Australia Day Award For Longterm Landcare Member

This year’s Australia Day Landcare Award for Boorowa went to Paul Cavanagh.

Paul earnt the award for “outstanding service to Boorowa Community Landcare Group and a passion for holistic and regenerative agricultural practices.”

Paul has been a member of the Boorowa Community Landcare Group (BCLG) committee for 11 years after joining the group in 2013. He has spent eight of those years as chair of the committee.

Starting out in Thuddungra Landcare in 1994, Paul spent six years as chair of the group before moving on to become chair of the Young Landcare Group.

He spent a few years as chair before spending a number of years volunteering in junior rugby.

After joining BCLG in 2013, he spent a year or two on the committee before becoming Vice President and then stepping up as chair.

Paul remains on the committee but has taken a backseat in 2025.

Of his time volunteering for Landcare, Paul said, “If you’re a primary producer and community member and interested in the environment and agriculture, it’s probably the most logical way to give back to community.”

His highlights include being part of the team who have kept Boorowa Landcare active and relevant in the community and the grazing group that was well supported by farmers in the area.

The biggest challenge was lack of volunteers due to the small population of the area, which was combatted by having an emphasis on education so it is easily managed by the small number of volunteers.

Looking to the future, Paul hopes BCLG can continue to adapt to the needs of the Boorowa community as well as getting back into the schools and community.

He’s also hopeful BCLG can get the grazing group back up and running.

• Topics:

• Awards
• Australia Day
• Landcare