25-06-2004

Land & Water Australia has once again embarked on its annual search for heroes of the landscape, people who are working long and hard to protect and improve our natural resources.

According to Chair of Land & Water Australia Bobbie Brazil, the Community Fellowship Program is designed to help these inspirational people share their stories, to celebrate their achievements and to help build their support networks.

The Program, now in its fourth year, provides grants of up to $15,000 to help people who have an outstanding track record in managing land, water and vegetation, or in mobilising the community, to tell their stories to inspire other people. Past Fellows have produced websites, written books, created CD-ROMs, spoken at conferences, workshops and seminars, and even written and performed songs.

'This is a non-academic award which recognises that regular people, farmers, landcare workers and community volunteers, achieve extraordinary things through patience, practice and hard work,' Mrs Brazil said.

'Driven by the strength of their convictions and sometimes at odds with the wisdom of the day, to date often their only reward has been the satisfaction of a job well done.

'Undoubtedly, time will reveal just what a debt we owe to these fantastic people who show us that individuals can make a difference.'

In previous years the Community Fellowships Program has uncovered some incredible visionaries such as John Ive and family, whose work on their New South Wales Southern Tablelands grazing property was recently recognised with honours in two categories at the United Nations World Environment Day Awards. The Ive family is also in the running for a national Landcare Award later this year, and they have recently been nominated for the Weekly Times newspaper Farmer of the Year Award.

To date the only Tasmanian recipients of a Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship are Henrietta district farmers Lance and Addie Jones.

For nearly forty years, the Jones' have farmed in the state's north-west, experimenting with different crops, grazing systems and machinery along the way.

Over the decades, Lance came to think about a new way of farming.

'I decided to reduce the inputs and noticed that the cattle got better . Slowly I began to get interested in organics, and with the newly formed Organic Farming and Gardening Society in the 1970's I was able to talk with like minded people'.

The Community Fellowship provided support for the Jones' to write about their experiences and their life at Henrietta, and importantly, the lessons they've learnt over the decades.

Land & Water Australia's Community Fellowships were established in 2001 with support from a private philanthropist and are valued at between $2,000 and $15,000. They aim to provide inspirational people with the opportunity to share their practical natural resource management skills. The Fellowships are non-academic awards to enable winners to share an experience through writing, travel, presentations and other forms of communication.

Applications for the 2004 Community Fellowships close on July 9 2004.

For more information visit www.lwa.gov.au , send an email to Land&WaterAustralia@lwa.gov.au or contact Samantha Burt on 02 6263 6026.

ENDS

Media enquiries: Media Officer, Land & Water Australia, 02 6263 6000