CAMPAIGN

Congratulations to everyone who entered the Junior Landcare
What’s in your Backyard? challenge
To all the girls and boys across Australia who have taken the time to look with your ears, hear with your eyes, and see with your nose – I am overwhelmed by how many of you have participated. Not only have you shared your brilliant images, but you tell the story of your connection to a bigger world of nature and environment all around. Your observations matter because they give us inspiration and reason to be land carers for life.
Costa, Junior Landcare Ambassador
National Winner
Jarrah M
My name is Jarrah, I’m 7 years old and I like nature. When I was with my Mum I found a beautiful camouflaged moth on the tree.


Australian Capital Territory Winner
Sophie H
Biodiversity
My name is Sophie, I am 3. I took a photo of seeds. Seeds are important because they grow plants. These seeds were on a rock in my secret hideaway, in my front yard.
New South Wales Winner
Benjamin B
Biodiversity
My name is Benjamin, 11 years old. LOVE AND AFFECTION, common traits depicted by all living beings. This reminds me of HAPPINESS regardless of your environment.


Northern Territory Joint Winner
Ollie B
Biodiversity
I’m Ollie and I live in Ngukurr, a remote Northern Territory community. At night Ngukurr comes alive with amazing wildlife, like this green tree frog.

Northern Territory Joint Winner
Riley M
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Riley. I am 4 years old. Billy Goat Plums are bush tucker, they grow in the bush. They drop fruit when its hot and they grow in the wet season.
Queensland Winner
Isabella B
Biodiversity
My name is Isabella. I love all types of animals even spiders. This is important to me because I love spiders and photography. These beautiful arachnids are so interesting and found all over my backyard and along the south coast of QLD. The Silver Orb Weaving Spider, by far, is the best creature in the world.


South Australia Winner
Seth M
Biodiversity
Hey, I’m Seth, I’m 14 years of age and my garden is full of my mum’s cactus and plant pots. There is always a lot of bees and butterflies around the place. But this clever critter found his perfect hiding spot.
Tasmania Joint Winner
Lucy H
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Lucy. This is a Sheoak it has yummy leaves that taste lemony and of vinegar. I love eating them at school.

Tasmania Joint Winner
Malu C
Biodiversity
My name is Malu and I am 6 years old. I love mushrooms because some of them you can eat. The mycelium is good for the soil and I found my favourite mushroom which is rare. My backyard is the Tasmanian bushland.


Victoria Winner
Adam H
Biodiversity
Under a branch I found a community of millipedes, slugs, ants and more living inside. I’m amazed how all of them fit in there!
Western Australia Winner
Ian L
Biodiversity
I love seeing frogs camouflage in our pond. When I see them, I know our pond is healthy and safe for them to live.


School Winner
Rouse Hill High School
(Tian Y)
Biodiversity
RHHS’s Youth Environmental Society (YES), recognises that fungi recycles nitrogen so it can be used again, showing the importance of all life in our ecosystems.
Gallery of our top 100

Aadi S | NSW
Biodiversity
This is a lizard, they eat the bad bugs in the garden. And help our plants grow. We love seeing the lizards enjoying their days.

Aden B | QLD
Biodiversity
This is Biscuit, one of the kookaburra chicks that visit my farm in Palmwoods sunshine coast. She eats frogs and digs for bugs.

Annabelle R | TAS
Biodiversity
Scotch Oakburn College Junior School
Worms are important because they help plants grow. They make more soil by eating leaves and fruit scraps, and pooing more soil out.
Annabelle, 5

Bailey B | TAS
Biodiversity
My name is Bailey and I am 11. I love how the falling bark makes a home for spiders and other insects.

Benjamin B | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Benjamin, 11 years old. LOVE AND AFFECTION, common traits depicted by all living beings. This reminds me of HAPPINESS regardless of your environment.

Charlie G | VIC
Indigenous Perspectives
This is our Lilly Pilly and it is fruiting for the first time ever! How cool! I tasted the fruit. The carrawongs love them.

Claire H | TAS
Biodiversity
Every backyard has some weeds, I just thought this was beautiful, even though weeds can be annoying, they are also truly beautiful.

Damascin G | QLD
Biodiversity
This Blue-Faced Honeyeater perched in our banksias soon after the bushfires came through our property; one of the first birds to return after the fires.

Eamonn H | NSW
Food Production
My name is Eamonn. I am 8 years old and living in south west of Sydney NSW. My backyard has chicken, fruit trees and a veggie bed. The photo here is our chickens grazing. It is important for me to have various sources of food at home to learn the process of food production from the very beginning.

