Connecting landscapes, connecting communities
connecting with nature and community as a shared experience
Community Participation - LEP_23-019_LLC01
The issue
Climate change and the reduction of natural environments is increasingly a concern. Loss of biodiversity is occurring globally due to human consumption and population needing more food production, infrastructure, mining and housing. It is a problem that feels insurmountable. People need to eat and live, but so do native animals. Small-scale projects like Woolshed Thurgoona Landcare’s ‘Connected Landscapes’, give people a chance to contribute in a way that makes a genuine difference.
The Thurgoona/Wirlinga precinct is the growth corridor of Albury in southern NSW. The native vegetation, Endangered Ecological Community Box Gum Woodland meets Riverine Plains, supports 118 native birds, six listed as threatened, and the Vulnerable Squirrel glider and Endangered Sloane’s froglet. Old trees full of hollows are being knocked down for roads and housing estates. Their homes for our homes.
The solution
Landcare groups revolve around people, building strong connections to each other, our neighbours, our community and to nature by learning from each other and working together. Volunteer participation in Landcare activities is a great way to connect with nature, which has been shown to evoke positive emotions as well as strengthen individual resilience and sense of belonging.
Our volunteer landcare group has been focusing on 'Connecting Landscapes' since 2017. Each year we seek funding to do on-ground work to restore canopy cover and habitat back into the landscape. The project may be classified as 'small scale' but by doing it each year, the cumulative effect will result in a 'large-scale' impact.
The impact
Connecting Landscapes not only returns native vegetation across the landscape, reducing habitat loss and fragmentation, it improves its ecological value for native wildlife and facilitates community connections and pride in our home city. Undertaking the project prior to urban and industrial development, provides an opportunity for plantings to become established, building up the resilience of the landscape prior to the pending human encroachment. All our events revolve around connecting with nature and community as a shared experience, which builds social cohesion and reduces isolation and enhances our local natural environment.
Funding partners over the years have included Jacob Toyota, AlburyCity, OzFish Ltd, Petaurus Education Group Inc, Australian Government and Local Land Services and many private landowners.
Woolshed Thurgoona Landcare are supported by the Albury Local Landcare Co-ordinator hosted through West Hume Landcare Inc.
Key facts
- Since 2017, Woolshed Thurgoona Landcare have delivered:
- 8 km of stock-exclusion fencing
- 32 ha revegetated wildlife corridor linkages (12,000+ plants) stretching across Table Top, Thurgoona, Wirlinga and Lake Hume.
- Excluded stock from 13 ha of wetland.