2026 Victorian Landcare Awards
Highly Commended in the Junior Landcare Award
All Kids Junior Landcare was named Highly Commended in the Junior Landcare Award category for its youth led learning and action for native plants, habitats and waterways.
We are very proud of Chris and Lennon. This recognition also reflects the generosity of the volunteers, ecologists, land managers, community groups, schools and families who have taught and encouraged them since 2022.
Their work has included growing and sharing hundreds of native plants and seeds, restoring habitat, teaching other students and advocating for Stony Creek.
Learning Led to Action
Chris and Lennon learned alongside experienced community volunteers in creeks, reserves, grasslands, nurseries, schools and neighbourhood planting projects. They learned to identify plants, collect and clean seed, propagate indigenous species and understand how plants, insects, soil, habitat and waterways form one living system.
Their first project was planting their nature strip with native species. It created food and shelter for insects and pollinators while helping rain soak into the soil instead of flowing directly into drains and creeks. Even small plantings on nature strips and in backyards can contribute to waterway health across a catchment.
Why Waterwatch Matters
Waterwatch has been a significant part of Chris and Lennon's learning since 2022. Through training and supervised volunteering, including water quality observations and macroinvertebrate monitoring, they learned to recognise indicators of creek health, record evidence and understand the limits of their observations.
When they observed concerning conditions along Stony Creek between Matthews Hill and Braybrook Grassland, that experience helped them document what they saw, research the issue and ask the responsible organisations to investigate.
From Observation to Civic Action
Chris and Lennon studied maps, reports and agency responsibilities, spoke with people who use and care for the creek and created a community petition calling for coordinated action by Melbourne Water, Maribyrnong City Council and Brimbank City Council.
Maribyrnong City Council unanimously received and noted the petition and referred it for a response. Questions were raised in the Victorian Parliament by David Ettershank MP and the Minister for Water responded. This advocacy grew directly from their Landcare and Waterwatch learning.
Read the latest Stony Creek petition update
Growing and Sharing
The nature strip project grew into ongoing seed collection, propagation and free sharing. Chris and Lennon have donated plants and seeds to the community and helped Year 5/6 students at Brunswick South Primary School begin their own propagation work. Their aim is simple: learn from others, take practical action and pass that knowledge on.
What This Recognition Means to Us
Being named Highly Commended recognises sustained learning, practical work and young people speaking up for the places they care about. It encourages us to keep growing plants, restoring habitat, participating in citizen science and advocating carefully for our waterways.
We congratulate Skipton Primary School, winner of the 2026 Junior Landcare Award, and Cowes Primary School, which was also named Highly Commended. Their work shows the many ways young people can learn about their environment and turn that learning into action.
Thank You
We are grateful to the Hon Michaela Settle MP, Minister for Water, for her help and responsiveness.
A special thank you to Julia (MCMC), Gerard Morel & Richard Akers(Melbourne Water) for their long standing work supporting waterways, restoration and community environmental learning across Melbourne.
We also thank the Waterwatch staff and volunteers whose training and guidance helped Chris and Lennon develop their understanding of creek health.