Forty years of good land management that has transformed a degraded 250-hectare property outside Canberra into a more productive and environmentally sustainable farming enterprise has earned local farmer John Ive the title of 2021 ACT Environmentalist of the Year.
The Conservation Council ACT Region announced the 2021 ACT Environment Award winners on Sunday 12 December.
The Council’s executive director, Helen Oakey, said Mr Ive has spent the past four decades advancing environmentally sustainable agricultural practices on his family’s 250 ha property, ‘Talaheni’, at Springrange, north of Canberra.
“Importantly, John has shared the knowledge that he has developed on his own property with the agricultural and broader community through publishing his findings in public fora,” Ms Oakey said.
“His work includes techniques for ecosystem conservation and revegetation, resulting in a remarkable increase in farm productivity, and carbon sequestration – work which has been recognised as ground-breaking and proves the potential for carbon-neutral wool farming, which would have significant benefits in reducing greenhouse gasses.”
The Moira and John Rowland Young Environmentalist of the Year award went to Jessica Fordyce, for her work with Food Donation Network in reducing food waste and improving food security for vulnerable community members.
She is also a leader in Trash Gather, a youth-led community group that hosts monthly clean-ups around the ACT and promotes education around litter and waste.
“At age 23, Jess has thrown herself into the world of food waste prevention in her work with the Food Donation Network project, an initiative of the Canberra Region Joint Organisation,” Ms Oakey said.
“The project aims to prevent discarded food from supermarkets ending up in landfill, reducing wastage and the production of greenhouse gases, and ensuring that food is making it into the hands of those who need it most.”
For their work promoting climate action through campaigns such as StopAdani, Artivism, Fridays4Future, and Divestment, 350 Canberra was named the Conservation Council ACT Region Member Group of the Year.
“350 Canberra is a local group committed to taking action against climate change, with their main focus being to slow the extraction and burning of fossil fuels until the fossil fuel industry is replaced with renewables and other energy industries,” Ms Oakey said.
“At a time when climate change and biodiversity need to be at the centre of decision making at all levels, the award winners epitomise the multitude of different ways in which people can make a difference.”
Honourable mentions also went to Linda Groom in the Environmentalist of the Year category, and Annika Reynolds in the Young Environmentalist of the Year award.
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