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Maree Gillott (President)
After 31 years running my own legal practice in Logan, together with other business interests, my husband David and I moved to Wolvi in 2018. Now that life has moved into (slightly) less frenetic gear, I’ve got the time and space to involve myself again in the things that matter. I’ve always been involved in community organisations of one type or another and the opportunity to combine my experience in not for profit management and my long held interest in sustainable land management was too good to pass up. I’ve got a particular interest in permaculture and regenerative agriculture, as it has long been apparent to me that industrialized methods of farming are making us, and what we eat , sicker than we have ever been.
My Husband and I were lucky enough to find our way to a well -watered cattle property in the foothills of Mt Wolvi which will be keeping us well occupied in our “non-retirement”. At last, I have both the means, and the opportunity to put all the theory I have accumulated from the permaculture/ sustainable agriculture reference books sitting on my shelves and apply them to our new place. The aim is simple- I am just looking to leave our small patch of the world in better shape than we found it .
Becoming a part of Landcare will hopefully allow me to help spread the seeds of change even further.
Louise Watson (Vice-President)
I grew up in Brisbane Queensland and have always had a heart for animals in distress. My career journey took me to the police and the Royal Military College Duntroon. My husband Rob and I moved out to Roma in 2012 where we owned a small farm and operated a farm animal rescue program. There I got to work with the local Council training in conservation land management, specialising in pest animal and weed control. We then moved to Gympie whereas a wildlife carer I look after injured or abandoned native wildlife such as kangaroos, wallabies, possums, and kookaburras and then release them back into the wild where they belong. As part of the management committee, I hope to support landowners to build more native habitat for wildlife to flourish striking a balance between maintaining grazing land and natural habitat reserves for our unique native wildlife.
Mel Marx (Secretary)
From a young age I always felt most alive when I was out in the bush or simply gardening with mum. Mum taught me most of what I know about caring for the soil, nurturing wildlife and growing things. Watching how we are destroying our land at an alarming rate meant I needed to stop talking and do something. So we bought a 40-hectare farm in Wolvi to start restoring our own piece of land. I believe that caring for the earth starts with an individual. The more individuals that do that will eventually bring a tipping point of earth restoration. I joined Gympie Land Care to learn how to make a difference, particularly using native plants and sustainable land management practices. Being invited to join the management committee is an unexpected privilege where I hope to use my experience in organisation effectiveness to assist the organisation to get more focused and organised so that we can support those individuals who are going to give us the restoration tipping point.
Barry Lambooy (Treasurer)
My wife and I headed off on a round the world sailing trip from South Africa and nearly made it but we were stopped by the beauty of Australia in 1991 and decided to make this our home and have been here ever since. I worked for many years in the agricultural industry in the magnificent Kalahari desert and for several years as a timber cutter in north Queensland. I have previously volunteered with Gympie Landcare in the nursery and as minute Secretary. As a Committee member I bring experience as a former auditor and chartered accountant to not only help guide the financial future of Landcare but also to capitalise on opportunities and the potential for growth and expansion.
Alex Van Beek (General Committee Member)
It’s taken 50 years, a chequered career path and 2 degrees (social geography and psychology) to finally find my calling as a social systems researcher. With that aim, I am now at the tail end of a doctorate focussed on how collaborative community-based research can create social change. It may sound boring, but it’s not!
We all know our natural environment with the incredible life it holds, is in serious jeopardy. It is now that we need as many people as possible working together to turn this around. I believe that there are certain principles that can help this along. These include being strengths and solutions focussed; valuing diversity and collective creativity; and sharing decision-making and resources. While it can take a while to get it moving, the ability of collective action, based on inclusive, empowering and positive relationships, can do amazing things.
At a personal level, my sister and I own 30 acres at Calico Creek and are members of Landcare, Land for Wildlife and ANARRA. Our aim is to rehabilitate our land back into wildlife habitat while still maintaining space for our 4 spoilt horses and 3 gorgeous little cows.
By bringing my own skills, knowledge and strengths to the table, I hope to do my bit to help Landcare do its bit to help restore and preserve this beautiful region for many generations to come. With everybody contributing a little bit and getting all these little bits working together towards a common purpose – we can achieve the extraordinary.
Kane Dabbouss (General Committee Member)
Kane is a biodynamic educator and prep maker trained in the mountains of southern India. With a background in soil science, organic market gardening, no-till cultivation and landscape restoration. He runs Red Soil Organics, a Mooloo based business which produces Biodynamic Compost and preparations. RSO also contract designs and installs water harvesting structures and forestry systems for landscape rehabilitation & food production, as well as running courses and education programmes in Mooloo on a 7acre Biodynamic Agro-foodforestry farm. With a passion for natural rhythms, cycles and species succession he uses this unique background to deeply read the landscape, the way the water moves, the way the wildlife moves, the sets of species that are growing& want to grow, incorporating this with knowledge of past land usage all to figure out why problem species (weeds/trees) are there. Why scars are there, why stagnation is there, to heal the root of the problem, guiding the forest or grassland through gentle support and understanding, to the best possible form of itself.
Russell Bennett (General Committee Member)
I am a local indigenous man from the Gubbi Gubbi people and have lived on my country my entire life. My passion lies in saving and preserving as much of our native plants and animals in this area as we can, and I have worked with and collaborated with several environmental groups in the area to try to achieve this. These include: Mary Valley Koalas, Mary River Catchment Committee and the Macadamia Conservation Trust.
I bring a lot of local knowledge of the plants that grow in and around the Gympie district. I can show Landcare where to gather rare seed and plants that we can take cuttings from. I am also aware of the problems caused by invasive weeds such as cats claw and madeira vine etc and look forward to working collaboratively with Gympie Landcare, sharing my knowledge and stories of the area.
