Maitland boasted no less than 10 Landcare groups dedicated to tackling land degradation in pockets across the area during the late 1990s.

Today one group remains.

“The reasons for this decline are many,” chair of Maitland’s Earthcare Park Wendy White said.

“We’ve been finding it harder and harder to attract volunteers as people lead very busy lives.

“But the other thing is that we are planting trees and it becomes disheartening when they are cut down.”

Landcare is an Australian partnership between the community, government and business designed to protect and repair the environment.

There are 4000 volunteer community Landcare groups across Australia.

And Ms White is hoping for a Landcare group revival in Maitland.

“This decline in local membership is not really indicative of how people feel about the environment. However, I do think people wonder what they can do,” she said.

“But there’s no reason why people can’t form small Landcare groups around areas such as Walka Water Works.

“People would argue that there isn’t actually much land left in Maitland to care for but there are pockets of land around.

And these areas don’t have to be huge but every little bit makes a difference.”

Members of Maitland Landcare meet at 9am on the first Sunday of the month at the Earthcare Park on Metford Road. Phone Ms White on 4933 2624 for more information.