ISSN 0004-0894 © Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers) 2005 Area (2005) 37.3, 324–331 Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Local provenance in rehabilitation of degraded landscapes: a case study from the Hawkesbury– Nepean catchment, Australia Shelley Burgin, J Carson and B Maheshwari Centre for Integrated Catchment Management, University of Western Sydney, NSW 1797, Australia Email: b.maheshwari@uws.edu.au Revised manuscript received 20 January 2005 Throughout Australia thousands of volunteers are engaged in Landcare projects that should help rehabilitate degraded landscapes. Many of these projects involve tree planting, but their seed is not necessarily of local provenance. Based on a survey of 85 Landcare groups working in the Hawkesbury–Nepean catchment, data were collected about Landcare groups’ knowledge of their seed source, understanding of local provenance and the ecosystem in which they were planting trees and the source of funding for their projects. The findings from the study indicate that about one in five (21%) of the groups surveyed that introduced plant material were not aware of local provenance issues. Indirect indications were that a large number of Landcare groups state-wide may be doing more harm than good to the landscape while trying to rehabilitate it. The data also showed that one in seven (13%) of the groups funded by the Australian Government through the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) had limited awareness of local provenance issues. With millions of dollars being spent on ‘works on the ground’, it would be prudent to allocate some funds to document and monitor current Landcare activities, so that the environmental outcomes can be quantified and more effective Landcare policies can be developed in the future. Key words: Australia, tree planting, landscape restoration, Landcare, native vegetation, endemic vegetation Introduction In Australia, Landcare refers to a movement or network of people who are committed to the more sustainable management of natural resources. It encompasses all ‘care’ networks with improved natural resource management ideals, including Rivercare, Dunecare, Coastcare and Bushcare. Although groups are independent and autonomous, they often work closely with governments and other organizations to achieve their goals. Groups within this community-driven network frequently work cooperatively to identify local natural resource issues (particularly related to water, soil and vegetation) and seek solutions to land and water degradation more generally. There are more than 1500 Landcare groups across New South Wales working towards improving the management of natural resources and raising com- munity awareness of the importance of sustainable natural resource management. The lead state govern- ment agency in New South Wales (NSW) for Land- care is the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (DIPNR). Groups are sup- ported by a team of Landcare facilitators who may work closely with local communities. The latter play