Emily C | QLD
Waste Management
Hello, I’m Emily and I’m five. The soldier fly larvae in our compost bin are special because they eat our scraps and turn it into compost. They are fun to play with too. Kinda squishy.

Grace B | TAS
Biodiversity
My name’s Grace and I’m 8 1/2. This toadstool has grown on my farm. It’s a sign of new life and means the soil is good.

Isaac U | WA
Waste Management
I like to put fruit and vegetable scraps into the composter. My brother is getting out the good compost. I like to wheel the cart.

Jamila B | VIC
Food Production
This came from seed out of my green house! It is important because we are selling seedlings to our friends to raise money to adopt a koala.

Jasmine W | VIC
Biodiversity
Love discovering homes of animals who share our backyard. This sac is tightly woven, almost a perfect sphere. I wonder who calls this home?

Jessie G | TAS
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Jessie. I am 11 years old. I love eating saltbush! When we were in Victoria, we learnt about saltbush being a bush tucker food and decided to grow some of our own.

Juliet C | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Juliet. I’m 10 and I love to go on bush walks and paint flowers and I found Mistletoe Moth on a mistletoe in Jerrabomberra Reserve. It is special to me because they are one of a kind, they have red, orange and black on their body. I took this photo by myself on 15 April 2020.

Kristy F | QLD
Indigenous Perspectives
Benowa Early Learning Centre
We created our bush tucker garden with our Yugambeh elder, Uncle Allan. We even put curry leaves on our kangaroo that we wrapped in paperbark and cooked. We love our bush tucker garden.

Levi W | SA
Food Production
Littlehampton Primary School
My name is Levi and I’m 9. I love working on my school garden. We can plant, harvest, cook and compost. My favourite part is getting my wheelbarrow license. I also like to weed.

Lucy H | TAS
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Lucy. This is a Sheoak it has yummy leaves that taste lemony and of vinegar. I love eating them at school.

Maya F | QLD
Biodiversity
This forest kingfisher slammed into our window, she was frightened but surprisingly not injured, we nursed her back to good health and she was set free soon after.

Noemie W | QLD
Biodiversity
Hi, my name is Noemie, I am 10 and I live in Brisbane. When we renovated, we replanted the garden with plants to attract native birds like Lorikeets. The Grevillea not only attract them, they also attract Honey Eater birds and bees. Our native bees love them!

Owen B | VIC
Biodiversity
I’m Owen. I’m 8. My Pa helped me ID this photo. Mantinae. Genus; Tenodera. Species; australasiae. Pa is an entomologist who lives in Tassie. I take pictures and send them to Pa to ID them for me so I can learn.

Samantha H | NSW
Food Production
My sister and I are germinating seeds for our garden in egg cartons. Its important to reduce waste, reuse and recycle.

Talita F | NSW
Food Production
My name is Tali, we are recycling pasta glass jars and giving our neighbours mini mint gardens to connect our community and keep us all planting!

Tian Y | NSW
Biodiversity
Rouse Hill High School
RHHS’s Youth Environmental Society (YES), recognises that fungi recycles nitrogen so it can be used again, showing the importance of all life in our ecosystems.

Abbe H | NSW
Biodiversity
Wollemi Support Unit, Dapto High School
We love our native bees. Watching our busy stingless pollinators visit flower after flower reminds us to keep working hard, as a team at school.

Ahlia H | NSW
Waste Management
My name is Ahlia, I am eleven and live in Nymboida. This is a photo of some melons in our backyard. After the bushfires we started throwing our scraps in our yard for the wildlife and then a few months later some melons grew. I love seeing re-growth especially things we can eat!

Arlie D | QLD
Biodiversity
This is a male Giant Carpenter Bee, he pollinates our garden. We did not know what it was, but now we do.
Arlie, 10

Banjo M | NT
Biodiversity
My name is Banjo, I am 7 years old. Green ant bottoms are very tangy, you can eat them, but watch out because they bite!

Callum O | SA
Biodiversity
I love these Lorikeets in our garden, they are really funny and they hang upside down to reach the flowers to feed.
Callum, 10

Charlie J | NSW
Biodiversity
Hello My name is Charlie. I’m 13 years old and I really enjoy watching cicadas change/develop in our environment. Did you know that cicadas actually spend 17 years underground living off of tree root sap roots until they climb up to the top of the tree where they shed and take off into the wild?

Clancy A | QLD
Biodiversity
We found caterpillars in our backyard. They are friendly and will turn into butterflies. I love learning about them and feeding them leaves.
Clancy, 3

Daniel | VIC
Biodiversity
Hi, my name is Daniel, I’m 15 years old. Through this photo, I’ve attempted to demonstrate the importance of indigenous plants in Australia. It is important to plant indigenous plants to help preserve the natural wildlife in Australia.

