LANDCARE Australia chief executive Tessa Jakszewicz faces challenges on several fronts with optimism and a strong vision.
The organisation, celebrating its 25th year, has come a long way since former prime minister Bob Hawke declared a Decade of Landcare in 1989.
The national movement officially formed after the unlikely alliance of the National Farmers Federation and the Australian Conservation Foundation jointly lobbied the government.
For all of its successes, the Landcare movement has had a few setbacks, many in the past year, as the federal government sliced funding and set up the Green Army.
Recent successful programs include the Durness-Borland Landcare Corridor near Port Stephens, Living Landscape, 1100 hectares of native habitat in the Shoalhaven donated by artists Arthur Boyd, and the conservation Landbank, five properties totalling 927ha in the West Wimmera in Victoria.
Mrs Jakszewicz is quick to distinguish between her organisation and the grassroots Landcare movement.
About 6000 groups of volunteers make up Landcare, deciding at a local level the importance of projects, such as revegetating riverbanks.
“Landcare Australia doesn’t control them but seeks to support them with information, case studies, sharing stories and resources (and some funding),” she said.
Mrs Jakszewicz took the helm at Landcare Australia in April last year, overseeing a team of less than 20.
“It’s been a challenging time for Landcare and the Landcare movement in general with a change in government and a change in policy,” she said.
Mrs Jakszewicz is up for the task.
She hinted at May’s federal budget that reduced Landcare’s national funding from $2 billion in five years to just $1b over four years.
The budget paved the way for the National Landcare Program when the government merged Landcare with the Caring for our Country initiative. Community consultation on how that program is delivered closes today.
As part of the 25th anniversary of Landcare, the government has announced $5 million in grants to be directed to Landcare groups through State authorities.
“We have to work within a model,” Mrs Jakszewicz said.
It’s a busy time at head office as the staff prepare for Landcare Week next week (September 1 to 7), and the national conference in Melbourne from September 17 to 19.
The organisation has also taken up the challenge presented by the federal government’s new Green Army.
“The Green Army is in its infancy and Landcare is a diverse community so some see the Green Army as a challenge; others see it as an opportunity,” Mrs Jakszewicz said.
“We got involved and will seek to identify the opportunities for Landcare groups to use the resources of Green Army teams.
“We see it as a way to encourage young people to get an appreciation of Landcare and what it does.”
Landcare is working with recruitment group Manpower as one of the service providers for the Green Army.
Mrs Jakszewicz also hopes to attract younger volunteers via social media and the website.
She has worked in the information technology and telecommunication industries and sees the need to improve the organisation’s electronic reach.
“Part of my strategy this year is to refresh and build new websites to engage more and be more relevant to different demographics – we’ve got to be relevant to all,” she said.
“We have 25 years of hidden gems and numerous case studies and a whole archive that we haven’t the right means of showcasing.”
Another challenge for Mrs Jakszewicz has always been to secure non-government funding.
Landcare Australia, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, raises funding from corporate entities, individuals and philanthropists, and distributes it to groups, and provides technical oversight and brokers projects.
Landcare Australia funded 500 projects in 2012-13 to the tune of about $2 million.
Mrs Jakszewicz said Landcare Australia needed to raise awareness and educate city dwellers and connect children with where their food comes from.
It aimed to promote stories about farmers’ roles as environmental custodians who embrace sustainable practices.
She’s just the person to do it. Armed with a science degree, a post-graduate degree in horticulture, and a Masters of Business Administration, Mrs Jakszewicz has worked with government entities and the private sector.
She grew up among the pea and strawberry fields in Essex, just outside London, and was always interested in growing things.
Her first proper job in Australia in 1985 was as the only female extension travelling salesperson in an ag chemical company in NSW.
She has also lived in Melbourne, Perth and Tasmania, where she was deputy chief executive for six years with the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre, and non-executive director of the board of Hydro Tasmania.