosion measures. According to a survey, these activities attracted about 9,000 observers annually over and above the membership.
At the height of the movement’s activity in the decade, more than 2,000 Landcare groups were operating across Australia involving nearly 30% of farming communities. The primary industries and energy department in Canberra claimed the Landcare movement “is undoubtedly the most exciting and significant development in land conservation in Australia’”.
Although Landcare activities were far outshining the work of South Australia’s district soil conservation boards, the boards were happy to offer help and encourage the enthusiastic groups in their districts and, with a practised eye, to monitor progress. Regular workshops with the boards and their reports aided the soil conservation council to set funding priorities.
Many Landcare groups and individual land carers became state and national winners of Landcare awards.