Meet Victorian Landcare Awards Australian Government Individual Landcarer Award winner Don Rowe, from Maroona. This award acknowledges the significant contribution made by an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to Landcare. 

Don Rowe is a local landholder, community member and leading Landcarer in the Upper Hopkins area around Ararat. He has been involved in the Landcare group since it began 30 years ago, but even before the Landcare group was formalised, Don was actively carrying out Landcare work on his own property, transforming it from windswept paddocks to an agricultural landscape with biodiversity corridors and land class fencing.

As a school teacher – he was also pretty quick to get kids out into the paddock planting trees to begin the education about the importance of Landcare early … and now, most exciting for his grandkids – he has a trophy for tree planting.

But his key message to other landholders is: just start planting.