21 August 2022 |

13 year old Josephine Tenni sat down with Landcare Tasmania's Communications Officer Jenn Gason to discuss all things Landcare. Read below for some of her wisdom!

Image: Josie Tenni winning a raffle prize at the 2021 Tasmanian Community Landcare Conference

Public transport, fencing, wildlife corridors, and climate anxiety were just some of the topics Josie delved into during a chat with Jenn. 

Starting her Landcare journey at the age of 8, Josie is 13 now and has learned a lot - she's also an ambassador for the Commissioner for Children and Young People. She takes pride in attending meetings and speaking up for young people who don't have a voice.

Josie and her family are a part of the Seven Mile Beach Coast Care Group, working on coastal monitoring and clearing rubbish. In her own time, she's earned a Landcare badge at scouts - where she does coastal monitoring, plants trees, builds bird boxes, and has done some cat trapping too. 

Image: Josie partaking in nesting box construction at Seven Mile Beach in 2021

Josie expressed significant stress relating to the declining state of the environment and constant bombardment of 'bad news' for our future. 

"Pretty much every day I hear that something bad has happened. Harming of animals, plastic is taking over and is breaking down in the environment, the coal emissions are going into the atmosphere...stuff is just happening and I feel overwhelmed with everything I can't do.  I feel helpless, really, really scared, anxious and sad. Like what can I do? What can I do?" 

In the face of distressing environmental news and climate anxiety, Josie says "We should help out in our little community wherever we live."

"...get out there, just help… it might not even to be anything to do with the environment, just helping someone across the road or using your own bags instead of plastic bags or planting a tree... it's the little things that help the world."

Josie also has some advice for any young person wanting to make a difference - to write a letter to the commissioner. She says "You can always write a letter and say if you have any concerns, any worries, any facts or opinions that you want to share, anything that you want to change for your life... We need many different minds to make a better future."

A huge thank you to Josie for sharing her Landcaring experience and advice with us, and for doing little things every day to make a better world!