New England and North West Landcare Award nominations pile in for 2021's event

The gallery has been nominated for the Partnerships for Landcare award. They have worked in partnership with Tamworth Regional Landcare Association (TRLA) in their delivery of the Box Gum Art Competition.

The public exhibition of artwork provides environmental education and public awareness of the local habitat, which is under threat, and provided a platform for discussion and connection on artistic and environmental issues.

Are up for the Community Group Award. Their initial interests included carbon trading, climate change, feral animal and bird control, provision of chemical management training and protection of the 'Cedar Brush' Nature Reserve.

Previous projects addressed soil erosion, revegetation, environmental weeds, roadside vegetation management, property planning, fencing of riparian zones, a sub catchment plan for Warrah Creek, carbon farming, habitat and water protection.

The Gwydir Ark group was founded in 2015, and are up for the Community Group Award. The aim of the group was to raise awareness of and to assist in the plight of threatened species in the Gwydir Shire area. Gwydir Ark has held many walks.

The walks are open to the public and aim to raise community awareness of the Gwydir Shire's native species and what can be done to help protect and enhance their habitats.

The group, nominated for the Community Group Award, has adopted sound land management practices on public land and is working towards re-vegetating the Peel River Riparian area between the Main and Jewry Street Bridges.

They've fostered and enhanced protection of the major river through Tamworth on behalf of the community.

Valuing the environment and the local rural area, she has been nominated for the Individual Landcarer Award. Committed to giving back to the local community, she joined Landcare in 2008 and has become increasingly involved ever since.

That year she helped set up the Tamworth Urban Landcare Group (TULG) to facilitate riparian repair along the Peel River in Tamworth.

Also up for the individual award, Mark Kesby has almost 25 years of active involvement with Landcare in the Gunnedah and Liverpool Plains areas. Mark has a special interest in native revegetation projects, conservation, biodiversity and native species. He was a founding member of the Peel Namoi Junction Landcare Group and has been an active member of the Gunnedah Urban Landcare Group for 20 years, the last two as chairperson.

Up for the Young Landcare Leadership Award, these two are both studying environmental engineering and are involved in a project to revegetate a 130 acre sheep property on the Gap Road, Uralla. Starting in June 2019, they've already planted 2600 seedlings with another 5000 expected. While studying in Newcastle, they have recently become joint coordinators of Fern Creek Gully Landcare, and volunteer for LLS on Kooragang Island, helping remove of 19 tonnes of marine debris.

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Gordon Williams, for the Individual award, is the owner of 'Eastlake', near Enmore on the New England Tablelands. Over several decades he has undertaken around 1200 hectares of revegetation work and mentored many students over the past two decades. He was Treasurer of the Kentucky TreeFest Committee and with Harnham Landcare in the early 1990s. Gordon was also involved in addressing New England Dieback in the very early days. He was also on the committee for the Focus on Farm Trees conference in Armidale in the mid-80s.

In for the Indigenous Land Management Award, this group is located in the Walcha region, and has been working with Northern Tablelands LLS for seven years. They are part of the Aboriginal Reference Advisory Grou. They've undertaken an on-ground project on their 20 hectare property 'Summervale' on the Aspley River about 10km out of Walcha. The project focused on restoring, protecting and enhancing Regent Honeyeater habitat, and stock exclusion, and weed and feral animal control.

Established in 1984, their core business is to work for the benefit of Aboriginal people. Their Trelawney Station was officially divested to them in 2019. The Somerton property is a 766 hectare mixed farming property, and their primary goal is the protection of cultural heritage. They've been nominated for the Indigenous Land Management Award.

This group was established in December 2018 in North Star, following suggestions that a network for like-minded producers, engaged in regenerative farming practices or those who were interested in those practices. The group meets every couple of months for a 'Cuppa Chat', and have been nominated for the Farming Award.

Dave Woods, up for the Farming Award, is a committee member of the Waggamba Landcare group, now Macintyre Ag Alliance, currently supporting the new President, having retired in September from his two year tenure as President. As President, Dave has led a remarkable re-branding and rejuvenation of the Landcare Group. When he joined the committee in 2018, the group was struggling financially, and was considering closing down.

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