THIRTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE OF LANDSCAPE AND CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT WITHIN S.E. QUEENSLAND.
GUEST: Mary-Lou Gittins, OAM. Educator and irrigator from Goomburra Valley in the Upper Condamine catchment of S.E. Queensland.
Mary-Lou has a strong background in community participation and representation. Over thirty years she has represented Agriculture, Landcare and Natural Resource Management groups at a local, regional, state and commonwealth level. In that time she has helped plant thousands of trees and facilitated Waterwatch and Landcare education for children and adults. Mary-Lou’s current roles include Secretary to the Condamine Catchment Management Association, she is Chair of Queensland Water and Land Carers and secretary to the Australia Citizen Science Association.
INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE
We have heard from other guests in this series about the central importance of the Landcare initiative in protecting and enhancing the landscapes of S.E. Queensland over many decades. The volunteer facilitated, collaborative, cross-sectoral environment support model which Landcare helped develop is also present within Australian community catchment management initiatives, and together these two approaches to caring for the natural world have formed a cornerstone of the effective public involvement to improve environmental quality in Queensland, and the rest of Australia.
My guest in this episode, Mary-Lou Gittins, OAM, has a detailed experience of the workings of both Landcare and community catchment management in this part of Queensland, gained through thirty years of on the ground work at various administrative levels.
In our discussion, Mary-Lou taps into her extensive history of environmental protection work across landscape and catchment to offer our audience insights into the trends she has observed over the decades, what the future may hold in store for necessary work going forward in these sectors, and advice for listeners who might wish to enter some of the roles she has pursued with such determination over the years.
INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with approximate time elapsed in mins.
- Guest foreshadow comment - 0.00
- Generic podcast series introduction. – 0.30
- Guest introduction and how did your passion for the environment start? – 3.31
- Who inspired or mentored you in your work? - 7.08
- How did you get involved with environmental conservation to begin with? – 10.59 (reflection on major trends across 30 years of experience) - 12.57
- When did you first realise the impact of your work in restoring the environment? – 17.30
- Are there any environmental achievements you are particularly proud of and why?–21.32
- What are some of the challenges you have faced and how did you respond ? – 28.48
- How has your work influenced you to keep doing what you do? – 32.48
- Are you working on any current, exciting projects? – 35.30
- Guest takeaway message and advice for next steps in environmental protection. – 38.40
- Thanks to guest, acknowledgements and episode close. – 42.04
- End of episode – 46.38
IDEAS MENTIONED AND RESOURCES RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION
Caring for Country initiatives – a recent indigenous Australian framing of some issues (2022)
Emotional intelligence - An Australian training perspective on its value in leadership and project management roles (2022). And a collection of articles on other diverse applications of emotional intelligence (2023)
Environmental education online resources sites
Cool Australia – online environmental education initiative
Junior Landcare Learning Centre
https://juniorlandcare.org.au/learningcentre/
Greening Australia Aboriginal Landcare Education Program https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/projects/alep/
Queensland Government list of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres
https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/OEEC
Queensland Government - Queensland Sustainable Schools Initiative (QESSI)
https://www.sustainableschools.qld.edu.au/Default.aspx?tabid=574
The Eco-Schools global sustainable schools program – Australian links.
Australian Association of Environmental Education - peak professional body for environmental educators
Landcare
Landcare generic information on the initiative in Australia.
Landcare educational resources – a link on the national Landcare website
Landcare and catchment care in the Darling Downs region of S.E. Queensland
The Darling Downs region of S.E. Queensland – basic information on location, history and economy.
Some groups mentioned with interest in the Darling Downs/ S.E. Queensland regions:
Brisbane Valley - Kilcoy Landcare Association Inc. – portal website (2023)
Condamine Catchment Management Association Inc. – Facebook site (2023)
Queensland Water and Land Carers – portal website (2023)
Nature connectedness and the value of childhood exposure to nature
Information on Nature Connectedness from one of the leading international research centres.
Author Richard Louve’s work on the problems which can arise from the lack of childhood exposure to nature and the concept of nature deficit disorder.
Natural Heritage Trust in Australia - a brief overview of its history
Waterwatch – Australian portal site
Weaving Social Fabric - an Australian perspective on a USA conception of ‘weaving’ as one antidote to social problems caused by self-interest and hyper-individualism.
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Mary-Lou Gittins
Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): Tel: 07 4639 2135 Email: WEB Facebook
Production:
Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 13th June 2023
Key interview questions developed by: Anna Kula Incidental Music: James Nicholson
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