Community participation in land restoration

Abstract

This case study of community participation in a landscape restoration program explores some implications of the Federal Government’s Caring for Our Country Program (CFOC) in Mount Alexander Shire in North Central Victoria. It briefly describes the process of establishing a community-based wide-ranging program of landscape restoration, Connecting Country, from its inception in 2007 to its current stage: implementation of a detailed program. As a member of the Connecting Country group, I used participant observation techniques to examine issues and concerns worked through in this process by community members. Background literature about community participation in Landcare programs since 1989 provides the setting for this analysis and for reflection on the development and conduct of land stewardship programs in the changing context of government policy in land restoration funding.