Landcare Groups Research Articles

Social capital and soil conservation: evidence from the Philippines*

The formation of social capital is hypothesised to enhance collective efforts for soil conservation. The Landcare Program in the southern Philippines promotes simple conservation practices in upland environments by supporting community landcare groups and municipal landcare associations, thus augmenting social capital. A study was conducted in 2002–2003 to evaluate the Landcare Program, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques. In the present paper, the relationship between social capital formation and adoption of soil conservation in the Municipality of Lantapan is investigated. It is concluded that the Landcare Program as a whole created a valuable stock of bridging social capital, rapidly accelerating the adoption of contour farming measures, but that on-going support is needed to maintain this capital stock.

Politics Within and Without — The Origins and Development of a Rangelands Landcare Group

AbstractThe 1990s saw a resurgence of interest in land‐use reform in the arid and semi‐arid rangelands of Australia. Scientists and conservationists called for a reassessment of land use in areas now used for extensive grazing of cattle and sheep. Landcare groups formed by pastoralists were criticised for deflecting resources away from questions of land‐use reform. While Landcare groups in agricultural regions of Australia have been subject to considerable assessment, analysis of rangelands Landcare has tended to revolve around questions of land use to the neglect of analysis of the operation of the groups themselves. Based on a case study of a pastoral Landcare group in the rangelands, the research reported in this paper found that pastoral Landcare in the rangelands has comparable outcomes to Landcare elsewhere in terms of the creation of opportunities for improved communication and learning among landholders. In addition, this group has developed from an emphasis on single‐issue projects towards multi‐faceted projects focussed on social as well as ecological sustainability. The analysis also found that political considerations were significant in the forma‐tion of the group and remained important for some pastoralists at the time of fieldwork. Finally, rangelands Landcare in this case study has provided a vehicle for reformist pastoralists and their associates to work actively towards influencing their peers to acknowledge land management problems and to reflect on their management practices.

The baby and the bathwater

The baby and the bathwater

Landcare and Livelihoods: The Promotion and Adoption of Conservation Farming Systems in the Philippine Uplands

Slow adoption of conservation farming systems in the Philippine uplands is a major problem. To address this, the landcare approach, based on community landcare groups, is being piloted in several locations. The results of a study to evaluate the impact of the Landcare Program in Barangay Ned in Southern Mindanao are presented. The sustainable rural livelihoods approach was used as a framework for the evaluation. The study focused on two impacts, the adoption of conservation practices and the formation and development of landcare groups, drawing on four data sources—project reports, key informants, a questionnaire survey, and case studies of landcare groups. The Ned Landcare Program has been associated with rapid adoption of conservation farming practices and the rapid formation of landcare groups linked in an association. The main effect of the Program was to enhance human capital through practical, farmer-led training and extension, enabling farmers to incorporate soil conservation and agroforestry technologies in their farming systems, with desirable outcomes for livelihood security and environmental sustainability. The social capital formed, especially through the landcare association, was crucial to these outcomes. Ongoing partnerships with adequately resourced facilitating agencies were required to maintain the Landcare Program in the long term.

Landcare on the Poverty-Protection Interface in an Asian Watershed

Garrity, D. P., V. B. Amoroso, S. Koffa, D. Catacutan, G. Buenavista, P. Fay and W. Dar 2002. Landcare on the Poverty-Protection Interface in an Asian Watershed . Conservation Ecology 6(1):12. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00402-060112

Musings of a Frustrated Scientist

Research that is directed towards conservation in Australia is largely carried out by staff in State or Commonwealth departments, in CSIRO and in universities. The findings are generally put into practice by other branches of the same government departments, by bushcare and landcare groups, by non-government organization (NCO) community groups, and by consultants. The latter often provide contractual services to the practitioners of conservation.

The Twin Landscapes of Waitomo: Tourism Network and Sustainability through the Landcare Group

This paper examines the management and coordination of a tourism destination stakeholder group, the Waitomo Caves Landcare Group. The Waitomo Caves destination context is unique in that its images and attractions occur underground and yet its long-term sustainability depends upon the aboveground land practices that occur within the broader catchment area. The Waitomo Caves Landcare Group was formed to protect and conserve this critical resource upon which the community is economically dependent. This paper illustrates network theory, offering an alternative perspective for understanding interdependent stakeholder groups. It focuses specifically on the informal coordination mechanisms that structure networks. The structure of the network, relational connections, and structural embeddedness are illustrated as key propositions that contribute to this process.

