Winners of the 2021 SA Landcare Awards were announced on the 31st of March 2022.
Winning Landcare projects were announced at the South Australian Landcare Awards Ceremony on the 31st of March at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre in Adelaide, where community Landcarers from across the state came together to celebrate their impressive achievements. The awards celebrate the incredible efforts of individuals and groups, young and old, to protect South Australian natural resources, stewarding a more resilient landscape for the future. The award winners and their projects are diverse, from farming and Indigenous land management, to educational and mapping tools.
The Landcare Association of South Australia Executive Officer, Dr. Eleanor Pratt, thanked the award sponsors and paid tribute to the award finalists and winners as champions of the Landcare community. “Last night’s event was a great celebration of the breadth of Landcare volunteering in South Australia. The awards recognise individuals, groups and partnerships, importantly including First Nations custodians Caring for Country,” Eleanor said. “It was exciting to see the high calibre of projects being delivered in South Australia. Our community is working so hard to care for our environment and promote more sustainable land management strategies, and it is wonderful to be able to recognise and celebrate their achievements. On behalf of the South Australian Landcare community, I congratulate all the finalists and winners in the award categories.“
“We would like to thank Landcare Australia and all of the National Landcare Award sponsors including the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, Australian Community Media, KPMG, Steadfast and Woolworths, also the Green Adelaide Board, without whom we could not run this important event.”
Landcare Australia CEO, Dr. Shane Norrish, commended recipients of the South Australian Landcare Awards on their outstanding accomplishments. “‘It’s an honour to be able to recognise the great work being carried out by our Landcare champions in South Australia,” Dr Norrish said. “The Landcare Awards program provides Landcarers the ideal opportunity to get together and celebrate individual and collective Landcare achievements“. He added: “Landcarers across Australia deserve to be acknowledged and we’re looking forward to seeing the winners from South Australia represent their community at the National Landcare Awards this year”.
In addition, this year was the first time that the Green Adelaide Urban Landcare Award was presented, recognising the outstanding efforts of the city’s Landcarers. Dr. Pratt thanked the Green Adelaide Board for sponsoring the award and congratulated all of the finalists and the Friends of Sturt River Landcare Group.
‘The Green Adelaide Board have been a tremendous support to Landcare in South Australia, and it is wonderful to be able to partner with them in recognising urban Landcare groups working to make Adelaide the beautiful city that it is,’ Dr. Pratt said. ‘It was exciting to see the high calibre of nominations that came in for the Green Adelaide Urban Landcare Award. I’d like to congratulate the Friends of Sturt River Landcare Group for winning the 2021 award and thank them for the hard but important work that they are doing.’
Green Adelaide Board Presiding Member Professor Chris Daniels congratulated all the nominee groups on their dedication to looking after South Australia’s environment and for taking action. “Friends of Sturt River Landcare group nomination shined, thanks to the group’s outstanding on-ground action to protect and improve Adelaide’s inner 27-kilometre suburban river system,” Professor Daniels said.
“Congratulations to Friends of Sturt River Landcare group for winning the inaugural Green Adelaide Urban Landcare Award that helps recognise their amazing accomplishments over the last 8 years to cool, green and rewild metropolitan Adelaide.”
Our 2021 SA Landcare Award winners are:
KPMG Indigenous Land Management Award
Mark Koolmatrie
Mark is an enthusiastic Ngarrindjeri story-teller and learner who is engaging Aboriginal people and landholders in a process of re-learning about Aboriginal values and land management practices in the management of aquatic ecosystems in the Ngarrindjeri nation, especially Fleurieu Peninsula Swamps. In this work, Mark is both supporting Landcare and also bringing people together and contributing the healing process that so many people seek.
Australian Government Partnerships for Landcare Award
Barossa Bushgardens
The Barossa Bushgardens aims to produce local provenance seed (ie. seed bank) for use in revegetation projects and to provide a sanctuary for locally threatened species.
