Community participation in Landcare policy in Australia: The Victorian experience with regional Landcare plans

Abstract

An estimated 30% of the Australian farming community is currently participating in the on‐ground work of more than 1,900 landcare groups. The landcare program is grounded in the community participation approach to rural development and has renewed optimism about reversing land and water degradation in rural Australia. Until recently, landcare groups had not participated in any real sense in landcare policy development, and it is in this context that we discuss recent experience in the state of Victoria where more than 130 community representatives contributed to the development of nine regional landcare plans. These plans will form the basis of Victoria's response to the commonwealth landcare initiative. Indeed, much of the forthcoming legislation for integrated catchment management in Victoria is based on the regional landcare action plan (RLAP) experience. Analysis of participant observation and survey responses revealed a generally positive view of agency/community relationships, that landcare groups w...