Landcare in Australia: Burned out and browned off

Australia has relied heavily on voluntary approaches to managing critical natural resource issues. Community Landcare groups are an important element of this strategy and have been widely acclaimed as an Australian success story. Landcare group activity has mobilised a large cross-section of the rural community and contributed to improved resource management. These volunteer groups are now an important delivery mechanism for on-the-ground work funded through large government programmes, including the billion dollar Natural Heritage Trust. At the same time, research reported in this paper suggests that government cuts to extension staff supporting Landcare and ongoing management issues are contributing to burn-out of group members and are undermining group effectiveness. Australia may be nearing the limits of voluntary approaches to natural resource management. At the very least, there needs to be more coherent, professional management of Landcare. Australia ha contado fuertemente con enfoques voluntarios para el manejo de temas críticos del recurso natural. Grupos Comunitarios de cuidado de tierras son elementos importantes de esta estrategia y han sido ampliamente aclamados como una historia de exito Australiana. La actividad del grupo de cuidado de tierras ha mobilizado un gran sector de la comunidad rural y ha contribuido a la mejora del manejo de recursos. Estos grupos voluntarios son ahora un importante mecanismo de reparto para trabajo de tierra financiado por grandes programas de gobierno incluyendo el Fondo de Herencia Natural del billon de dólares. Al mismo tiempo, la investigación descrita en este documento sugiere que recortes del gobierno al personal que apoya el cuidado de Tierras y temas de manejo en curso estan contribuyendo al desgaste de los miembros del grupo y socavando la efectividad del grupo. Australia puede estar acercandose a los límites de enfoques voluntarios al manejo de los recursos naturales. Por lo menos, se necesita una manejo mas profesional y coherente del Cuidado de la Tierra.

The role of Landcare group networks in rural Australia: exploring the contribution of social capital

In this paper, the authors report their qualitative research examining the origins, modus operandi and outcomes of two networks. The concept of social capital explains, at least in part, the apparent success of these networks. The two networks attracted substantial funding, created opportunities for participation and shared learning, carried out extensive on-ground works, improved communication structures, adopted more professional management practices and increased the knowledge of members. The key elements of social capital that were important in achieving these outcomes were trust, norms, expectations of reciprocity and linkages. Empowerment acted as a bridge that linked social capital with other factors contributing to network outcomes. The success of these Landcare networks suggests that top-down government stimulus can be a catalyst for bottom-up community development.

Renegotiating Gender and the Symbolic Transformation of Australian Rural Environments

A notable feature of contemporary approaches to ameliorating rural environmental degradation (such as Australia’s National Landcare Program) is the involvement of women to a degree not witnessed in other mainstream farming issues and organisations. At the same time, rural women’s networks are calling for greater recognition of the contribution women make to agriculture and rural communities – to recognise women as ‘farmers’ in their own right – and for a broadening of the agri-political agenda to give greater recognition to non-‘ production’ issues such as social services, workplace health and safety and environmental care. Given the traditional construction of agricultural labour processes in highly masculinised and phallocentric terms, this raises a number of questions regarding the degree to which rural environments are undergoing a sort of symbolic transformation. More specifically, we might question the degree to which these developments provide evidence that human relationships with rural environments – as embodied in the labour process and other day-to-day activities – are being reconceptualised and restructured. To explore this question, we explore data from a variety of sources including ethnographic research conducted with community Landcare groups and organic farmers, and textual analysis of the popular rural press. We conclude that while the renegotiation of gender relations in the labour process is in itself culturally and socially profound, a range of other sociocultural processes may stand in the way of fundamental transformation of the relationships with rural environments implied in those labour processes.

