LOCAL Landcare facilitators and groups are backing a campaign by Landcare Victoria Inc calling on the Victorian government to invest $48 million into the Victorian Landcare Facilitator Program (VLFP) over the next four years.
Landcare Victoria Inc chair Jane Carney said that without longer-term and greater funding, the future of the VLFP is at risk.
“Critical to the success of Landcare are our 80 local facilitators and 10 regional coordinators who harness the power of tens of thousands of volunteers across more than 600 Victorian Landcare groups,” she said.
“The funding the Victorian government provides right now gets extended bit by bit, year by year and is not enough.
“That’s why we’re calling for an investment of $48 million over four years, towards facilitator and coordinator roles.
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“This funding increase would enable facilitators and coordinators to be offered longer contracts at a fairer wage and provide support for an additional 20 facilitator roles, to share the growing workload.”
Penny Raleigh is one of three facilitators at the Ovens Landcare Network, who support more than 20 local Landcare and sustainability groups in the Ovens River, King River, and Black Dog Creek catchments.
She believes the extra funding would help take the burden off volunteers who have recently been tasked with doing more administration work, as it would allow facilitators to work more hours.
“The facilitators are there to make sure groups get stuff done and that it’s done all above board,” she said.
“When we’ve only got part-time work to cover all kinds of groups doing all kinds of different things, more funding to cover more hours would be fantastic.”
According to Ms Raleigh, if there were more investments made into the VLFP, facilitators would also be able to use more time to gain extra funding for local Landcare projects.
“It would give us more time to apply for different grants or approach different businesses for different sponsorships support and things like that,” she said.
“More time for the facilitators would see more money come into the Landcare space in our area.”
Events the Ovens Landcare Network plans to host include Landcare Sunday sessions monthly, with the first one being on varroa mites, bees and pollinators in December.
Current funding is also supporting local environmental projects in the Stanley and Chiltern area, supporting Greta Valley Landcare in its farm revegetation projects and King Basin Landcare working with Whitfield Primary School in planting along Jessie’s Creek and other educational activities with the students.
Ms Raleigh said the long term impacts of the funding would be easing the burden on volunteers and spreading more awareness of the environment throughout the community.
“The funding would allow for more environmental improvements, get more people out into nature and make people more aware of their local flora and fauna and what they can do to be more sustainable at home,” she said.
INVESTMENT WOULD REAP BENEFITS
LANDCARE Victoria says the work of facilitators has massive environmental, social and economic benefits.
It says facilitators return more than $7 for every dollar invested in on-ground works.
A 2024 review of the VLFP found that while Landcare groups and networks are functioning efficiently and effectively, the lack of funding and uncertainty about the future of the VLFP is hurting the program’s ability to deliver outcomes for Victoria.
Landcare Victoria says a four-year commitment of $48 million is expected to generate a $336 million return on public investment, increase participation in caring for the environment and allow for more on-ground activities to be delivered by Landcare volunteers.
It says it is critical to Victoria’s response to biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change, through local environmental restoration work and promoting sustainable agricultural production.
