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.

he 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.

Past recipients in Western Australia include:

• (2003) Mount Barker community leaders and Banksia aficionados Kevin and Kathy Collins have transformed five hectares of low-productivity farmland on their property into a Banksia woodland ecosystem. They also established a Banksia information centre and art gallery, an arboretum containing all species in the Banksia genus and a plant propagating nursery and seed orchard for Banksia and other native species. They are using their Fellowship to produce a booklet depicting the transformation of their property and how they went about achieving success with the aim of convincing other landholders of the benefits of revegetation.
• (2002) Jerramungup Landcare Officer and farming partner Carolyn Daniel was awarded her Community Fellowship in order to share her 12 years of experience and insight as a Community Landcare Coordinator in the state's southwest. The Fellowship provided financial support for Carolyn to run a series of workshops and seminars, and to mentor and support some groups.
• (2001) Corrigin farmer Lawry Pitman has served his community for many years at national, state and local levels on community, industry and government committees covering topics as diverse as land management, farm safety and commodity groups. Now he's using all his experience and knowledge, and his own property, to showcase sustainability. Land & Water Australia sponsored Lawry to produce a CD-ROM describing the annual cycle, and costs and benefits of sustainable farm practice on a working property.

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.aumailto:Land&WaterAustralia@lwa.gov.au">Land&WaterAustralia@lwa.gov.au> or contact Samantha Burt on 02 6263 6026.

ENDS

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