Exploring Landcare Effectiveness Using Organisational Theory

Landcare is an important example of the potential of state-sponsored participation to establish viable local organisations and contribute to rural development. In this paper, the authors discuss their research using organisational theory to explore Landcare effectiveness. Data were obtained from a mailed survey to Landcare groups in the state of Victoria during 1998. Levels of group activity were used as a surrogate measure of group effectiveness. Groups were ranked according to their level of activity to assess the impact of factors likely to affect group performance, the efficacy of program logic, and the extent groups were contributing to program goals. Survey data suggested key aspects of Landcare Program logic were sound. Examination of the membership and activity profiles of groups suggested 90 per cent of the respondent groups were making a worthwhile contribution to program goals. This research also confirmed the importance of factors identified by others as significant influences on organisational effectiveness: the importance of having clear goals, objectives and plans; resource availability; facilitation by an outside agency; access to a funded group co-ordinator; and communication between stakeholders. Unfortunately, there are critical, ongoing management issues surrounding many of these topics.

Landcare: Approaching the Limits of Voluntary Action

Landcare is essentially a system of volunteer organisations that is loosely coordinated at state and regional levels. The apparent success of Landcare has seen groups become an important delivery mechanism for the Natural Heritage Trust and other initiatives. In this article the author draws upon research in Victoria to argue that we are approaching the limits of what can realistically be expected of Landcare groups. Data were derived from state-wide surveys of Victorian groups between 1991 and 1998 and three 1999 regional case-studies in Corangamite, Glenelg and Goulburn/Broken. Survey data highlighted the extent most groups were operating at historically high activity levels and established a significant positive relationship between activity and government funding. Landcare work takes time and energy, particularly for group leaders, and given existing commitments to work, family and other volunteer organisations, it seems unlikely that current activity levels are sustainable. Survey data highlighted important program management issues that must be addressed as part of a more coherent and determined approach to supporting Landcare.

Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture: Participatory Learning and Adaptive Management in Times of Environmental Uncertainty

Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture: Participatory Learning and Adaptive Management in Times of Environmental Uncertainty

Community Movements and Corporate Images: “Landcare” in Australia1

Abstract Australia's National Landcare Program is popularly seen as a successful attempt to address rural land degradation in a cooperative and coordinated manner. Involving everyone from community Landcare groups to the corporate sector and government agencies, “landcare” is seen to have become something bigger than the program that spawned it. In lieu of convincing evidence that Landcare has transformed agricultural practices in a demonstrably sustainable direction, this high level of involvement is itself cited as a measure of success. Such a view, however, pays little attention to competing conceptualization's of what “landcare” actually means, to the power relationships between those involved, or to the multitude of other social projects in which those involved are engaged. The failure to address these issues masks the extent to which Landcare both contributes to the further intensification of farming practices, and is used as a signifier of environmental and social responsibility in the greening of the corporate images of its sponsors. By sponsoring Landcare initiatives companies gain licensed access to use of the Landcare Australia logo and may position themselves as responsible corporate citizens, irrespective of the environmental effects of their own products and manufacturing processes. A form of “green consumerism” is thereby constituted through which consumption is directed not towards the products of farmers attempting to produce more sustainably, but towards the companies that ostensibly support their efforts to do so.

Landcare particpation in Australia: the volunteer perspective

There are over 4000 community Landcare groups involving over 120 000 volunteer members working to achieve more sustainable use of Australia's farming lands and to conserve biodiversity. After reviewing the achievements of the community Landcare program the authors discuss their research investigating Landcare participation in terms of the theory of volunteerism. This research indicated that Landcare participants: were younger, more educated and more involved in other community groups; and were motivated by task orientation, a desire for learning and for social interaction. These results are consistent with the theory of volunteerism. Voluntary groups are not self-managing or costless. Given the resources invested through Landcare, particularly via the $1.25 billion Natural Heritage Trust (NHT), it is critical that these groups are properly managed and adequately resourced. At present there is no systematic approach to the management of Landcare groups, and critical policy and management issues threaten to undermine their effectiveness. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The State, Rural Environments, and Globalisation: ‘Action at a Distance’ via the Australian Landcare Program

