Victorian Landcare Magazine - Winter 2026, Issue 91
Dawn Parker, President of the Snowy West Landcare Group, is a longstanding leader in landcare across far East Gippsland and her contribution to the movement is immeasurable.
Dawn played a key role in the formation of the Far East Victoria Landcare Network (FEVL), ensuring it remains deeply connected to the people and landscapes it supports. She has contributed as secretary, and now president, helping to guide the network’s strategic direction and championing community-centred environmental stewardship.
Attitude, aptitude and action
Her insights and learnings over her landcare journey could fill books and blogs but for Dawn, the two greatest things landcare has brought about have been the marked change in land management, and a type of social support group, bringing together people who share their ideas, anxieties and plans.
In 1984, after working as a teacher, Dawn and her partner made a career change to become beef farmers, in the remote locality of Wangarabell, north-west of Genoa and not far from the NSW border.
As a school teacher, Dawn admits she was a “complete novice” with a lot to learn about her new pursuit.
“That can be an advantage because you’re not doing things just because you’ve been doing them for a lot of years,” Dawn said.
“But the flip side is you don’t know a lot.”
So, she and her curious mind went looking for advice.
“There was no internet, there was basically the ag department and fertiliser companies giving out advice, which was ‘put on fertiliser and it will all happen’,” she said.
“We discovered that was not quite the truth and that we needed a more complex management plan.
“I really loved working with animals, then developed a great interest in looking after land and finding out what made healthy soil.”
During one of her first encounters with a staff member of the then Department of Conservation and Environment, Dawn was told of a group called landcare.
“I got in touch with Landcare and we formed a local group of mostly farmers,” she said.
It was 1992 and an early realisation for Dawn was that there were many diverse interests in the group, but the common factor was that people in landcare “like to do things”.
And nearly 35 years on, neither of those things have changed.
Decades of innovation in far East Gippsland
Changing the way land was managed has been a standout for Dawn.
When landcare was introduced to the region, it brought with it a great many resources and enabled many farmers to re-think how they managed land.
She said vegetation is significant for land protection and shelter in farming land.
“There’s always room for improvement and greater biodiversity which has multiple health effects,” she said.
“Over time the word biodiversity has become very important, (with) the realisation that monocultures aren’t very good.”
Looking back, Dawn says she wishes she had realised earlier the value of local networks.
“Having our own local networks and employing a good facilitator who identified the necessary support for people in our region has been incredible.
“The importance of facilitators – and their need for some sort of job security – is something I hope is realised.
“I think there is stronger support from the Catchment Management Authority, for which I’m extremely grateful for being an intermediary.”
With rising climate anxiety being reported, Dawn hopes that more young people join their local landcare groups.
“Landcare offers a major way for people to get involved and able to get action,” she said.
“If young people would become involved in landcare they’d see they’d be able to make a difference.”
She hopes that in 40 years’ time landcare continues to have an intelligent and united voice to government.
A more recent standout project for Dawn is the Snowy West Landcare Group’s East Gippsland Rail Trail project, along Burn Road at Newmerella.
“The change in the landscape has been astonishing,” she said.
“We started with removing a whole lot of weeds and then replanted and restored the walking tracks; it’s now a much-used cycling and walking trail.
“It’s very satisfying to change a mess into something quite beautiful, with great people to work with.”
Supporting community through disasters
In terms of action for the environment, Dawn said landcare was a “first responder” around her local area in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20.
Dawn now lives six kilometres south-west of Orbost, near Corringle Beach, in a small patch that wasn’t burnt during the bushfires.
“I watched the red skies, the ash falling and the black smoke,” she said.
“The damage and the depth of loss was huge, and it still impacts many people.”
She says during the recent spate of small fires, the community nervousness was palpable.
“It doesn’t take much to bring back that fear.”
In the aftermath of the bushfire recovery effort, landcare members’ input was remarkable.
“We had a facilitator who was very much in touch with community needs and quite a visionary with restoration and recovery,” Dawn said.
“There was much carried out, and it also let people in the community know there was something they could do.
“It strengthened landcare, not just as an environmental action group but also a social support group.
“The way it brought people together, and how they could share their woes, successes and anxieties.
“There’s a growing focus on social and mental wellbeing and that’s become very significant.”
She says people working within landcare come to the realisation they can get more done together, and people also offer each other various supports.
“Landcare has people with very diverse interests but there’s a place for everybody and you learn so much from people with different interests and skills.”
Above: As a leader with Snowy West Landcare Group, Dawn has supported on-ground restoration and community connection around Orbost and beyond.