| What services do you believe are most important for the ACT?
| - Community based volunteers undertaking land management and citizen science is increasingly essential for landscape stewardship to be sufficient in the Territory, particularly in and around Canberra city.
- Ginninderra Catchment Group is one of three community Catchment Groups is the ACT, operating primarily in the north-west ACT Region. We support 19 Landcare Groups (including Parkcare, urban, rural, junior, and Aboriginal Landcare Groups) and coordinate numerous community engagement and landscape-scale restoration programs
- The environmental outcomes from the work of volunteers are significant and have real and lasting value. Additionally, volunteering builds social capital, particularly the sense of belonging, and improves the health and emotional well being of participants.
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| How can the ACT Government deliver current services more efficiently and productively or to better meet the needs of Canberrans? | - Reliance only on government staff for landscape stewardship does not achieve adequate outcomes and would be financially unsustainable for Territory taxpayers.
- Delivery of community volunteering opportunities by a not-for-profit volunteer organisation is wanted by the community and the Landcare movement is well established (30 year anniversary in 2019) throughout Australia.
- The community Catchment Groups can deliver volunteer land management and citizen science services more efficiently and at less cost. But this requires certainty of funding for 4-5 years (untied to annual budget funding) to provide continuity and undertake longer term projects.
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| Are there particular services that you think the ACT Government can improve? | - There has been significant improvement in the last year in the integration and coordination with the two directorates responsible for land management in the ACT (ie TCCS and EPSDD). In consultation with Landcare ACT (LACT) and the catchment groups, there is an opportunity to further remove duplication and improve the delivery of Government’s environment projects and programs
- Yes, by a public commitment to long-term support for community based landcare.
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| What can the ACT Government do to make Canberra even more liveable? | - Support community landcare activities in the Territory by directly and sufficiently funding LACT Member groups (including the GCG) to lead and deliver community based services for Landcare and citizen science.
- Noting the ACT Liberals commitment:
'The ACT Liberals have committed $1.52 million over four years (or $380,000 per annum) to Landcare ACT’s Ginninderra, Molonglo Conservation, and Southern ACT catchment groups'. Refer: https://canberraliberals.org.au/canberra-liberals-commit-1-52-million-to-protect-the-environment/
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