Eli G | NSW
Food Production
This Sugar Baby Watermelon is important to me because I grew it from a packet of seeds. 12 seedlings grew and I planted them all into my garden but only one vine grew. I had to self pollinate the flowers and I also planted some plants to attract the bees. I love watching it grow.

Eva O | WA
Food Production
I am Eva and I am 6 years old. I helped make this scarecrow as something ate all our cucumbers. We call him ISO scary man. The scarecrow scares all the birds away.

Griffin H | VIC
Waste Management
We have had this compost and it is going great and lots of worms have moved in and that is the best.

Isabella B | QLD
Biodiversity
My name is Isabella. I love all types of animals even spiders. This is important to me because I love spiders and photography. These beautiful arachnids are so interesting and found all over my backyard and along the south coast of QLD. The Silver Orb Weaving Spider, by far, is the best creature in the world.

Janan F | ACT
Biodiversity
My name is Janan. I loved seeing this butterfly. Most people think of bees pollinating. But just like bees, without butterflies we wouldn’t be here.

Jaxon P | SA
Biodiversity
Hello my name is Jaxon. The photo I took is of a koala in my backyard! It makes me happy to know that koalas like living in my backyard because I really love them.

Jett O | QLD
Indigenous Perspectives
Jett, 11 live at Tinbeerwah, traditional owners Gubi Gubi. We have many scar trees around us, this one is special at Tinbeerwah mountain. Feels magic.

Kaitlin B | QLD
Biodiversity
My name is Kaitlin, I’m 13. I saw the frog’s shadow through the banana leaf above my head. I wanted to see what kind of frog it was. I love the curl of the leaf and how cute the frog is.

Kurt A | NSW
Biodiversity
We have put in a frog bog, bee hotel, veggie patches, chook house… but our newest visitors – these two blue tounges were a fabulous sight! We must have good habitat!

Lewis B | QLD
Biodiversity
My name is Lewis. I am four years old and I live at Elliott Heads in Queensland. I am a bug man. I like bugs because they are my pets. I like their colours and seeing them change from caterpillars to butterflies, and tadpoles to frogs. I collect everything, like geckos and cockroaches. I want to be a wildlife carer for real life.

Malu C | TAS
Biodiversity
My name is Malu and I am 6 years old. I love mushrooms because some of them you can eat. The mycelium is good for the soil and I found my favourite mushroom which is rare. My backyard is the Tasmanian bushland.

McDonnell | QLD
Waste Management
McDonnell Creek State School
Marvelous organic mulch, fantastic for our worm cafe, giving our red worms a cosy, comfy and warm mulch bed while they work hard. Lovely.

Nuveesh R | VIC
Food Production
Hi, My name is Nuveesh. I am 6 years old. We have a vegetable garden in our backyard. We have broccoli, cabbage, silverbeet, snow peas, capsicum, beetroot, lemon trees, and lots of things. I help mummy and daddy to water everyday. And we have a reading spot… too. I love my garden.

Patrick | VIC
Food Production
My name is Patrick. I am 6 years old. I like quinces because they taste yummy made into quince paste and quince jelly. I think it is a beautiful tree with nice leaves. I like hiding in the garden.

Seth M | SA
Biodiversity
Hey, I’m Seth, I’m 14 years of age and my garden is full of my mum’s cactus and plant pots. There is always a lot of bees and butterflies around the place. But this clever critter found his perfect hiding spot.

Tammy M | QLD
Biodiversity
Mossman C&K Community Kindergarten
Our names are Elle-Sandra and Mersane, we found earthworms while digging in our Kindy Veggie Patch. They were wiggly, squirmy and we asked our teachers so many questions about them. Finding worms was a magical learning experience!

Tom D | VIC
Food Production
This year we wrapped our peach to prevent fruit fly. When we unwrapped them, we were surprised because they were massive. And they are delicious!

Ada C | WA
Food Production
My name is Ada and I am 7 years old. I’m growing a pumpkin in my backyard. It is important to me because we don’t use sprays because sprays kill not only bad insects but good ones too. We know it’s safe to eat. Growing home-grown plants means they’re more fresh and yummy.

Amity L | SA
Biodiversity
Bees are important because they go to flowers and get pollen, then fly to other flowers and spread the pollen to help flowers grow.

Arlo B | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Arlo, I am 7. I love being in my garden finding creatures. I found this huge moth. It’s a convolvulus hawk moth.

