Engaging in nature and Landcare activities helps young people learn, develop skills, share experiences, and build connections with nature and their communities. Youth Landcare supports continuous participation in local environments from childhood to adulthood, turning today’s children into the Landcarers of the future. Landcare ACT and its members are committed to giving young people of all ages, from littlies and school-aged youth to young adults, the opportunity to learn about, understand, and improve our urban, park, and rural landscapes.
While we don’t normally think of the ACT as an Agriculture hub, there are over 150 families that are farming and caring for land within the ACT – from Cattle to chickens to flowers.
Landcare ACT is working with our members the Rural Landholders Association of Farmers (ACT Farmers) to facilitate the Young Farmers Network. This is a group of – you guessed it – young farmers who come together to collaborate and learn off each other over casual events. Learning and connecting together.
This project is supported by the ACT Government and Landcare ACT through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund – Farm Business Resilience Program.
Many Landcare Groups engage with schools and young people and some have a specific focus on families. For example, the award-winning North Belconnen Junior Landcare Group welcomes people of all ages from babes in arms to seniors and regularly has scout and school groups participate in looking after country.
Landcare ACT is developing a structured Landcare for schools program. Watch this space. More information will be available in early 2022. Currently, the community Landcare movement includes two structured citizen science-based schools education programs.
ACT and Region FrogWatch Program runs a Frogwatch Education – Tadpole kits program, enabling students to learn more about frogs, care for tadpoles, and watch them turn into frogs.
Waterwatch Coordinators, within each of the three Catchment Groups, are available to provide field-based education sessions with schools and youth groups as part of the Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch Program. These Waterwatch Coordinators provide hands-on, locally-based waterway education, from fishing for water bugs with the junior kids to water quality and habitat assessment with older students, helping to make linkages between our behaviours and river health.
Landcare ACT is keen to build on and expand the “Landcare for our Future” program run for young people to support young people aged 18-25 being involved in Landcare activities, such as planting, pest control, erosion control, track maintenance, litter removal and ecosystem monitoring.
Pending funding, initially coordinated by Southern ACT Catchment Group, will work to re-energise Landcare in Canberra and make sure that this generation has the knowledge and connection to our local parks and reserves to continue Landcare into the future; after all, it’s our future.
Landcare ACT Members
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