Buckwaroon School Day

Kids in Cobar learn about Landcare from the Buckwaroon group

Buckwaroon School Day

Kids in Cobar learn about Landcare from the Buckwaroon group

Local Links - Stronger Communities -

LLCI023-008

The issue

Cobar is a remote town in Western NSW 700km from Sydney with a population falling just below 4000. The town is based mainly around the mining industry, although it also has a strong agriculture industry present. The Buckwaroon Landcare group identified that youth within the community were becoming more and more disconnected with agriculture and the Landcare ethos. In addition, the agricultural industry has a declining workforce and this has been noticed particularly in the Cobar region. 

The solution

The Buckwaroon Landcare group believes that education can help create a shared understanding of the agricultural industry and help attract more youth to pursue a career in the sector. Therefore, the Buckwaroon Landcare group decided to run an educational school engagement program for year six students in the town. They partnered with a range of supporting networks in Agriculture, including; Western Landcare, Western Local Land Services, Green Collar and the Office of Environment and Heritage. These activities were designed and delivered by each area experts who are very passionate about their area of expertise and their chosen career. 

The impact

Year 6 students from Cobar Public School and St Johns Primary School got to enjoy a two-day program learning about Landcare and natural resource management from the Buckwaroon Landcare group, Western Local Land Services, Western Landcare, OEH and GreenCollar. The first day of the program involved the kids learning about invasive native scrub, native grasses, malleefowl, monitoring and pest management, resource management, property planning and erosion control. On the second day the kids travelled by bus to "Nullogoola Station", owned by Dave and Rik Allen who are also members of the Buckwaroon Landcare group, and got a more hands on perspective of some of the topics they'd covered on day one. By the end of the program, the students had a much clearer understanding of Landcare in their region and organisers hoped they were inspired to think about careers on the land, in agriculture or natural resource management. 

Key facts

  • Education plays a role in attracting local youth to careers on the land, in agriculture or natural resource management.
  • Using industry experts helps to display the range of careers in the sector.
  • The future belongs to the next generation and it is our role to share our knowledge of land and resource management with them.

Project Partners