Ben B | SA
Biodiversity
Hi, I am 12 years old and have really been getting into gardening since we have been staying at home every day. Right now, there is a lot of biodiversity in the garden, many little creatures. This Praying Mantis visited us today!

Catherine D | QLD
Biodiversity
Hi I’m Catherine, 11 years old. While sitting outside in my front yard, these weird little birds kept coming to our plant with purple flowers. We searched them on google and found out they were Humming Bird Moths. They come out at dawn and dusk and have a long proboscis (tongue). They look exactly like a Hummingbird.

Chloe A | NSW
Biodiversity
I’m entering a photo of an echidna that lives on our farm and regularly visits us and I think they’re an extraordinary animal.

Claudia F | WA
Biodiversity
Walliston Primary School
Kids at our school together build and create amazing cubbies using natural materials from the bush playground. We are lucky to play in nature every day.

Davin H | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Davin. I am 7 years of age. I see lots of Magpies in my backyard. This photo is The Beatles Magpies Band. Because they sing a lot!!!

Elliot G | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Elliot, 7. I found a blind snake in my pool! I thought it was a giant earthworm but we looked it up online and found out that it eats termites. Now my house won’t get eaten!

Flynn M | NSW
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Flynn, I am an aboriginal kid living on the mid north coast. I am 4 years old. My dad is a native bee keeper, we have these stingless bees flying around. These bees are important for the environment and our veggie garden pollination, also our culture. We opened a hive to take some sugarbag honey out. Yum yum!

Harvey H | VIC
Biodiversity
Hi, I’m Harvey. I’m 8 years old. This picture is special to me because Echidnas come into our backyard and not everyone has an Echidna in their backyard. I love Echidnas because they are harmless and shy too.

Isabella T | NSW
Biodiversity
My backyard is the NSW Snowy Mountains, it is important to me because although bush fires and snow impact us, fresh growth comes back.
Isabella, 12

Jarrah M | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Jarrah, I’m 7 years old and I like nature. When I was with my Mum I found a beautiful camouflaged moth on the tree.

Jay M | ACT
Waste Management
I’m Jay, I’m 10. I saw a magpie eating bread scraps. Bread is not good for birds. People should compost their food scraps.

Joe Q | NSW
Waste Management
My name is Joe, I am 13. This is my compost area I made recently next to my vegetable garden. Composting is important to me because it gives plants and soil nutrients for growth and it’s a good way to get rid of your vegetable scraps.

Kathryn F | VIC
Food Production
Sacred Heart School Tatura
Our garden at Sacred Heart is part of our Wellbeing program. It gives children a place of tranquility and peace. It also gives the students involved a sense of accomplishment to watch the plants grow and harvest them.

Lachlan U | WA
Biodiversity
I feel so lucky to have a flock of Carnaby Cockatoos come into our backyard as they are endangered and only found in WA.

Lily G | NSW
Waste Management
My name is Lily and I made this self watering plant system, out of recycled materials. This is important to me because it will help the environment and there won’t be plastic bottles wasted.

Matilda M | VIC
Biodiversity
I found this beehive in a log when I was going for a walk in one of our paddocks. Bees pollinate plants in our ecosystem.

Naomi S | VIC
Biodiversity
My name is Naomi and I am 3 years old. I found this golden Stag Beetle and loved its bright green colour. It flew away seconds after this photo!

Olivia B | SA
Biodiversity
My name is Olivia and I’m 15 years old. I photographed this ladybird and aphids on our hibiscus in our backyard.

Poppy R | VIC
Biodiversity
I discovered a freshly hatched butterfly opening it’s wings. I like its long tongue! They are important pollinators and also bring me joy.
Poppy, 6

Shaelea S | QLD
Biodiversity
My name is Shaelea, 12 yrs old and I live in Blackall in the middle of Queensland. It has been very dry for a long time, but this year is the first time I have ever seen so many butterflies in my yard and around my town. I found this caterpillar on my front fence yesterday, we think it is just a moth…. but I still think he is cute.

Tanner N | QLD
Biodiversity
My name is Tanner and I’m 6. My mum showed me this bug and we researched it. It was a blue flower wasp who was hunting for beetle larvae.

Veronica W | QLD
Food Production
I’m Veronica. I am 6. I saw some wasps on my back fence. Wasps pollinate my mango trees which provide yummy mangoes for me. I am glad their home is far from my house!

Adam H | VIC
Biodiversity
Under a branch I found a community of millipedes, slugs, ants and more living inside. I’m amazed how all of them fit in there!

