In western Victoria, between 1984 and1988, a substantial project was set up by the Ian Potter Foundation together with fifteen farmers from three districts within 40 kilometres of Hamilton.
The Potter Farmland Plan (PFP) had two staff, Andrew Campbell and John Marriott, and a Board of eminent Victorians. The challenge was to establish ‘whole farm planning’ demonstration sites on each property. During the project, many hundreds of farmers visited these selected properties to learn about the whole farm planning approach.
In 1987, with support from Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, a project called Hamilton Region 2000 (HR2000) was formed to compliment the PFP as a model for rural development. Victoria Mack was appointed the first HR2000 facilitator.
Sue Marriott AM
At the end of the PFP in 1988 many people from around Australia expressed ongoing interest in visiting the Hamilton region. In 1989 the Hamilton Environmental and Learning (HEAL) project was set up as part of HR2000 with support from Greening Australia. Sue Mariott was HEAL’s coordinator.
It was during this time that Landcare became a formal project of the Victorian Government.
Over the next six years, HEAL organised itineraries and visits for thousands of farmers, and others from many walks of life. These tours included the PFP farms but also other initiatives in Western Victoria such as the Alcoa smelter at Portland, known as the “Smelter in the Park”, the fish and eel traps and stone huts at the Condah Aboriginal Mission, the Arboretum at Coleraine and the Pastoral and Veterinary Institute. HEAL formed a good basis for environmental tourism.
In 1989 HEAL was successful in a submission to Rural Industries Research Development Corporation (RIRDC) to determine what the farmers did after their Hamilton region visit. This survey was conducted by John Cary, University of Melbourne, in 1994. He found that 62% of farmers returned home and “did something practical” on their own farm or community. In 1995 Sue Marriott was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to look at projects in South Africa, Poland, and the United Kingdom that had “turned awareness into action”.
It was in South Africa that Sue met Elaine Spencer-White. Elaine had heard of Australian Landcare while at a conference in Zambia. Sue’s visit reinforced the benefits of working collaboratively and building networks.
Elaine was very positive about the opportunity for Landcare in South Africa. Sue and Elaine worked together for nearly two years, resulting in a three week visit to Australia by 13 delegates from South Africa and two from the USA. The visit was to learn more about Australian Landcare in practice. The itinerary connected the delegates with Landcare ideas across the Australian community from grass-roots Landcare groups, philanthropy, media, business, and especially high levels of government.
The tour resulted in South Africa commencing their Landcare initiative in 1999, funded by the South African Government, which continues to this day. From this meeting the idea of international Landcare was born.
In 1998, Sue and colleagues set out to progress Landcare internationally, forming the Secretariat for International Landcare (SILC) based in Hamilton. SILC was active in the promotion of international Landcare for nearly 20 years.
In 2004, stimulated by his visit to western Victoria in 2001, Dennis Garrity established Landcare International based in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 2008 a separate not for profit organisation, Australian Landcare International (ALI), was also formed by Rob Youl and Horrie Poussard.
In 2018 SILC merged with ALI and Landcare International to form Global Landcare.
Sue was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012 for service to Landcare and the environment.
Sue has been a passionate Landcare advocate and practitioner for over 40 years.
Victoria Mack
In 1987, Victoria was appointed as the first Community Facilitator of Hamilton Region 2000 (HR2000). It was a people centred program promoting innovation and how to make ideas and projects happen in rural communities.
The philosophy was that the social and economic fabric of rural towns and communities were linked to the farmers and the agricultural production that surrounded them. The task was to explore opportunities based on this interdependency to add value to: rural production; rural environments; and local skills, knowledge, and interests.
One project was Hamilton Environmental Awareness and Learning (HEAL). It was HEAL that was active during the early years of Landcare and helped many thousands of people and groups to work together to form their own Landcare projects.
The most enduring project that resulted from HR2000 was the Rural Industries Skills Training Centre (RIST), which today is a multimillion-dollar agricultural training centre based at the Pastoral Research Station in Hamilton.
Victoria was the Executive Director of RIST between 1993-1997. In 1994 Sue also joined RIST as coordinator of its Land Management Unit.
In 1998 Sue and Victoria established the Secretariat for International Landcare (SILC) Inc. with colleagues and a small Board. Victoria and Sue actively worked to promote Landcare internationally from 1998 until 2018.
In 2000 and 2006 SILC was instrumental in bringing over 100 international delegates to Melbourne to attend the first and second International Landcare Conferences.
Victoria travelled to many countries with SILC including Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, to raise awareness of the power of community action for land protection. The projects that have resulted have had a lasting impact on the people involved.
Victoria has been a passionate Landcare advocate in Victoria for over 40 years, encouraging the use of native plants for biodiversity protection, shelter, and climate change.
Today, a Town Planner with Local Government, Victoria is well known for her advocacy environmental stewardship and land management across her local government area, to new landowners and Council staff.
Victoria and her husband have a small farm at Gordon where they have planted many thousands of native trees, shrubs, and wetland species to develop a “landcare” farm from a bare paddock. She is a member of her local Landcare Group and Environment Network.
Today International Landcare is active in approximately 25 countries. The seeds sown by Sue and Victoria with many others back in 1998 have been a strong contributor to turning awareness into action.
SILC would not have happened without the support of the many friends and colleagues including businesses, philanthropy, agencies, media, and those who have provided “free beds” both in Australia and overseas.
As the world population grows, Landcare is more important than ever. The challenge is to empower people to take action to repair and restore the places where they live. They may not be able to change the world, but they can change their world.
The 20 Year History of SILC can be found at: www.silc.com.au
Victoria and Sue want to particularly thank SILC’s team over these years including Christine Lever, Mary Johnson, Lyn Milne, Julian Cribb, and Stuart Hill.