It's hard to believe but the end of the year has arrived! In this issue, we've pulled together some of the highlights of the past 12 months in our end of year wrap-up, we share a sneak peek at upcoming events in early 2025, and more! 

 

The year that was, 2024 We've selected a few of the highlights from our year to share with you:  This was our 30th year of Landcare Tasmania and we celebrated our birthday with a bang! We hi-jacked 15 member groups working bees across the state, with a celebratory cake and catch up.  We had lots of fun at Agfest, meeting with more than 60 people interested in learning more about Landcare, and we held special talks on feral cats and weeds.  Huon Valley Networking Day - this was a great chance to really get to know our members. It was so successful that we are planning more events like this across the state next year. Stay tuned!  We were thrilled to be invited on Country with the Tebrakunna Rangers for knowledge sharing and to upskill the rangers in seed collection and propagation.  Our education program was in full force this year - we ran the Know Your Local Patch program, held school workshops, kicked off the Let's Explore Waste program, and took students outdoors in our Schools on Farms program.  The 2024 planting season with our members was successful thanks to our new TLF Plant Grant, launched in 2023. We did another round this year, and awarded 19 members with plants, guards and stakes for next year's planting season! We hope to continue to deliver this small grant round annually.  The Tasmanian State Government announced their commitment to support the Future Proofing Landcare in Tasmania plan.  We are growing - we have our biggest team yet, and this has been one of our biggest years of delivering and attending events!

Annual general meeting highlights At the Landcare Tasmania 2024 Annual General Meeting, we saw members, supporters, and staff join in at the RACV Hotel in Hobart and online. We were delighted to have 58 attendees, and during the meeting, we welcomed newly elected board members Janet Vail and Craig Elliot. We also thanked outgoing board members Rosemary Collins and Mark Harrison for their dedication and contributions to the board. Landcare Tasmania CEO Peter Stronach presented our 2023-24 annual report, which you can read here.

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Curious to find out what we have planned for early 2025? We've been busy planning our events calendar for next year, and we've got some exciting new projects planned! Farm Dam Enhancement Project Landcare Tasmania, in partnership with the TAS Farm Innovation Hub and the Australian National University’s Sustainable Farm Program, will deliver a number of Farm Dam Enhancement workshops for the wider community that highlight the production and ecosystem benefits from improved farm dam management. Read more & register your interest here.  Landcare Networking events After the success of our Huon Valley Networking Day this year, we are planning more events across the state in 2025, including in Clarence, Sorell, Brighton, Launceston, Dorset, George Town, Wynyard/Waratah, Circular Head, and Burnie. These events will aim to help local Landcare groups collaborate with councils and other key stakeholders to develop effective Landcare projects that improve habitat, biodiversity and ecosystem services. Expect to hear about how to work with councils to achieve your landcaring goals and how Landcare Tasmania can better support your group. Come along to meet other groups and landcarers in your local government area. West Coast Weeds workshop We'll be holding a West Coast Weeds workshop in Strahan early next year. If you want to know more about dealing with invasive weeds on the West Coast, this will be a great opportunity to learn how to deal with weeds on your property, and about the different weeds in your yard, in the bush, or on the side of the road.  RSVP here.  Check out our 2025 Outreach Events Calendar for an overview of the events we're planning for early next year. We are still planning these events. Registrations will open early 2025.

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Donate to the Tasmanian Landcare Fund & make a difference  If you are looking for a meaningful way to spend money during the festive season, why not consider a donation to the Tasmanian Landcare Fund? What is the Tasmanian Landcare Fund? The Tasmanian Landcare Fund supports all our programs which are: Land Restoration, Member Support, Education and Advocacy. Importantly, the fund also provides much needed grants directly to member-driven projects. Since 2004, more than $600,000 of donations to the fund have been used to support our members' on-ground work on farms, in schools and with community groups across Lutriwita/Tasmania. Why donate? Community landcare is critical for our future. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration kicked off in 2021, promoting the urgency of avoiding ecological tipping points. Our rapidly growing membership understands this urgency and is responding with meaningful actions to restore the health of their local environments. As a volunteer-based movement, however, the resources available to community Landcare do not match the scale of the task ahead. By supporting community Landcare, you are giving those with local knowledge, who are best-placed to care for their patch, genuine ownership over their local issues. Landcare Tasmania is a direct conduit to the community, and our programs and vital services are driven by their needs.

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Best wishes for the festive season! Our office will be closed at 5pm Thursday, 19 December and will re-open on Monday, 6 January.  Unfortunately, we won't be online to answer your emails, messages or comments until the new year. We'll be taking a well-deserved break, recharging our batteries out in nature with family and friends. See you in 2025 for another year of Landcaring! From the team at Landcare Tasmania  Landcare Tasmania [email protected]