Archive for August 2019

Celebrating Community Action – Landcare Week

Celebrating Community Action – Landcare Week
Sept 1-8 2019

This week we are celebrating Landcare as one of our best national oganisations of the last 30
years, when farmers and conservationists came together to help protect the landscape for
future generations.

Now with over 6,000 groups and hundreds of thousands of volunteers across rural and urban
Australia, they play an important role in enhancing sustainable farming and conservation
activities, all within building local community.

There are many ways you can become involved as a local community or as a landholder.
What improves farming outcomes, values of assets and healthier lifestyles, also protects our
environment.

Plant native trees, shrubs and grasses to create habitat for native animals to improve
biodiversity and excellent windbreaks. Restoring native habitat also assists threatened species
like the koala, platypus and native birds, from the impact of urban development and climate
change. Care for the soils helps prevent salinity and erosion as well as increases biodiversity.
Your local community can be involved in planting days, weed and rubbish removal, installing
bird nesting boxes.

Manage invasive pests like feral pigs, foxes, deer and other animals that destroy the
landscape and kill native animals

Use energy and water-usage efficiencies, such as farming effluent recycling, sediment control
and solar panel installation.

Innovative farmers are now consulting with traditional owners about local land management
and decision making- see Bruce Pascoe’s work on aboriginal agriculture that has increased
Australia’s awareness of the original landcarers work managing our resources.

See more activities here and how to find your local group
https://landcareaustralia.org.au/landcareweek2019/

Homelessness Week and 2019

Homelessness Week is an annual week coordinated by Homelessness Australia to raise awareness of people experiencing homelessness, the issues they face and the action needed to achieve enduring solutions.

This year we are advocating that the Federal Government commence an annual plan to create 20,000 public and community housing homes from existing and new property.  This will be an innovative and enterprising program generating an instant and longlasting fantastic multiplier effect throughout the economy.  It will also addressing the shameful homelessness we have in Australia.  One in every 200 of us Australians experiences homelessness every night. Do the maths.

There are some initiatives that hopefully will inspire others throughout Australia.

In early 2019, six tenants with a chronic experience of homelessness moved into the first six homes of the life-changing Harris Transportable Housing Project in Melbourne’s inner west.

The project is a partnership between Launch Housing and philanthropists Geoff and Brad Harris, using nine parcels of vacant government land in to create 57 tiny homes for people with a chronic experience of homelessness.

At a time when 116,000 people experience homelessness on any given night (up 14% from 2011 to 2016), this project demonstrates how unused government land can be repurposed to create safe, stable homes for people who urgently need them.

See more about the project here