Inspiring Voices, Innovative Approaches, and the Passion Driving Australia’s Landcare Leaders
The National Landcare Conference is always a much-anticipated event for those passionate about Australia’s landscapes, communities, and the future of our natural resources. The NLN’s Lunch and Learn Sessions will provide a spotlight for some of the nation’s most dedicated land stewards, community organisers, and biosecurity advocates. With a mix of award nominees, poster contributors, and Landcare leaders from across the country, these sessions promise to be packed with insights, stories, and forward-thinking strategies and will offer a valuable networking opportunity to connect with other dedicated Landcarers .
Monday Speakers: “Landcare Projects and Innovation”
Phoebe Gulliver – CEO, Little River Landcare Group Inc: Transforming Landscapes Through Grassroots Collaboration
Phoebe Gulliver is the CEO of Little River Landcare Group Inc., a dynamic organisation dedicated to nurturing a healthy, productive, and diverse environment across the Little River Catchment Area in NSW. Under Phoebe’s leadership, LRLG has delivered over $10 million in impactful projects—from tree planting and stream restoration to regenerative agriculture and climate education. She champions a community-driven approach, engaging landholders, schools, and local businesses to build resilience through sustainable land management and ecological restoration. In her upcoming talk, Phoebe will share insights into LRLG’s holistic model that integrates environmental, social, and economic wellbeing, and explore how collaborative action can transform landscapes and livelihoods.
Melinee Leather – Barfield Station: Biosecurity and Sustainable Beef
Melinee Leather is a dedicated beef producer from Barfield Station in Central Queensland, where her family has spent over 30 years cultivating a sustainable, generational enterprise built around organic, EU-certified, and natural pasture-fed cattle. Melinee brings a deeply personal and practical perspective on biosecurity—an issue she considers vital to the future of Australia’s $12.7 billion cattle industry. Drawing on her experience managing livestock and implementing preventative measures like quarantining new cattle, she will highlight the real threats posed by diseases such as foot and mouth, and offer actionable strategies for landholders to safeguard their properties and protect Australia’s global reputation as a leading livestock producer. Her message is clear: biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility, and simple steps can make a lasting impact.
Craig Magnussen – Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board: Facing Australia’s Rabbit Challenge
Craig Magnussen, CEO of the Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board, will deliver a fascinating and urgent presentation titled “Rabbits: the next big thing. Again!” His role as a Queensland Biosecurity Ambassador, Chair of the Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia, and Non-executive Director of Queensland Water and Land Carers, makes him uniquely positioned to address this issue from multiple angles.
Craig will detail the cyclical nature of rabbit populations in Australia—how they have “boomed, crashed, boomed again, and crashed again,” yet have never disappeared. The perennial challenge of managing this invasive species, which continues to threaten both highly productive agricultural lands and biodiverse natural environments, is as pressing as ever. He raises a critical question: “Is their inherent ability to breed and humans’ tendency to forget set to see yet another boom? What can we do to stop it?”
His session will tackle not only the biological realities of rabbit management but also the human factors: the importance of institutional memory, the risk of complacency, and the need for vigilance. As the Rabbit Board maintains Queensland’s rabbit barrier fence and oversees compliance, Craig’s insights will provide a blend of strategic overview and on-the-ground realities for those keen to safeguard Australia’s agricultural and environmental assets.
Anda Banikos – President, Prom Coast Ecolink Inc.: Harnessing Community for Biodiversity
Bringing a unique blend of personal heritage and professional experience, Anda Banikos, president of Prom Coast Ecolink Inc., will share her journey from a nature-connected childhood in the Latvian community to her current role as a South Gippsland biodiversity advocate. As an educator, artist, and organiser, Anda is passionate about the region’s rich biodiversity and the community’s power to protect it.
Her presentation will shine a light on the Hoddle Range in South Gippsland—a region of remarkable native vegetation and a pivotal node in the South Gippsland Landcare Network Biolinks Plan. Under Anda’s leadership, Prom Coast Ecolink coordinates community-driven biodiversity surveys across both public and private lands. These surveys serve a dual purpose: providing landholders with valuable data about the species present on their properties, and acting as a tool for collaborative, landscape-scale management of weeds and feral species.
Importantly, Anda will highlight how this approach fosters neighbour-to-neighbour cooperation, resulting in broader-scale biodiversity protection and resilience. The collected data supports the South Gippsland Biodiversity Protection Plan and feeds into the region’s Biolinks Map, creating a foundation for evidence-based action and long-term stewardship.
Judith Roland – TM Landcare: Regeneration, Membership, and Community Action
Rounding out the session, Judith Roland, president and founder of TM Landcare’s Piccabeen Bookshop, will provide a concise overview of TM Landcare’s priorities. Judith will focus on regeneration projects, membership, and the group’s working bees—those essential, hands-on gatherings where community members come together to restore landscapes and nurture native ecosystems.
Judith’s work exemplifies the spirit of grassroots Landcare, where every volunteer, project, and event contributes to a greater collective impact. By sharing TM Landcare’s progress, lessons learned, and continuing efforts, Judith inspires others to see the potential in local action and the lasting benefits it brings to both people and place.
The Takeaway: Collaboration, Commitment, and the Future of Landcare
The Monday Lunch and Learn sessions are a vivid reminder of the diversity of people, projects, and passions that fuel Australia’s Landcare movement. From the macro-challenges of biosecurity and invasive species to the micro-level of regenerating individual patches of land or building community links, each speaker brings hands-on knowledge of how innovation, commitment, and cooperation are essential to Landcare’s success.
These stories also illuminate the interconnectedness of the country’s agricultural prosperity and environmental health—how protecting one means safeguarding the other. Whether it’s managing livestock sustainably, restoring native habitats, maintaining crucial biosecurity measures, or engaging neighbours in citizen science, the session’s speakers will show that every action counts.
The NLN’s Lunch and Learn sessions promise to offer a vital platform for learning, networking, and celebrating the individuals and organisations driving positive change. Grab your lunch, pull up a chair and be inspired by this diverse and engaging lineup of speakers bringing their unique insights and years of experience to the national stage.
If you would like more information about the sessions, please contact Mary-Lou Gittins, OAM and Chairperson of Queensland Water and Land Carers (QWaLC) at chairperson@qwalc.org.au.