Running since 2001, Barossa Bushgardens continues to demonstrate the successful partnerships between The Barossa Council, First Nations (Ngadjuri, Peramangk, Kaurna), local businesses, community organisations, NGO’s, schools, tertiary institutions, Landcare groups and State Government agencies. This collaboration across many diverse sectors, facilitates and influences many people within our Barossa community and the wider region.
Australian Government Landcare Farming Award
Agriculture Kangaroo Island
Formed in 1996, Agriculture Kangaroo Island (AgKI) is the premier body for agriculture on the Island, representing the majority of the farming community and encompassing wool and red meat producers through to croppers. The vision of AgKI is for a sustainable and profitable agriculture sector, and supports member’s success by promoting best practice through education, research and demonstration. One of the four pillars of AgKI is Practice Improvement, with the group focused on creating and delivering programs which improve soil health, target invasive plants and animals, and improve land management practices.
Woolworths Junior Landcare Team Award
Guardian Childcare and Education St. Clair
The children at Guardian Childcare and Education St. Clair are heavily involved in the Bringing Back the Butterflies program and have developed a Native Butterfly Garden to provide a safe haven for butterflies to return to an urban area. The children have now cared for hundreds of monarch caterpillars and released the butterflies into their garden. This has brought excitement, pollination, and enjoyment for children, families and our local community. The garden was designed and maintained by 200 children and has become an environment for children to learn about visiting butterflies, plants and what butterflies need to survive.
Steadfast Young Landcare Leadership Award
Sharif Noorzai
Sharif Noorzai is a 16-year-old student from Salisbury East High School and is a member of the SA Youth Environment Council (YEC), as well as a mentor and support for other students in his school’s student leadership group, and the SA Youth Parliament.
In 2018, Sharif began a garden project at his school to reinvigorating a patch of garden overrun by weeds. The garden project has been running ever since and continues to grow today. Sharif has since formed a sustainability group with other students, to help maintain and promote the garden and has led the expansion of the area to include more herbs, vegetables and fruit trees.
Australian Community Media (ACM) Landcare Community Group Award
Kanmantoo Callington Landcare Inc.
Kanmantoo Callington Landcare Inc (KCLG) was founded in 1994 and has led, lobbied and delivered many projects, consulting and collaborating with state and local government, community groups and local people. Led over the years by Paul Johnston, Rose Ashton and founding member, Dee Loch, the group holds regular working bees and annual community planting days to improve local biodiversity and resilience. KCLG have also developed a master plan that shows local revegetation areas to demonstrate how community member’s efforts are part of the greater picture of environmental restoration.
Australian Government Individual Landcarer Award
Liz Milner
Liz is a dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate volunteer who produces outstanding biodiversity and community engagement outcomes through Landcare activities in her local Mount Lofty Ranges. Liz has always had a passion for the outdoors and upon retiring in 2009 she followed a passion for learning more about the native flora and fauna in her local conservation parks. This has led to her now to be one of the most highly regarded volunteers in the region producing remarkable bushcare work that spans over 1,464 ha of high quality native bushland and all while engaging, encouraging and inspiring the community.
Coastcare Award
Victor Harbor Coastcare
Victor Harbor Coastcare was formed in 1999 and has since been actively working along Victor Harbor’s coastline, from the Bluff Reserve to Hayborough dunes. They have worked tirelessly to control target weeds and improve biodiversity, improving boardwalks and fencing, holding annual Clean Up Australia Day working bees, developing directional and interpretive signage, monthly monitoring of sand movement and raising awareness about coastal issues in the community.
Green Adelaide Urban Landcare Award
Friends of Sturt River Landcare Inc.
Friends of Sturt River Landcare Inc (FoSRL) have a vision to create a biodiversity corridor from the hills to the sea along the Sturt River, one of the most highly urbanised and cleared environments of the Adelaide Plains in South Australia. Over the past eight years, more than 500 volunteers have established approx. 80,000 plants to support what remains of the original woodland. This exists within a mosaic of highly modified urban sites, but is home to a surprising amount of wildlife, who have begun to repopulate the largest revegetation site, a bio-corridor at Oaklands Wetland and Reserve.