Landcare particpation in Australia: the volunteer perspective

Allan Curtis and Marike Van Nouhuys
Additional contact information
Allan Curtis: Charles Sturt University, Australia, Postal: Charles Sturt University, Australia
Marike Van Nouhuys: Charles Sturt University, Australia, Postal: Charles Sturt University, Australia

Sustainable Development, 1999, vol. 7, issue 2, 98-111

Abstract: 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.

Date: 1999
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:7:y:1999:i:2:p:98-111

DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1719(199905)7:2<98::AID-SD107>3.0.CO;2-N

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainable Development is currently edited by Richard Welford

More articles in Sustainable Development from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().