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International Landcare
Landcare is a community movement that originated in Australia in the mid 1980’s and which aims to improve natural resource management practices. It raises awareness of natural resource management issues - land, water and associated vegetation - and provides mechanisms to address them. Lasting improvements to the natural resource base and sustainable agriculture are achieved through community-based and on-the-ground activities, in partnership with governments and industry.
Many countries - including developing countries – are looking to the Australian landcare experience when considering developing their own community landcare programs. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry encourages international interest because the landcare ethos can make a real and lasting contribution to achieving sustainable development.
International landcare promotes the sharing of experiences and exchanges of information by landcare practitioners on best practice management of land and water resources. Through this approach farmers and other landcare practitioners are able to “learn through doing” and gain an understanding of natural resource processes, including the causes of resource degradation, the changes in management and practices required and how landcare is being successfully applied in countries with differing environments and institutional structures.
The landcare movement spread to New Zealand in the early 1990's, to the Philippines in the mid-1990's, to South Africa in late 1990's, and to United States of America, and the east African countries in 2003. Landcare programs are now formally established in six countries: Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of South Africa, Uganda and the United States of America. There are over 500 landcare groups in the Philippines alone, under a project funded by AusAID through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. The application of landcare in these countries, while different in some respects from that in Australia, adheres to the same philosophy: voluntary, community-based and participatory governance in natural resource management and development.
In 2004, in conjunction with the South African National Landcare Conference, a workshop was organised by delegates representing various national landcare programs. The delegates formed “Landcare International”, an association of interested people to champion the landcare movement and to accelerate the development of landcare approaches in countries currently developing landcare programs, and to assist new countries to build landcare programs.
Landcare International, with support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) is drawing on and documenting activities underway and promoting landcare through, for example, international forums, aid projects and training courses.
A Landcare International interim steering committee is working towards providing an international framework to facilitate the adoption of the landcare model. The interim steering committee consists of sixteen landcare advocates from ten countries.
International Sustainable Agriculture Websites
Australia Centre for International Agricutlural Research (ACIAR)
International Landcare Conference 2006