Angelo L | NSW
Waste Management
We had to cut up a big tree damaged by the fires so I’m making a path to our composting toilet.

Bailee D | QLD
Biodiversity
My name’s Bailee and I’m 15. I love watching this playful flock of sulphur crested cockatoos muck about on our fence each arvo while they eat their seed and green scraps off our DIY bicycle wheel bird feeder. Instead of throwing our veggie scraps in the bin, we give them to these fellas which is pretty sweet.

Ben R | VIC
Food Production
This is my backyard! It is special to me – and many other Australians because it’s about to produce tonnes of beneficial wheat to the world!

Cayleigh F | WA
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Cayleigh, I am 10 years old. This photo shows Lilly Pilly’s which means I’ve got some bush tucker in my own backyard!

Chloe S | WA
Biodiversity
My name is Chloe and I am nearly 7. This is a photo of me in my backyard with my 2 brothers and our beehive. We love our bees and we love honey!

Curtis H | WA
Biodiversity
I am always amazed that a caterpillar can get a whole bunch of sticks and turn it into this clever cocoon. These caterpillars attach their cocoon to plants in our garden every year. It reminds me that anything is possible, no matter how challenging.

Dominic F | NSW
Biodiversity
Lake Illawarra High School
The Agricultre plot is a ‘backyard’ feature of my school. Being able to experience them first hand, I’ve discovered that I like sheep!

Elsie W | SA
Food Production
We love growing our own delicious food in our backyard. We grow melon, zucchini, tomatoes, corn, herbs, beetroot, capsicum, pumpkin, onion and strawberries.

Gabrielle G | WA
Waste Management
My name is Gabby, I am 11. During our covid isolation we saved our spring onion roots from the rubbish and planted them in a rusty old pot also saved from landfill.

Ian L | WA
Biodiversity
I love seeing frogs camouflage in our pond. When I see them, I know our pond is healthy and safe for them to live.

Jamie W | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Jamie. I am 17. It’s creatures like this quirky praying mantis I found with my little sister that often go unnoticed, but it’s just one of the awesome insects that maintain the biome in my backyard.

Jas F | NSW
Biodiversity
My name is Jas, I’m 13. I found this frog by lifting a branch then it fell on my face! I screamed, but I got a good photo! The frog is important because it eats all the mosquito larvae in our run-off pond and keeps our ecosystem diverse.

Jessie F | QLD
Biodiversity
Hi, my name is Jessie, I’m 13 and legless lizards are my favorite animals because they are so cool and smooth. I love whenever we find them in the garden.

Joel D | QLD
Biodiversity
I am Joel, I am 16 years old and the backyard is like an interdependent ecosystem with essential decomposers like this Stilt Fly or Micropeza.

Keilah R | VIC
Biodiversity
I’m Keilah, 13 from Melbourne. My backyard has many trees, shrubs, flowers, veggies, birds and insects making plenty of food sources for this regular visitor!

Leeah C | VIC
Waste Management
My name is Harlow. I am 8 years old. I helped make our compost bins. There are Making, Baking and Taking boxes to rotate around.

Lloyd K | WA
Indigenous Perspectives
Katanning Senior High School – Inclusive Learning
Our garden grows more than just plants – it promotes and develops school community connections, inspires independence and culture awareness studies. It’s where our students bloom.

Max L | WA
Food Production
I grew these in our backyard from when they were tiny, and looked after them every day. I like watching them change and grow, but the best part is this day when we got to harvest them. I love planting them and picking them most!
Max, 5

Noah S | VIC
Biodiversity
My name is Noah, I am six and I homeschool. Dirt and mud are important because the veggies and all the plants grow in it. And because bugs live in the dirt. Some people even make houses of it.

Ollie B | NT
Biodiversity
I’m Ollie and I live in Ngukurr, a remote Northern Territory community. At night Ngukurr comes alive with amazing wildlife, like this green tree frog.

Riley M | NT
Indigenous Perspectives
My name is Riley. I am 4 years old. Billy Goat Plums are bush tucker, they grow in the bush. They drop fruit when its hot and they grow in the wet season.

Sophie H | ACT
Biodiversity
My name is Sophie, I am 3. I took a photo of seeds. Seeds are important because they grow plants. These seeds were on a rock in my secret hideaway, in my front yard.

Theo P | TAS
Biodiversity
My name is Theo and I’m 6. These toadstools were so interesting. They were so tiny. Insects could hide here to get out of the rain.

Zachery M | VIC
Biodiversity
My name Zachary. I love birds. Whenever I see them I get my binoculars to get a look. Bird watching is a great hobby.