Landcare Australia - The Decade of Landcare 1990-2000

The Decade of Landcare 1990-2000

The Decade of Landcare initiative was launched in the 1989 Statement on the Environment by Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The initiative began as a joint National Farmers' Federation - Australian Conservation Foundation proposal to the Commonwealth Government for action on land degradation. This approach emphasised the importance of self-help, relying heavily on local community groups, within a framework that recognised the responsibilities of the Commonwealth, state and local governments.

The Statement on the Environment identified only very general landcare objectives. The Soil Conservation Advisory Committee then recommended to the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy that landcare should have a strategic framework. This proposal gained strong support and the Australian Soil Conservation Council agreed to prepare the plan for a Decade of Landcare.

The result was the national Decade of Landcare Plan. This comprises: a National Overview (agreed by the Commonwealth Government, the state and territory governments and leading non-government organisations) and individual state, territory and Commonwealth component plans.

The Decade of Landcare initiative has been in place since 1989. The national Decade of Landcare Plan was negotiated during 1991 and finalised in 1992.

The Commonwealth Government, state and territory governments and the landcare community have allocated considerable resources to the Decade of Landcare Plan. It is important to assess the impact of that expenditure. At a meeting in August 1992, the Australian Soil Conservation Council agreed to national reviews of the Plan in 1994, 1997 and 2000 to publicly assess progress in dealing with land degradation.