In 2020, our committee aims to focus on the positive – positive solutions that we can all try, to better look after ourselves and our planet. We have invited guest presenters to write a short article in this spirit, and we will publish one each month. We hope you find them inspiring. This month our guest writer is Phil Moran.

Reasons to be cheerful

Sometimes we get overwhelmed by all the issues we have to deal with. It has certainly been a challenging time in our region and more broadly across this big, brown land. Permaculture people, like Landcare people notice our environment and are in tune with it. The long hot, dry period we have had recently was a heavy burden. I felt for our animals and plants enduring the heat with no moisture. And then we had the horrendous fires so close to our homes in Noosa. My wife Kim and I went to the Veggie Village in Peregian Beach a few weeks ago and it was alarming to see how close the fires came to homes.

And then a welcome relief – it rained. Now as we travel about our shire, we see how nature is bouncing back as she always does with dignity and grace. The rainwater tanks are full, dams topped up and the creeks are flowing. The grass is certainly growing again!! And the cows and kangaroos are happy.

At Noosa Landcare we are heavily invested in all these things. I get my biggest kick, not out of the physical things; although these all help, but out of the long term wins we have. We have been training young people at Landcare for as long as I can remember. We all get a buzz out of seeing people who have not yet found their passion, being awakened to nature and our environment. These people bring ideas (some of them are out there, and some are full of insight), to our group. To watch them learn and develop as people is like watching trees flower.

We have had many Skilling Queenslanders for Work [SQW] teams through Landcare, numbering in the hundreds. We also run full year Traineeships. These people are usually drawn from the SQW teams as we see an individual who has great potential.

Since 2016, we have employed 12 people in the Certificate 3 in Conservation & Land Management.

9 out of these 12 graduated Trainees are now employed by Noosa Landcare. The other 3 have jobs in the industry.

So, get in amongst nature and enjoy. Join Permaculture Noosa, or Noosa Landcare, or the Surfrider foundation. If you are young, keep an eye out for our trainee opportunities at Noosa Landcare… It will be tough at times but rewarding and can be fun too.

We are a pretty lucky, special community to live in Noosa. This is truly a remarkable piece of Australia. I am full of optimism for our future. Working with the young people we do is my biggest thrill in Natural resource management.

Phillip Moran

Phillip Moran is the General Manager of Noosa & District Landcare, with a staff of over 40 people. After a career in hospitality including operating his own Gourmet Food and Catering Company in Brisbane for 8 years, he moved to Cooroy in 1990. The following year he joined Noosa Landcare as a volunteer, and has been working there full time for the past 20 years. He lives on 33 acres outside of Cooran with his wife Kim. Their property, Burrawingee, was the first Nature Refuge declared in the Noosa Shire. He says he derives the most satisfaction from seeing young people learning about our environment and gaining meaningful employment. For more information go to https://noosalandcare.org/