Contrary to the suggestion that transnational capital has largely subsumed the agency of Australian governments and farmers in shaping rural environments, in this paper I argue that new, often indirect, forms of action have developed within the context of globalisation and neoliberalism. These may be described as forms of ‘action at a distance’, oriented towards shaping both the environment within which people make decisions and the ways in which they are likely to respond to that environment. Since 1989, the National Landcare Program has mobilised around 30% of farm businesses to participate in community Landcare groups based on principles of self-help, cooperation, and localised action. This has initiated a new phase of negotiation over the delimitation of objects of governance, and facilitated the deployment of novel forms of state influence. Of particular importance have been technologies of knowledge that promote the further intensification of agriculture as environmentally rational and responsible, a trend reinforced by the vast bulk of neoliberal agricultural policy. Although neoliberal policy and local Landcare action appear contradictory, they do appear consistent with the self-understandings of Australian farmers as independent and self-reliant—understandings that render more direct forms of state intervention problematic. It thus remains to be seen how profoundly Landcare will reshape rural landscapes.

Landcare Networks in Australia: State-sponsored Participation Through Local Organizations

Landcare is an Australian success story and an important example of the potential of state-sponsored community participation. An important trend encouraged by the lead agencies is for Landcare groups to be linked through so-called networks. Linking together may appeal to groups as a way of increasing their capacity to compete for scarce resources and enhance their impact on agencies, regional catchment committees and government. Network formation is also driven by government and agency demands for efficiency, accountability and effective regional planning. In this paper the authors draw on their 1997 study of the Ovens Valley Landcare Network in Victoria. This research suggested networks are important local organisations and enhance the impact of groups by improving inter-group communication and 'pulling down' resources. Network processes also contributed to robust, productive, agency-community partnerships and suggested participation can increase community influence on decision making and be compatible with adaptive management.

Community learning and social capital: “just having a little chat”

In any regional community there may be more potential in termsof people's skills and expertise, and in terms of resources and facilities, thanmost people realise. Social capital is a term used to describe the social oganisation and productive synergy underpinning community ‘spirit’. Strongtraditions, networks, norms and trust are areas characteristic of community spirit. Beside these characteristics there is reason to believe an informal learning network, not often recognised as such, operates to achieve that spirit. Every day learning activities occur. These activities are not often graced with the term ‘learning’ since they are not part of an accredited learning policy environment, yet they exist in force. Learning may occur at a local club or in groups such as the Country Women's Association meeting, the Rotary Club, the sporting venue, the Landcare Group or the Parents andFriends Association. Learning also occurs while waiting to pick up the children from school, chatting with a neighbour over the back fence, unwinding at the local pub or after church. What is the nature of this learning? How does it contribute to the overall effect called ‘community learning’? What role does this learning have for the individual, for the local networks and for the community as a whole? This paper will describe a pilot conducted in a regional community whose purpose is to identify indicators of ‘community learning’. It will outline the research methods used and attempt to answer some of the questions raised.

Agency-Community Partnership in Landcare: Lessons for State-Sponsored Citizen Resource Management

/ With over 2500 Australian Landcare groups, 65,000 volunteer members, and considerable evidence of program impact, Landcare is an important example of state-sponsored rural development in a developed nation. The agency-community partnership is a fundamental element of Landcare and getting the partnership right is vital to long-term program success. After reviewing the emergence of Landcare in the state of Victoria, the author reports research from a 1995 survey of Victorian Landcare groups. Survey information highlighted the extent of agency-group contact, the important roles agency staff played in many Landcare groups, and the positive impact of agency contact and government funding upon group activity. Large majorities of groups reported they were satisfied with their relationship with agency staff. However, a majority of groups reported money or materials provided to manage land and water degradation was inadequate. Recently proposed changes to the Landcare program will provide government funding of work on private property and may address this concern. A majority of groups also reported support for leadership and management training was inadequate and respondents emphasized the need to revise program guidelines that limit funding for group coordinators. This information highlighted the importance of articulating a practical model of community participation in Australia and adopting a systematic approach to providing agency support for Landcare groups. Reflecting upon the Landcare experience, the author suggests some of the key elements of a practical model of state-sponsored citizen resource management contributing to rural development.KEY WORDS: Landcare; Australia; Community participation; Rural development; Citizen resource management; Sustainable agriculture

Conservation Value of Remnant Vegetation, in the Blampied – Kooroocheang landcare Group Area

Conservation Value of Remnant Vegetation, in the Blampied – Kooroocheang landcare Group Area